Over the summer, Southern Adventist University’s Campus Shop switched from a physical college bookstore model to an online-based system through a partnership with textbook company MBS Direct.
Campus Shop manager, Danita Payne said that the change is a way to “save students money,” while offering as many options for textbooks as possible, whether they’re used, new, rented, or e-books. Students will also be able to see whether a book is required for a course or if it is just optional.
Payne spoke on the deliberate process of implementing this process.
“Three months of research was done to find the right company,” Payne said. “MBS Direct has been quick to resolve any issues that have come up.”
According to Payne, the main problem they have encountered with going online occurred at the start of the semester when students who had not checked their emails before school went to the store expecting to buy books that were no longer available.
Her advice to students regarding this issue is to be watching out for emails. Besides that, Payne says that overall, things have been going well since this change was introduced.
The change has “not affected book purchases in a negative way,” Payne said.
A few faculty members and students have shared their thoughts on the new way to acquire textbooks.
“I’ve had several students who have expressed difficulty using the system and I still have some students who don’t have their textbooks yet.” said Clarise Nixon, Assistant Professor in the English Department.
“The concept is good, however, this semester I would say that there needs to be improvements,” psychology major Moriah Shadley said. “I had several classes whose book lists never got on the site. Therefore, I got to classes and did not have the materials needed.”
While there were some students who have struggled with the new system, there are also some who have not had any issues.
“I don’t mind it, I don’t think it’s an inconvenience. It’s pretty simple because you see everything you need such as what’s required and optional. I felt like it was efficient.” said Hannah D’Avanzo, a junior broadcast journalism major.
History and Political Studies Assistant Professor Shannon Martin shared her thoughts on the new system as well.
“I think that obviously whenever you change to a new system there are some hiccups as you transition. Many students have struggled to get their books on time, and so that’s been a bit of a struggle with trying to provide more scanning of books as we start out the semester.” said Martin.
