An initiative to switch from paid textbooks to free resources in the department of criminal justice has saved students $283,438 during the current school year.
The initiative started in 2017 when the department of criminal justice was awarded $30,000 from the provost’s office plus $8,000 from MERLOT (Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching).
The department encouraged its faculty to voluntarily switch – and was recognized for its efforts with a Gold Award for Digital Innovation from the University of North Carolina System in 2019 – but last year decided to convert all but two of its courses to free resources.
“Anecdotally, students really love it,” said Jessica Davis Ganao, Ph.D., associate professor and department chair.
For the 12 tenure-track and 11 adjunct faculty, there is work involved. The James E. Shepard Library helps criminal justice faculty search for articles, videos, e-books and other free sources of information for students.
“It could take minutes, hours or days,” said Danielle Colbert-Lewis, Ed.D., assistant director of library services.
The department of criminal justice also gets help from the Office of Faculty and Professional Development and the Office of E-Learning.
Students at North Carolina Central University (NCCU) spend an average of $1,500 per school year on books. One textbook previously used in a criminal justice course cost $150, Ganao said.
In addition to converting away from books, the department of criminal justice helps students save money by reducing time to graduation by offering eight-week courses and accelerated degree programs, Ganao said.