This message is sent on behalf of Nicole Allen, SPARC.


Dear colleagues,

I’m thrilled to announce the launch of InclusiveAccess.org: a community-driven initiative to raise awareness of the facts about automatic textbook billing.

Little known five years ago, Inclusive Access has taken off as a sales model that automatically adds the cost of digital textbooks into students’ tuition and fees. While this model is intended to address some of the challenges with high textbook costs, it is also creating new challenges for students and faculty.

How exactly does Inclusive Access work? Does it really save students money? What about this kind of program is “inclusive”? Straightforward answers to these questions aren’t always easy to find.

InclusiveAccess.org is a one-stop-shop for information, tools, and other resources to help administrators, faculty, students, and policymakers make informed decisions about Inclusive Access and its implications for the campus community.

InclusiveAccess.org was developed by SPARC with generous support from the Michelson 20MM Foundation. Partners include AAC&U, Academic Senate for California Community Colleges, Creative Commons, DigiTex, Student PIRGs, Open Education Global, and OpenStax. Other mission-aligned organizations are encouraged to join.

If conversations about Inclusive Access are happening in your campus or state, we hope you will consider sharing this resource far and wide! To stay in the loop, sign up for emails and follow @TextbookBilling on Twitter.

Cheers,

Nicole Starr Allen

SPARC | Director of Open Education

1201 Connecticut Ave NW, #608

Washington, DC 20036 USA

+1 (202) 750-1637

nicole@sparcopen.org

@txtbks



Arianna Cheveldave [Hear my name]

Coordinator, Open Education, BCcampus

Email: acheveldave@bccampus.ca  •  LinkedIn: ariannacheveldave     Pronouns: She/her




I acknowledge that the land I live, work, and play on is the unceded territory of the səl̓ilwətaɁɬ təməxʷ (Tsleil-Waututh), Skwxwú7mesh-ulh Temíx̱w (Squamish), and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) peoples. I thank them for their hospitality.