The course materials landscape seems to be a moving target these days as schools and stores navigate evolving formats and delivery models. Keeping pace with course materials processes and technologies while trying to keep operations and costs in check can be a challenge.
Seeking help from a course materials partner can be beneficial. Course materials partners offer a variety of support options–some more tailored than others–but all with a similar objective: to get course materials into students’ hands. That said, their strategies and capabilities can differ.
Choosing the right course materials partner requires careful consideration. While the obvious factors around experience and size play a role, schools today are digging deeper, dissecting and comparing competencies to see how they align with the school’s unique needs and specific goals. As you take a hard look at your course materials program, how does your course materials partner or prospective partner stack up in the following categories?
- Financial transparency
Your course materials partner should be an open book when it comes to the numbers. It’s important that you have a clear understanding of how pricing is calculated and what goes into the equation, including publisher and content pricing, the student sell price, school commissions, and any partner fees.Additionally, having a course materials partner that reconciles usage and fees can have a big impact on your bottom line. This keeps you from blindly paying unverified invoices. Whether making sure the price quoted is the price reflected on the invoice, or ensuring you are only invoiced for actual usage and not total enrollments, or backing out fees for unnecessary duplicate purchases and dropped students, ask your course materials partner if they have the financial controls in place so you don’t overpay.
- Flexibility
There is nothing worse than being told what you have to do and how you have to do it. It’s important that you have the power to steer your course materials vision in whatever way best supports your faculty and students. For example, you may want to offer an Online Bookstore for all students and Equitable Access for specific programs. Or you may prefer to outsource inventory and fulfillment, but you want to handle distribution. Or maybe you want a partner to handle digital while you manage print yourself. Ask your course materials partner if they customize access and delivery by course, program, or school.
- Reporting and analytics
It’s not enough to just have access to data; it needs to mean something. It’s important that you understand what your data is telling you. It’s even better if you can access all your data in one centralized location rather than jumping from platform to platform. Ask your course materials partner if they provide simple, centralized access to all analytics. Data should be presented in applicable ways, even from different viewpoints, so you can decipher what it means within the context of your own program. When your data is aggregated across all your systems, it is easier to gauge costs, trends, and opportunities.Real-time reporting functionality through a Course Materials Platform can also help you improve student services, and ultimately retention, through actionable analytics. For example, you can easily retrieve access codes for students who can’t locate them, and you can modify the amount a student may spend on course materials using financial aid or school approved vouchers. You also can easily see if students have not purchased course materials and even how they are engaging with digital materials.
- Dedicated inventory
Unavailable materials can put a damper on the learning experience. It’s important that your course materials partner deliver the right materials to students, at the right time. Dedicated inventory that is not shared with other schools or marketplaces minimizes backorders and out-of-stock items. Course materials are ready and waiting for your students, and your students only. As a bonus, ask your course materials partner who pays inventory carrying costs. Financial models that bill based on fulfillment and not total inventory on hand can dramatically reduce your financial risk.
- IT services
Your IT team has enough to worry about without adding course materials management to its plate. It’s important that everything is integrated so your systems work together and your students have easy access. Having a course materials partner that manages and maintains all integrations takes a tremendous burden off your IT team and infrastructure. Additionally, ask your partner how they approach custom integrations and projects, if there is a fee, and what level of responsibility is expected from your team.
The bottom line is that no two course materials programs are alike, and neither are the course materials partners behind them. Course materials partners bring different competencies to the table. Asking hard questions will tell you if those competencies align with your goals.
Depending on your program objectives, you need to decide how important it is to have a partner that provides 360-degree insights, one that lets you dictate the direction of your program, one that prioritizes data visibility, one that ensures materials are available when students need them, and one that does the heavy lifting. After all, it’s your course materials program, and it should be done your way.
Original Publication:
https://www.ecampusnews.com/teaching-learning/2025/01/22/5-things-to-look-for-in-a-course-materials-partner/
eSchool Media Contributors
Rob Heller, Ambassador Education Solutions
Rob Heller is Vice President of Sales at Ambassador Education Solutions. Rob has extensive experience working with colleges, universities, and bookstores to create and enhance student and school experiences with course materials. At Ambassador, Rob helps schools and stores implement Online Bookstores, Inclusive and Equitable Access programs, and other models that meet their financial objectives, overcome IT challenges, and are tailored to students’ needs.
