This year, Haven Books is providing a five per cent discount to students who buy their textbooks at the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA)-run bookstore before Sept. 1.
This is a good initiative to cut back on the exorbitant cost of textbooks and to encourage students to shop local. However, many students will be unable to take advantage of this discount because many professors have not yet provided the syllabi for their courses.
Many students will not know what textbooks they need to buy until they receive their syllabi in the first week of classes.
Additionally, the course descriptions provided when signing up for classes are often vague and sometimes don’t reflect the course material. As a result, some students have to wait until the first or second week of classes before deciding whether or not they wish to remain enrolled in a course.
Professors at Carleton should be required to post their course syllabi on cuLearn before the first week of September so that students can plan their textbook purchases and their course selections accordingly.
