2015 Tennessee Code
Title 49 - Education
Chapter 7 - Postsecondary and Higher Education Generally
Part 1 - Miscellaneous Provisions
§ 49-7-141 - Minimizing cost of textbooks and course materials.

(a) The University of Tennessee system and the Tennessee board of regents shall develop policies for minimizing the cost of textbooks and course materials used at public institutions of higher education while maintaining quality of education and academic freedom. These policies shall require that:

(1) Faculty members submit lists of required textbooks and course materials to any on-campus bookstore in a timely manner to ensure that a sufficient quantity of the textbooks and materials are available for purchase when courses begin and that the lists, along with other relevant information concerning textbooks and course materials, including, but not limited to any International Standard Book Number (ISBN), are made available to students on the institution's web site, using existing computer software;

(2) Any on-campus bookstore disclose to faculty members on a per course basis the costs to students of purchasing the required textbooks and course materials and that faculty members affirmatively acknowledge the price of the textbooks and materials before an order is completed;

(3) Faculty members consider the least costly practices in assigning textbooks and course materials, such as adopting the least expensive edition of a textbook available when educational content is comparable to a more costly edition as determined by the faculty member and working closely with publishers and bookstores to create bundles and packages only if they deliver cost savings to students;

(4) Any on-campus bookstore selling textbooks to students as part of a bundled package with other study products recommended by the publisher also provide students the option of purchasing the textbooks and other study products separately from each other, if possible;

(5) Any on-campus bookstore actively promote and publicize book buy-back programs;

(6) Copies of textbooks shall be made available for student use at no cost through the academic department or through the reserve system of the institution's library; provided, that the textbooks have been furnished at no charge by the publisher for this purpose; and

(7) All textbook inventory and monitoring required of any on-campus bookstore by any policy adopted shall be accomplished by existing bookstore staff.

(b) As used in subsection (a), "bundled" means a group of objects joined together by packaging or required to be purchased as an indivisible unit.