1. A. The Legislature finds that:

   1. 1. The bundling of higher education textbooks, workbooks, CD-ROMs, and other course-related instructional materials can be unnecessary since many students do not use all of the materials included and may realize cost savings if materials are also offered separately; and
   2. 2. Many higher education faculty and staff select textbooks and instructional materials uninformed of the retail costs and differences between versions.

2. B. It is the intent of the Legislature to:

   1. 1. Give students enrolled in institutions in The Oklahoma State System of Higher Education more choices for purchasing textbooks and instructional materials;
   2. 2. Encourage higher education faculty and staff to work closely with bookstores and publishers to implement the least costly option without sacrificing educational content; and
   3. 3. Provide maximum cost savings to students.

3. C. As used in this section:

   1. 1. "Instructional material" means any textbooks, workbooks, CD-ROMs, and other course-related material required or recommended by the higher education faculty or staff for a given course; and
   2. 2. "Bundled" means a textbook and other supplemental instructional materials that may be packaged together to be sold as course materials for one price but shall not include instructional materials that are designed solely for sale as an integrated combination of two or more units or materials that cannot be sold separately due to third-party contractual agreements, custom editions, or special editions.

4. D. Each board of regents of an institution or group of institutions within The Oklahoma State System of Higher Education shall adopt an instructional material policy that requires:

   1. 1. Bookstores located on campus or bookstores which contract with the institution to provide bookstore services to students:

      1. a. provide students with the option of purchasing instructional materials that are unbundled when possible, disclose to faculty and staff the costs to students of purchasing instructional materials, and disclose publicly how new editions vary from previous editions,
      2. b. actively promote and publicize book buy-back programs, and
      3. c. disclose retail costs for instructional materials on a per-course basis to faculty and staff and make this information publicly available; and
   2. 2. Higher education faculty and staff members to consider the least costly practices in assigning instructional materials for a course, such as adopting the least expensive edition available when educational content is comparable as determined by the faculty and working closely with publishers and bookstores to create bundles and packages if they deliver cost savings to students.
5. E. In developing an instructional material policy as required in subsection D of this section, each board of regents shall work with and seek input from bookstores, publishers, students and faculty representatives.

6. F. Each publisher of instructional material used by students enrolled at institutions in The Oklahoma State System of Higher Education shall make available to the faculty and staff of that institution the:

   1. 1. Price at which the publisher will make the instructional materials available to bookstores, either those located on campus of the institution or those which have a contract with the institution to provide bookstore services to students; and
   2. 2. A list of the revisions for the instructional materials since the last published edition, if any.

Laws 2007, HB 2103, c. 368, § 2, eff. November 1, 2007.