By Jonathan Stankiewicz
Faculty who want to teach their own textbooks either have to donate their royalties to the University or to a charity of their choice.
If faculty want to keep their royalties they have to go through the textbook review committee. They aren’t allowed to teach that book until it has passed.
The Office of State Ethics, ruled that keeping the royalties from your own textbook that you have assigned to your class violates the state’s ethic’s code, unless they were previously reviewed and approved by a panel set up by the university. That policy was mandated in 2001.
At the beginning of each semester, faculty are sent an email providing them with the policy, what their options are and who to contact.
Michael Gendron, Ph.D., of Management Information Systems, was the first chair of that committee in 2001. Gendron, who will be teaching his own textbook in 2012, said that most faculty just “write out a check” to the university for the same amount as their royalites are.” When a faculty member has a unique book that they want to keep the royalties from, Gendron said that is when that faculty member will go through the process with the textbook review committee. As the first chair, Gendron said that he reviewed about five to seven books with the committee per year.
“There is a panel on campus that you have to apply to,” said Gendron of the process. “It’s a faculty driven process, as it should be. That committee will take your textbook and review it for uniqueness.” That committee does extensive research on the book and even talks to the booksellers to see just how unique it is, said Gendron. Most faculty opt for writing a check.
“It’s just easier,” said Gendron. “Quite frankly, if you are writing a textbook the number you sell within the state of Connecticut is very small compared to the number you hope to sell worldwide because it’s a global market now.”
Dean of Arts and Sciences, Susan Pease, agrees with Gendron, in the sense that faculty aren’t trying to make money here. Pease taught her own textbook when she was teaching because she felt “it was the best on the market otherwise, I wouldn’t have written it.”
“Believe me, no one writes a book so they can sell it to 35 CCSU students each year,” said Pease. She added that if faculty didn’t self-identify to the committee, how would anyone know that they are teaching their own textbooks.
Carolyn Magnan, Special Assistant to the President, said that the process is “self regulating because ethics violations are individual violations and not university violations.”
“If a faculty member decides to keep the royalties from assigning his or her own textbook to his or her class, without seeking prior approval of the [committee], this would be a violation of the State Ethics Code and would be a personal violation,” Magnan said. “Any fine levied by the Office of State Ethics would have to be paid by that faculty member out of their personal funds.”
Some, still, may have a problem with faculty using their own textbooks. When that happens, Pease argues that those people really don’t understand academia.
“They are peer reviewed by publishers who believe in the quality otherwise they wouldn’t invest in the publication,” said Pease. “As a matter of fact, why would someone write a book, have it published by a reputable publisher, and then use someone else’s text?”
Cynthia Pope, Professor of Geography, who is the current committee chair, said that she wrote a book and has yet to make money off of it. That particular book, which was co-edited, took four years to write.
Gendron said that he will donate the royalties from his book to the University when it comes out. He hopes that he will sell more books in business driven data communications outside of the University than he does within.
Ken Feder, Ph.D., Professor of Anthropology, who is a member of the textbook review committee, also teaches his own textbooks. One book that he teaches is in its seventh edition.
“It is used all over the US and Canada and, though it may seem like bragging on my part, it really is by far the most popular text on the topic of archaeological frauds and myths,” said Feder. “It would be silly to deny CCSU students the use of the best book on the subject just because the professor who wrote it is teaching the class and might make some money off of it.” Feder added that there are only three currently published books on the general topic.
On that particular book, Feder makes about $4 per student. And if his 30 students in that class buy the book new, since he makes no money off of used books, that’s $120. Feder said he writes a check at the end of the year to the Archaeological Conservancy for at least $100 even if less is due.