11/01/2023
By Julie Nash and Donna Mellen
We are pleased to announce that no cost and low cost course marking attributes will be added to the Student Information System (SIS) in time for spring 2024 student registration. The course attributes can be filtered at the section level to indicate if the textbook costs of their courses are either:
- No cost ($0) course materials attribute
- Low cost ($50 or less) course materials attribute
This is part of a larger initiative directed by the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education (DHE) Statewide OER Advisory Council and includes all Massachusetts public higher education institutions. The MA DHE has identified course markings as a method to provide transparency for students who are seeking courses using no- or low-cost course materials to reduce their textbook costs, increase affordability of their college education, and provide equity to students who are unable to pay for textbooks.
This data will be reported to the MA DHE on an annual basis. At UMass Lowell, many of our faculty have been using no and low cost textbooks for years. Adding these course markings in SIS will help students make informed decisions during registration. The OER Task force --including members from the Provost’s Office, faculty, Registrar, Academic Technology, University Relations Web Services , Library, Data Analytics & Institutional Research (DAIR), Administrative Services, Bookstore, and Student Government Association (SGA) -- has been working to advance this initiative for several years.
This job aid (pdf) provides instructions for students on how to search for no and low cost attributes in SIS.
Students should continue to seek financial aid and bookstore vouchers to assist with the costs of textbooks. Since this initiative is new, not all courses will be identified with course attributes. We expect it will take time to spread word across campus and we encourage students to do their own research on textbook costs through the Bookstore website.
Please email OER@uml.edu if you have questions.