In the past, many students have often found themselves procrastinating during the lazy days of summer. In the same vein, ordering textbooks for fall classes would seem to be the last thing on any student’s mind. The Student Government Association recognized this and initiated a system to allow students to order their textbooks for summer and fall 2010 semesters beginning this spring.

“We are constantly looking for ways to make student’s lives easier at the Capstone,” said former SGA President Steven Oliver. “With the information now online early, students can save time researching required materials while also receiving valuable class information in time to adequately order their books.”

Oliver helped to establish this method of finding and ordering textbooks in advance. This information is found below the scheduled meeting times on the Class Schedule Listing page in myBama. After following the “Look Up Classes” link on the student tab, students should search for classes as they normally would. Once the listing of available classes appears, they should click on the hyperlinked CRN to see the textbook information for that particular class.  Caitlin Corsetti, a sophomore majoring in English and telecommunications and film, said she is enthusiastic about the prospect of being able to have reading material for class from the first day of school in August.

“I think this is a good idea,” Corsetti said. “This semester, for example, I couldn’t get a book because we were not allowed to order it early through the University, and the publisher stopped producing it by the time class started. It’s also frustrating to spend time over summer going online to search for your textbooks.”

The link on myBama even shows which books are required, recommended, and optional to assist them in choosing what textbooks they wish to purchase. Jordan Ross, a freshman majoring in general business, said that being able to buy books now would give students more time to make sure they have the right books and supplies for their own classes.

“There are many distractions in the summer, and students tend to forget about school, so it’s better to be able to order them as soon as you can instead of remembering a day or two before classes start,” Ross said.

This joint effort between the SGA, University registrar, the SUPE Store, the division of financial affairs, and office of information technology is off to a good start so far, officials said.

“This is a great tool that will help students prepare for summer and fall classes and will aid them in finding the best price for available textbooks,” said Tyler Reed, the former vice president for academic affairs.

“We encourage students to utilize the Supply Store because they give back to the University with every purchase.”  The University Supply Store will be updating textbook periodically.