Clerk Claudia Fetcho sorts through textbooks Wednesday at the UNLV Bookstore, which is run by Barnes & Noble. Nevada's public colleges and universities have submitted their plans to reduce textbook prices after being asked by regents in October to develop the plans. Photo by John Locher.

Plans released last week by college and university officials to reduce the cost of textbooks for students aren't likely to make a difference, according to at least one university regent.

"There's nothing substantive in there that's going to reduce textbook prices, unfortunately," Regent Steve Sisolak said.

Regents, led by Linda Howard, who is no longer on the board, asked the universities in October to come up with a plan to reduce textbook costs, including reviewing and recommending whether college bookstore contracts should be revised, renewed or terminated.

But none of the plans presented by the colleges include any such recommendations.

Instead, most of the plans put the focus of lowering textbook costs on the professors who order them.

Sisolak said encouraging professors to turn in their book orders on time could be the only way that universities can put a dent in the skyrocketing price of textbooks.

Turning book orders in on time allows bookstores to order used textbooks from other companies ahead of time, according to Anne Kingsley, UNLV associate vice president for Student Life Administration.

When those orders are late, fewer used textbooks are available, and the bookstore is stuck ordering new books.

"That's the most important thing they can do to lower textbook prices," Kingsley said of focusing on professors.

UNLV interim co-provost Michael Bowers said he has tried to discourage professors from being tardy in turning in their book orders and has asked the bookstore to send him a list each semester of the classes that miss those deadlines.

"I think, honestly, that faculty were not aware what effects their actions could have on textbook prices," Bowers said.

Kingsley said 80 percent of instructors turn in their book orders on time. The number of professors meeting that deadline increased 2.2 percent between spring 2006 and spring 2007, she said.

The percentage increase was lower than what university officials had been expecting, but was "a good sign," Kingsley said.

Howard had said students spend roughly $900 on books each year, and most students have become resigned to the fact that they'll spend hundreds of dollars on textbooks each semester.

Other regents contacted said they hadn't looked at the plans yet, but conceded there was little that colleges, many saddled with contracts with private companies to run their bookstores, could do to influence market prices.

The University of Nevada, Reno, and Nevada State College, which both own and operate their own bookstores, laid out what seemed to be aggressive plans.

UNR's plan includes partnering with two used book companies to provide more used textbooks for students; creating a bookstore advisory committee made up of faculty, departmental assistants and students; and developing a Web site for UNR faculty to find cheaper textbooks.

Nevada State College formed an ad hoc committee to look at textbook prices and come up with a Faculty Senate policy on textbook ordering and a faculty textbook purchasing "code of ethics."

The college in Henderson also placed on the bookstore Web site a list of alternative sources for students to purchase their books.

Regent Howard Rosenberg said UNR's bookstore is better able to reduce textbook prices because the university owns and operates the bookstore.

"Our textbooks have always been less expensive than everybody else's," he said.

UNLV has a contract with bookseller Barnes & Noble for the national chain to operate the bookstore through 2009. Bowers said the university was pleased with its contract with the national bookseller.

The average markup by college bookstores, including the bookstore at UNR, is 25 percent, while the UNLV bookstore's markup is 20 percent.

The UNLV Bookstore is also looking at developing a textbook rental program.

The idea "is fairly new in the industry," Kingsley said. "It's something on our plate to start looking at."

She said there were significant obstacles to the program, however. The bookstore must buy all of the books upfront and strike a deal with book publishers to make sure a new edition of the book doesn't come out for a few years.

At the least, Kingsley said, a rental program with the most popular titles could be put in place.

The Community College of Southern Nevada, where the textbook can often cost more than the course, already has a textbook rental program funded through donations and available to low-income students who apply.

The college also has several other textbook scholarship programs. In December, the CCSN Faculty Senate approved a textbook policy that would encourage instructors to make an effort to use the same textbook for at least two years.

Other college plans include discouraging professors from ordering books with supplemental materials that are often not used; developing more aggressive book-buyback policies; and having professors become more aware of the cost of the books for students.