|
POLICY STATEMENT #76
TEXTBOOK AND EDUCATIONAL MATERIAL ADOPTION
Policy
It is the policy of The University of North Carolina at Charlotte that the instructor of
any course has the responsibility to select the textbook and/or educational materials
specified for formal use in teaching the course.
The primary criteria for selection shall be:
- Suitability of materials for the course and the curriculum of which the course is a part, and
- Quality of the materials for the purpose.
Exception to the Policy
The general policy applies in all cases except if, in the case of:
- Departmental Courses:
- The department as a whole decides that an alternative policy for selecting required
materials in all of its courses better serves its needs and goals;
- More than one section of the course is being offered, in which case the department will
select the textbook and/or materials unless the department decides it will authorize individual
instructors to make the selections; and
- There is a potential monetary conflict of interest resulting from the selection. In
this case and prior to implementing the selection, the instructor will notify the chairperson
of the potential monetary conflict of interest and an appropriate departmental committee must
consider the matter. The committee, following consultation with the instructor, must confirm
in writing the selection as the most appropriate under the primary criteria or return the
issue to the instructor for an alternate selection. Examples of possible monetary conflict of
interest are if the instructor would receive royalties from the sale of a selected textbook or
has a substantial financial interest in the company manufacturing the material under
consideration.
- Interdisciplinary Courses:
- The course is an intracollege offering in which case the exceptions for departmental
courses shall apply with "chair" replaced by "dean" and "appropriate departmental committee"
replaced by "appropriate college committee"; and
- The course is an intercollege offering in which case the exceptions for departmental
courses shall apply with "chair" replaced by "Provost" and "appropriate departmental committee"
replaced by "appropriate university committee."
Recommendations
Whereas suitability and quality must be the primary factors in the adoption of required
texts and/or materials, costs to students of the materials should be a substantial
consideration.
(Initially approved April 21, 1986.)
|
