173.955. Citation of law--definitions--information to be provided to faculty, when--use of financial aid for purchase of textbooks, when.
Citation of law--definitions--information to be provided to faculty,when--use of financial aid for purchase of textbooks, when.
173.955. 1. The provisions of this section shall be known as the"Textbook Transparency Act". For purposes of this section, the followingterms mean:
(1) "Adopter", any faculty member or academic department at anapproved institution of higher education responsible for considering andchoosing course materials to be utilized in connection with the accreditedcourses taught at the approved institution of higher education;
(2) "Approved institution of higher education", an educationalinstitution located in Missouri which:
(a) Is directly controlled or administered by a public agency orpolitical subdivision;
(b) Receives appropriations directly or indirectly from the generalassembly for operating expenses;
(c) Provides a postsecondary course of instruction at least sixmonths in length leading to or directly creditable toward a degree orcertificate;
(d) Meets the standards for accreditation as determined by either theNorth Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, or if a publiccommunity college created under the provisions of sections 178.370 to178.400, RSMo, meets the standards established by the coordinating boardfor higher education for such public community colleges, or by otheraccrediting bodies recognized by the United States Office of Education orby utilizing accreditation standards applicable to the institution asestablished by the coordinating board for higher education;
(e) Does not discriminate in the hiring of administrators, facultyand staff or in the admission of students on the basis of race, color,religion, sex, or national origin and is otherwise in compliance with thefederal Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968 and executive orders issuedpursuant thereto; and
(f) Permits faculty members to select textbooks without influence orpressure by any religious or sectarian source;
(3) "College textbook", a textbook or a set of textbooks used for acourse of postsecondary education at an approved public institution ofhigher education;
(4) "Integrated textbook", a college textbook that:
(a) Is combined with materials developed by a third party and that,by third-party contractual agreement, may not be offered by publishersseparately from the college textbook with which the materials are combined;or
(b) Includes functionally interdependent course materials designed tobe used solely as a single unit and whose separation would substantiallydegrade the academic content so that it would not be usable to the student;
(5) "Products", all versions of a college textbook or set of collegetextbooks, except custom textbooks or special editions of textbooks,available in the subject area for which a prospective purchaser is teachinga course, including supplemental material, both when sold together orseparately from a college textbook;
(6) "Supplemental material", educational material that may accompanya college textbook, including printed materials, computer disks, web-siteaccess, and electronically distributed materials, that is neither:
(a) Bound by third-party contractual agreements to be sold in anintegrated textbook; nor
(b) A component of an integrated textbook.
2. Each publisher of college textbooks shall provide, upon request,the following information to faculty members or adopters at an approvedinstitution of higher education, whenever the publisher provides a facultymember or adopter with information about the publisher's products:
(1) The price at which the publisher would make the productsavailable to the campus bookstore;
(2) The substantial content revisions for such products made betweena current textbook edition and the previous edition, if any;
(3) The copyright dates of all previous editions of such collegetextbook in the preceding ten years, if any; and
(4) Whether the products are available in any other format, includingpaperback and unbound, and the price at which the publisher would make theproducts in the other formats available to the campus bookstore.
3. A publisher that sells a college textbook and any supplementalmaterial accompanying such college textbook as a single bundle shall alsomake available the college textbook and each supplemental material asseparate and unbundled items, each separately priced.
4. Where existing technology and contracts make it feasible, anapproved public institution of higher education shall develop a policy thatpermits students to use financial aid that has not been disbursed fortuition or fees to purchase required textbooks for courses taught at theinstitution at stores on the campus of the institution.
5. To the extent practicable, an approved institution of highereducation shall encourage faculty members or adopters to place theirinitial orders for college textbooks with sufficient time for the campusbookstore to factor such information into student buyback, research theavailability of the course material, and exchange, when appropriate,relevant information with faculty to support effective use of coursematerials such as bundles and to promote cost efficiencies for students.
(L. 2008 H.B. 2048)