By Approximately 61% of students remain opted into the Day One Textbook Access program, according to Associated Student Inc. Communications Manager Shannon Couey.
The D1TA program is an initiative that allows for students to get access to all required textbooks via Canvas by paying a price of $250 for full-time students and $165 for part-time students per semester.
Student participation in the program is voluntary, and students could opt-out by the last day to add/drop classes without approval.
Long Beach State students have had mixed reactions to the program.
Nicholas Geraci, a transfer student and a film major, opted out of the program because only one of his classes required a textbook.
“It would just be cheaper to purchase the one. I do believe it’s actually a fantastic program, and if it’s too expensive, they always give you the option to opt-out. But for heavy textbook majors I can see the benefits and think it’s worth it,” Geraci said.
Jasmine Sohal, a senior majoring in Health Science, said she liked it better when each book could be purchased at its own price.
“It’s unfair I have to pay $250 when I don’t need all of the books,” Sohal said.
Couey said the previous textbook program, Day 1 Digital Access, only covered 50% of classes and had a 70% participation rate, the D1TA program includes all classes and has a 61% participation rate.
“However, since both programs had more than 50% of students participating, we consider both to be successful in their own right,” Couey said.
In fall of 2023, the ASI student senate passed a resolution supporting the D1TA program. Fall of 2024 has more than half of students currently using the program. Photo credit: Samuel Chacko
According to Couey, the transition to the program required developing several new operational processes. One key challenge was managing the print book portion separately from the shop books. They wanted to ensure that all students had access to their required textbooks while also maintaining traditional textbook offerings.
“The previous program only covered 50% of classes and required us to create items in a separate system with our software provider. Since the D1TA program was a campus-wide initiative, it added an additional 50% of classes to the mix,” Couey said.
Students who choose to opt out of the program are still able to purchase physical textbooks at the bookstore.
Couey noted two main issues during the launch of the program:
- Student confusion as to how the program works
- Students reporting required books were missing
Students found books missing from their portals because instructors or departments had not submitted their textbook information on time.
The D1TA website offers step-by-step information on how students can access their textbooks, as well as platform tools such as highlighting, annotating, searching text, bookmarking and more.
“Like any new initiative, there was a learning curve and we made adjustments to improve the process for future semesters,” Couey said.
