[nabs-l] Bookstore problems
Arielle Silverman
arielle71 at gmail.com
Tue Sep 23 23:55:35 UTC 2014
Hi Kaiti
If you write up a meeting announcement, somebody at DSS can forward it
to everybody for you. However, it sounds like this problem is
irritating for a lot of students, not just those who use alternative
formats. Why not create a larger group and invite some of your
classmates to join?
It's too bad DSS can't come up with an amendment to their policies
until the bookstore process is straightened out.
Arielle
On 9/23/14, Karl Martin Adam via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hi Kaiti and all,
>
> I would imagine DSS wouldn't want to give you contact information
> for their students, but I wonder if they would be willing to
> forward an e-mail to their list of students? Perhaps you could
> also just start a group and advertize for it. At my school
> student organizations get websites, so when people look for
> groups to get involved with, it's pretty easy to find them.
>
> Karl
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Kaiti Shelton via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> To: Arielle Silverman <arielle71 at gmail.com>, National Association
> of Blind Students mailing list <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> Date sent: Mon, 22 Sep 2014 23:59:13 -0400
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Bookstore problems
>
> Hi all,
>
> I am not required to buy my books on campus, but the scholarship
> I
> have is there so it is silly to not use it. At least, that was
> my
> thinking before I realized that these changes were made and it
> would
> take forever for me to just get the print copies of the books so
> I
> could exchange my receits for the text files the DS office had
> done
> well in advance of the school year. I did end up buying one book
> from
> Amazon this semester, but looking ahead to next semester and next
> year, I think I should have the right to use my book scholarship
> and
> get my books on-time like everyone else in my class who qualified
> for
> it. Especially since I submit my alternative format requests way
> in
> advance of the start of each semester, it's silly to have the
> books
> done and stuck in the DS office where they can't be used.
>
> I'm hoping that the manager will be willing to let me continue
> paying
> in advance for any print copies which don't come in due to
> bookstore
> error when the DS office has them ready to be picked up. I have
> no
> problem with paying via my scholarship, and look at it this way;
> if I
> pay for the book and never actually pick up the print copy,
> that's one
> more they have in their stock so its a win win situation. I'm
> just
> shocked that the DS office didn't say something before I did. I
> told
> them back in the first and second weeks of school the issues I
> was
> having, and though the worked wieth me to make sure I was still
> able
> to do my assignments they didn't actually work towards putting
> more
> than a bandaid on the problem.
>
> I've thought about trying to organize a group of students on
> campus to
> discuss issues like this and to get a little more backing on
> certain
> things, but the DS office seems pretty tight-lipped when it comes
> to
> confidentiality. I really don't know that many other people who
> go to
> the DS office for accomodations even though I do know they're out
> there, so I'm not quite sure how I'd start such a group. It's a
> great
> idea that could be really awesome if carried out though.
>
> On 9/20/14, Arielle Silverman via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
> wrote:
> Hi Kaiti,
> Any chance you can buy your books, at least some of them, on
> Amazon
> and email your receipts to the disability office? Or are you
> required
> to buy books on campus?
> Any books available on Learning Ally or BookShare?
> Arielle
>
> On 9/20/14, Ashley Bramlett via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
> wrote:
> Kaiti,
>
> That sounds like a huge mess. I'm sure professors will complain
> loudly;
> full
>
> time professors have committee meetings and those working there
> years
> have
> power; I'm sure they hate the system as much as students.
>
> What I do is rather than mess with online stuff wich is probably
> half
> accessible, I go to the bookstore with my schedule and ask a
> store person
> to
>
> walk around with me for books; I get used if possible. I pay for
> them.
> then, the last step I do is the same as you.
> I give a copy of my receit to the disabilities office so they
> can get me
> alternative format books.
>
> In your case, I suggest speaking to the manager which you
> already did.
> For books you did not receive, I can only think of four options.
> Order
> from
>
> amazon, barns and noble, or other vendor.
> You could also borrow a friend's copy and scan relevant
> sections.
> You might even borrow your professor's copy and do the same.
> The library may have a copy on reserve which you could use.
> Finally, you might ask other students who took the class if you
> can buy
> their copy at a discount. I know at my schools, students have
> often
> bought
>
> used books from other students. Have someone walk around campus
> with you
> to
>
> look for used book fliers as well. At least at Marymount where I
> was,
> those
>
> were often around bulletin boards.
>
>
> In terms of advocacy, maybe you can get a group of students with
> disablities
>
> to
> speak up about this.
>
> Good luck!
>
> Ashley
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Kaiti Shelton via nabs-l
> Sent: Friday, September 19, 2014 11:21 PM
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> Subject: [nabs-l] Bookstore problems
>
> Hi, NABSters,
>
> I'm having a serious issue with my university's bookstore, and
> I'm
> wondering if a few of you could weigh in with suggestions as to
> how I
> might work to change it.
>
> Until this semester, I could order my textbooks in advance
> online.
> The site was super accessible, and since it is linked to my
> schedule
> on our university management site, all I had to do was make sure
> all
> the books were in my cart and check out. All the books would be
> packaged up in boxes and ready for pick up when I got to school,
> and
> since I got an electronic receipt emailed to me when I completed
> my
> orders online, I could just forward it right away to my
> disability
> services coordinator, and she would give me most of my books
> weeks
> before school started. It was a great system.
>
> However, the bookstore decided to stop taking online orders.
> Starting
> with my class, everyone has had the option to take advantage of
> a book
> scholarship. This scholarship program is part of a U.S Dept of
> Education grant the school received, and allows for qualifying
> students to receive a 500 ddollar allowance to use on textbooks
> per
> semester for four years. This has encouraged more people to buy
> books
> directly from the university store, where they can essentially
> get
> them for free or for significantly less, rather than go to
> Amazon,
> Cheg, or other sources to get their books. I guess for the
> first two
> years the book scholarship program was in place everything
> worked
> great, but now with three classes of students qualifying for
> books,
> and most of the people wanting to not spend money when they
> don't have
> to open their wallets, the bookstore decided the demand was too
> great
> for the man-power they had, so they stopped accepting online
> orders
> and now have everyone come to the bookstore once they're on
> campus to
> buy their books.
>
> This has created several problems for the general campus student
> without any extenuating circumstances or disabilities. E.G, the
> way
> professors submit adoptions or book orders is different now, so
> the
> bookstore lost the adoption one of my professors placed, and
> only
> ordered enough books for one section of his class when he
> teaches two.
> Another class I'm in doesn't have books yet because for some
> reason
> the bookstore didn't realize that class would be taught this
> semester,
> so they didn't replenish their supply of the book. One person
> in the
> class is sharing the last copy the store had with everyone else.
> Thank goodness it's a class that meets once a week so everyone
> can get
> their reading done. The other book for the class wasn't in
> either,
> and the professor just decided to loan out her personal copies
> until
> the bookstore got the ones for the class in. Because the
> bookstore
> didn't take online orders, they didn't really have an accurate
> count
> of how many books they would need to order for each class. I
> saw
> plenty of students in the special order line when I was in there
> trying to sort out my stuff, "special order" being for books
> that
> aren't necessarily rare, but just aren't in any of the bulk
> orders the
> bookstore thought to place. Plenty of sighted students have had
> to
> wait for books to come in, have had to special order things for
> their
> classes, and professors have needed to postpone assignments when
> their
> class was textbook-less. Overall, it's just a less-efficient
> system
> that isn't working for anyone.
>
> The problem for me, and other students who get alternative
> formats, is
> that legally the university can't give out the alternative
> format copy
> without a receipt. When I went to special order two of my
> books, I
> tried to get the employees to give me a receipt for my order.
> They
> refused, and said that I would get a receipt when I picked the
> books
> up and paid for them then. They would not let me pay in
> advance, even
> though sooner or later I would pay for and get the book in some
> order
> anyway.
>
> Today, when I took my third trip to the bookstore to check on
> another
> book which is still not in, I asked if my special order I had
> placed 2
> weeks ago had arrived, because I was told I would be notified by
> phone
> when it came in and it had been a while. I picked up two other
> books
> a week ago, and the third book I placed on special order along
> with
> the other two was not in then. I didn't get a phone call about
> those
> other two books even though they had been on the shelf when I
> checked
> in person, so I just wanted to check again in the store. This
> time I
> was a little more insistent with the employees that they figure
> out
> what was going on with my textbook, because it was my third trip
> there, and I wasn't receiving phone calls I was told I would
> receive,
> so I wanted to leave there with the book or with knowledge about
> what
> was going on. They called the publisher and said that the order
> was
> automatically canceled by them when they saw I ordered the
> second
> edition of the book rather than the third, and Oxford Press
> didn't
> tell the bookstore that they did that. How I, the student, am
> supposed to know that happened when the second edition is what
> the
> bookstore site said I should buy is beyond me, and I mentioned
> to them
> that the other students in my class who don't have their books
> will
> probably come in wanting new orders as well because midterms are
> in 2
> weeks, and no one has their stuff yet except for one person. I
> then
> tried to get them to somehow give me proof of order or purchase,
> which
> I had tried to do with some other books before when I special
> ordered
> them. I had already been told once that they won't let me pay
> for the
> books in advance as I mentioned before, but I told them that it
> is
> pointless for the Disabil8ity office to have these books done
> and to
> have put all the time into converting them, and for them to not
> be
> able to give them to me on a technicality that isn't their
> fault.
> Plus, by week 5 of school, it is ridiculous that people are
> still
> having isssues getting books, and it really does hold the people
> with
> alternative formats hostage because we can't just borrow someone
> else's book to get our reading done. I finally got a manager
> and
> explained the situation I'm having, and he went with me to a
> register
> and told the casheer to charge me for the book in advance so I
> could
> have a receipt to take to the disability office and get my book.
>
> The textbook manager seemed to understand why this is a problem,
> and
> apologized for not thinking about it when they changed how
> things work
> for ordering books, but it is clear that the disability office
> hasn't
> said anything to the bookstore, and no other student has
> explained the
> problems related to alternative formats and getting the print
> copy so
> we can get the alternative copy to the manager. I know there
> are
> plenty of students on my campus who use alternative format
> textbooks,
> but I guess I'm going to have to be the one who is the squeaky
> wheel.
> The only issue is that I'm not exactly sure what to do next now
> that
> I've explained what the problem is. I have the textbook
> manager's
> name now and know how to get ahold of him directly, but this is
> a
> bigger issue than just getting my personal books, and I'd like
> for it
> to be fixed next semester. Who knows; maybe changes that would
> make
> it easier for people to order in advance to get alternative
> formats
> would make the system more like what it was, and therefore
> easier for
> everybody.
>
> Thoughts?
> --
> Kaiti
>
>
> --
> Kaiti
>
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> --
> Kaiti
>
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