State Legislation

Texas passed House Bill 2504, the first legislation of its kind, requiring that all course syllabi be accessible online and within no more than three clicks from the college homepage. The infrastructure had to be in place to meet these unfunded mandates in less than a year.

The University of North Texas reported that even before this legislation passed, they had opened their walls by developing a public‑facing faculty profile system. They have already invested $100,000 to expand their current system and process tenure faculty CV’s. They are now working on adding adjunct and teaching fellow information.

Federal Legislation

Over the last decade, we have experienced the impact on government policy in state higher education. The Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) with its many regulations that effect higher ed processes, including requirement(s) related to textbooks, has sparked interest and controversy throughout higher ed.

For the first time, schools have the power to easily meet federal mandates including the HEOA requirements that state schools must post textbook information prior to student registration. But what is the cost for creating a system that allows students to access book information prior to registering for class?

Barnes & Noble has even found a way to help schools and students combat the costs of books while meeting HEOA mandates.