The Amherst College Textbook Solution — Persevering Towards Our Celestial Standards

Earlier this September, The Amherst Student presented two articles regarding the rollout of the Amherst College Textbooks Solution (ACTS). Those pieces outlined various concerns and hopes for the program. This communication aims to demonstrate that the Textbook Taskforce is responding to the concerns raised by those articles and our campus community and to affirm the expectation of excellence for this program.

The mission and expectations for this program are celestial — and they should be. I’m reminded of President John F. Kennedy’s speech at Rice University in 1962, known as “We Choose to Go to the Moon.” In this speech, the former president made the case to enhance America’s space exploration and pioneering efforts against the backdrop of the challenging nature of the mission and the sentiments of some who did not see the benefits. Yet, the vision and the hopes outlined in the speech were not unrealistic; they were fulfilled via the hard work of those committed to accomplishing the speech’s goals.

Similarly, the celestial charge given to the Textbook Taskforce was to provide equitable access to course materials to our students and to ensure that the cost of course materials is never a barrier to taking a class. Other auxiliary missions of the program are to eliminate the issue of some students not purchasing any course materials, help to prevent students from purchasing the wrong course materials, and to help ensure that funding that was meant to procure course materials was used for that purpose and not used for other items.

ACTS did not meet its celestial goal of 100% on-time delivery at the start of the semester. The scope of the program covered 443 different classes and 1,018 different course materials. Before the add-drop period, 96% of the course materials arrived on time. However, materials that didn’t arrive on time caused significant problems for faculty and students.

Moreover, the Textbook Taskforce agrees with The Amherst Student and the campus in that there are opportunities for not only improving the on-time delivery of course materials, but also opportunities to improve distribution, communications, and the technology that serves as the backbone of the program. So, how will we improve ACTS?

Weekly Progress Reviews

We have obtained executive support within Follett regarding the corrective actions needed to meet our standard. Weekly reviews are occurring between the Taskforce and Follett to monitor progress in advance of next semester.

Course Material Tracking

We have implemented an early warning monitor that should notify us months in advance of any problems securing course materials so we can meet our goal of on-time delivery.

Improved Student Emails

Follett is making technological fixes to its notification system in order to reduce confusion regarding which course materials have and haven’t arrived. Student email notifications should only state the course materials that are ready for pickup. Follow-up messages for course materials that come later will be sent when those materials arrive.

Add/Drop Emails

Technological fixes are also in place to ensure that students should not receive an email asking them to return books they may never have received because they dropped a class.

Preferred Names

Technological solutions are underway so that the Follett notification system uses the preferred names of our students.

Better Hours at Alumni House

In an effort to further reduce wait times, the distribution point at Alumni House will be open on the weekends prior to the start of the semester (Jan. 25 -26 and Feb. 1-2).

Improved Faculty Communication

Faculty will be able to visit the Alumni House as early as Jan. 22, and see the actual course materials sorted by book title. Faculty will also have enhanced instructions regarding how to select digital or physical course materials.

The Textbook Taskforce believes that ACTS is a good program, and we are committed to making it better. The effort needed to improve the program requires a pioneering and trailblazing spirit. Luckily, we aren’t asking anyone to go to the moon, but we are aiming high. Our standard is celestial, and we are asking for the campus’ support as we work to improve things for the spring semester. February 2025 will be a litmus test that gauges the effectiveness of our corrective measures as we persevere toward our expectations.