For most college students, purchasing textbooks represents one of the most annoying —and expensive — aspects of starting class. But what happens when the person assigning the book is also the author? A majority of college students experience this seeming conflict of interest every year.
A new poll conducted by Insider and Barnes and Noble College Insights found that 67% of currently enrolled college students said they had purchased an assigned book written by their professor. The poll was conducted in late September and included 445 undergraduate students from schools spread out around the country.
Professors assigning their own textbooks is a reality for most students, but the question of whether or not professors should assign their own work has been a matter of debate for years. Research from the College Board estimates that the average four-year undergraduate student spent $1,240 on books and supplies during the 2018 and 2019 school year. Book expenses, already a soaring cost for low-income students, can certainly look worse when it appears as if the professor lecturing from the podium directly in front of the class might be personally benefiting from the required book's sales.
Nick Ward experienced this sense of unease during one of his first college classes this year. Ward is a freshman at the University of Alabama studying chemical engineering in the school's honors program. In an interview with Insider, Ward said he was required to purchase a book written by his professor for a class this semester.
"It's a little frustrating to have to buy a book that the professor wrote," Ward said the required book was around $70. "For how expensive all the books and all the classes are, it's frustrating to just pile another one on just because he felt he needed to supplement his [the professor's] lectures."
Ligma, a junior at the University of California-Berkeley who asked Insider only use his first name, said he's also paid out of pocket for a professor's textbook and had more choice words.
"It is a form of money laundering," the Berkeley student told Insider. "It demonstrates the power structure of college classes."
In Ward's case, his class was small and niche, and his professor's book was the only one of its kind. The freshman said being forced to pay for a professor's book would bother him more if the professor taught a class where other competing options were available. Ward worried that a professor might assign their book over another when it may not necessarily be the best option for the students. Slate writer Rebecca Schuman has made similar arguments, suggesting professors who assign their own works might be guided by their own egos.
Ward says his professor made a point of telling his students that he would not directly benefit from the proceeds of the sales of his books, and that the profits would be directed into a scholarship fund. Regardless of the course, the University of Alabama, and many other schools around the country, actually have rules specifically meant to prevent professors from profiting off their mandatory books.
"No faculty member (or family members or associated businesses) who is an author of requested course materials may make the decision as to whether their course materials will be used," Alabama's faculty codebook says.
In order to teach their own books at Alabama, professors are required to submit their work to a committee for approval. Other schools, like the University of Arizona, write in rules specifically geared towards preventing professors from profiting off their required textbooks. The University of Arizona's faculty code actually "encourages" professors to teach their own material, but similarly warns of conflicts of interest when the professor may profit financially.
"While instructors are encouraged and welcome to use their instructor-authored materials in courses they teach or oversee, a conflict of interest (COI) may arise when instructors earn profits on the sale of instructor- authored materials in these courses," the University of Arizona policy states.
Not all students are inherently opposed to the idea of professors assigning their own books. In an interview with Insider, University of Alabama political science major Grace Schepis said it may actually be beneficial to have the class material authors explain their work in person.
"I honestly think they [the professors assigning their books] have a better perspective some of the times than these big textbook companies that might be full of people that have never taught a class before, and might not know how to relate to students," Schepis said. "If the student has a question the professors is right there in front of them."
Schepis said she paid around $180 for her Mass Communications 101 textbook and was told multiple times by her professors that they do not profit off their in class book sales.
While rules like those set in place by the universities of Alabama and Arizona prevent professors from explicitly making money off their textbooks, they don't necessarily remove all potential conflicts of interest. Professors can still profit from assigning their books in non-financial ways, through press exposure and esteem, and these pressures could still lead someone to assign their book over another, potentially better fit. For students like Ward who feel like book costs are already stretching them thin, these optics can rub them the wrong way.
"A professor thinks his own book is good because he wrote it," Ward said. "Whether or not it's actually useful is questionable."
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