Did You Get Your Textbooks Through Canvas? Here’s Why and How

One week into the Fall Semester, it is likely that most students have already acquired the necessary materials for their courses. Some students may have used The Bookie to obtain physical or digital copies of books, outsourced materials, or they already had access to their books on the first day of classes through the First-Day Access Program.

First-Day Access is a program where students’ course materials are available to them on Canvas in a digital form as soon as their classes begin. Rather than paying for materials through The Bookie or a third party, the cost for the materials is reflected through a “Course Fee” on the student’s account.

Danielle Edwards, the Assistant Store Manager at The Bookie, said that WSUV implemented the First-Day Access Program about three years ago “to give students a cheaper book option,” as the prices of books have been increasing.

Not every course at WSUV uses the First-Day Program, which is one reason why some students may have First-Day Access materials for some classes but not others. Edwards estimated that approximately 45 to 50 classes at WSUV currently participate in the program.

Participation depends in part on the course materials and whether the bookstore can obtain them at a lower price. 

Edwards also said that the First-Day Program can be easier to integrate into some courses over others. She said subjects such as math and chemistry are examples where digital materials can be incorporated into courses relatively easily.

The Bookie also works with professors to try to bundle multiple books together through the First-Day Program. Edwards said this can be particularly useful for English courses that require several books because this helps students not have to pay full price for each one individually.

“From a bookstore perspective, we saw that there was an increase in digital materials. So we partnered with our publishers to get discounted digital books…then we transfer that discount onto the students,” Edwards said.

For example, a textbook that might normally cost $80 could be available through the First-Day Program for “40 to 60 percent off,” said Edwards. For publishers to participate in the program with WSUV, there must be a discount on the materials. Edwards said that on average that discount is “at least 30 percent.”

Some publishers may not want to offer a discounted price, or publisher licensing may affect whether materials are eligible.

Edwards cited McGraw Hill as a publisher that “can be a hard one to work with…so, sometimes we can get lucky with some of their book editions, but it just depends.”

The bookstore begins preparing First-Day materials months before classes even begin. Edwards said most textbook adoptions for fall courses are submitted before students leave for summer, with March and April being an ideal time for the bookstore to begin receiving information from professors about upcoming materials.

Edwards said the bookstore continues to look for opportunities to lower the cost of course materials and approaches professors when it finds a less expensive option.

“If we can find a book cheaper, we at least approach it to the professor,” Edwards said. “It doesn’t make sense why you would, you know, be charged a book for $60 if we can get it for $30 and then pass the discount onto you.”

After communicating with publishers and with WSU Pullman, the bookstore works to complete the necessary coding before the fall semester begins. Students then receive access to their materials through Canvas on the first day of class. 

The fee appears on students’ accounts as a “Course fee”. Edwards said the charge should identify the specific price associated with the course material, but many students don’t realize these fees come from one or more of their courses’ materials being a part of the First-Day program. “We do get students who call us being like, ‘why is there an extra charge for this class?’”

A challenge for the bookstore is handling last-minute changes to course schedules or instructors. When a professor or course changes after materials have already been arranged, the bookstore may need to obtain approval for new materials and adjust the charges associated with students’ accounts.

Since the First-Day Program provides digital materials, students may have mixed feelings about the program. Edwards said students have different preferences when it comes to physical versus digital books.

Some universities have adopted a system in which all courses participate in the First-Day Access Program. At WSUV, however, participation currently occurs on a course-by-course basis.

The First Day program could eventually expand to more courses at WSU Vancouver, but Edwards said that would depend on what WSUV wants, the professors, and the materials used in individual courses.