Textbook Adoption

Textbook adoption is a process by which faculty provide the university with information on required and recommended materials for each of their courses. This process is governed by Florida Statute 1004.85 and Florida Board of Governors’ Regulation 8.003 Textbook Adoption. UCF Regulation 2.032 Textbook Adoption outlines the process at UCF and requires that all textbook and course materials are submitted no later than 60 days prior to the start of the semester. For more information, please see UCF Regulation 2.032 Textbook Adoption.

Providing students with timely information about their required and recommended textbooks and course materials allows them to explore purchasing options, budget wisely, and, in some cases, begin interacting with course materials before the start of the class. It also helps decrease overall education costs, which makes a college education more affordable.

Faculty members are responsible for choosing the textbooks and instructional materials that are required or recommended for their courses, either individually or in collaboration with colleagues. Report your textbook and instructional materials adoptions following your department’s or school’s process.

All course sections must have a textbook and instructional materials adoption submitted to the UCF Bookstore. The recommended method for submitting materials to the bookstore is through the Adoptions & Insight Portal (AIP). Log into AIP and enter your NID and NID password. For more information about AIP, contact Katrina Schenk, B&N Textbook Manager, at TM327@bncollege.com. 

All course sections must have an adoption submitted even if they do not require students to purchase materials. To accurately capture faculty adoption of affordable materials the university has established generic ISBNs for the use of library resources and open educational resources. Using these ISBNs in your adoption process provides students with more detailed information on the textbooks and instructional materials required and recommended for your course. For more information about OER and library resources, go to UCF’s Affordable Instructional Materials Initiative website.

Library Resources: 2814078234919

OER: 2814078232564

Coursepacks are instructional materials and must be reported as part of the textbook adoption process. They can include book chapters, journal articles, illustrations, notes, or other reading materials used to supplement or replace traditional textbooks. Instructors of record must supply one copy of all coursepacks to the UCF Bookstore or Computer Store, as appropriate, four to eight weeks prior to the start of classes. The UCF Bookstore or Computer Store will reproduce the materials and make them available to students. See UCF Policy 4-405.1 Coursepacks for more information.

A request for an exception to the deadline must be submitted prior to the deadline on a Request for Exception to Established Textbook Ordering Deadline form and must include a reasonable justification for an exception. This form must be approved by the department chair or director and the college dean prior to submitting it to the provost for final approval. Justifications include, but are not limited to, assigned instructor hired late and the course added to the schedule late.

Changes to textbook and course materials adoptions after the deadline must be accompanied by a Late Textbook Adoption/Change Justification form and must include a justification for why the materials are being changed. This form must be approved by the department chair or director and the college dean prior to submitting to the Division of Student Learning and Academic Success for processing.

To make certain that course materials are available before the start of classes, please:

• Submit your textbook adoption as early as feasible. This allows the UCF Bookstore time to ensure that the materials can be sourced.
• Order custom books and bundles several weeks before the adoption deadline.
• Select books for adjuncts who will be hired late.
• Include contact information on order forms.
• Confirm that your textbook adoption is accurately showing on the UCF Bookstore’s textbook website.

UCF’s Affordable Instructional Materials Initiative focuses on several efforts across campus aimed to reduce the costs of students through the adoption of affordable instructional materials. Information on this initiative and others on campus can be found at the UCF’s Affordable Instructional Materials Initiative website.

If you have a question not addressed here, email Melody Bowdon at mbowdon@ucf.edu or Amber Mullens at Amber.Mullens@ucf.edu.