UI bookstore expresses concern over availability of spring course materials
With ongoing supply chain complications, Illini Union Bookstore shares their worries about spring course materials not arriving on time with less than half of spring courses submitting their materials on the due date of Oct. 7.
November 15, 2021
The University sent out a Massmail on Wednesday asking academic departments to submit their spring course materials to the Illini Union Bookstore, noting that submissions were due Oct. 7.
According to Tod Petrie, director of the IUB, 42% of spring course materials have been submitted as of Friday.
“It is not abnormal for what we normally get right now,” Petrie said. “We are just concerned about the supply chain.”
The IUB requests course material from the University department three times a year — on April 7 for the fall, on Oct. 7 for the spring and on March 20 for summer classes.
“We request those at that time for various reasons,” Petrie said. “But the main reason is so that we have the information in enough time to do the research to bring in the correct books and to make sure we are stocked.”
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Petrie noted that with the ongoing supply chain issues caused by the pandemic, if course materials are not submitted fast enough, they may not arrive in time. Accordingly, Petrie encourages departments to submit their course materials sooner than normal.
“This is something that we’re concerned about because of the struggle in the whole supply chain from the lumber, to the pulp to make the paper, to the publishers not printing as much, to trucking and shipping,” Petrie said.
Petrie hopes this will not negatively impact students, saying “that’s why we sent out the Massmail.”
“Every year, there’s an impact on students when, for whatever reason, a faculty member changes a book,” he said. “We’re just trying to get ahead of the curve.”
