Conference to Address Textbook Affordability Takes Place in April 

OBERLIN, OHIO, March 18, 2016 – The Textbook Affordability Conference 2016 will bring together teams consisting of campus administrators, faculty and leaders from the library, campus store, and IT department to find ways to make course materials more affordable, accessible and effective for students. Sponsored by the National Association of College Stores (NACS), the conference takes place April 27-29 at the University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA. Registration information is at tac.nacs.org.

Collaborating with NACS on this year’s conference are the Association of American Publishers (AAP)-Higher Education, California Association of College Stores, California State University’s Affordable Learning Solutions, NASPA: Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, and OpenStax.

Keynote speaker Adela de la Torre, vice chancellor, student affairs and campus diversity, UC Davis, will talk about how students’ success trumps all other imperatives. In addition, Mark Milliron, co-founder and chief learning officer, Civitas Learning, and Lisa Petrides, president, Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education, will offer input on how course materials can be more affordable and accessible to students.

“Our goal with this conference is to guide teams of campus professionals and industry service providers towards the creation of new course content models for their campuses,” said Tony Ellis, vice president of industry advancement for NACS. “We must build collaborative processes that will produce more affordable course material options, which is so critical to student learning, retention, and completion. Solutions to textbook affordability happen when all stakeholders are engaged in the conversation.”

Groups of three or more from the same institution will receive a discount on the conference registration rate. The NACS Foundation is offering a limited number of grants for campus stores to attend the conference. Applications will be accepted through March 25, 2016.

About The National Association of College Stores

The National Association of College Stores (NACS) is the professional trade association representing the $10 billion collegiate retailing industry. NACS represents nearly 4,000 campus retailers and approximately 1,000 industry-related companies that supply course materials and other merchandise and services to campus stores. NACS provides education and other resources that help its member stores support student success, the campus experience, and the academic missions of higher education institutions. NACS is headquartered in Oberlin, Ohio. Additional information can be found online at www.nacs.org.