Staff at the York University Bookstore hope that faculty and staff enjoyed a smooth start to the fall 2020 term given the continuous challenges that we all face this year.
With your support this September, the bookstore staff were able to implement exciting new ways to deliver course materials and to assist you and your students:
- Digital or e-book options – More than 40 per cent of students had a digital or e-book option for their content through the bookstore, which is two to three times faster than last year. This initiative not only increased the accessibility as the students gain instant access to their course materials but also increased affordability with students typically saving between 40 and 70 per cent compared to a printed textbook. The bookstore plans to make further progress for the winter 2021 term. There is no requirement to make a special request for digital. Let the bookstore staff know which title(s) you are using, and they will include digital if possible.
- First day of class access for digital course materials – 125 titles and more than 170 courses/sections were included the eClass eBook Program, which allowed students access to their book for free through eClass until Sept. 23. With this program faculty receive free e-access for the full semester.
- Improved shipping time for printed course materials – the average time from order receipt to shipment was 24 hours or less, much faster than last year and 92 per cent of students surveyed said that the time to deliver met or exceeded their expectations (Bookstore Student Survey Sept 2020 – n>5200)
- Free bookstore pickup by appointment – a safe way to allow students living nearby to get their online order safely and even faster. A pickup typically took two minutes or less and 96 per cent of students surveyed report that the service met or exceeded their expectations.
- Customer service – with a dedicated team bookstore staff were able to answer more than 2000 inquiries daily through a ticket system and ensure we offered the support to all customers who needed help.
As you work towards planning for winter 2021 term, we want to ensure you that York University Bookstore plans to support you and your students in every way possible. Staff are standing ready and are available to work on sourcing the required course materials in every format available and to make them available to students much earlier than the first day of class. Every textbook and course pack submission received by Oct. 19 will help us meet that goal for the upcoming winter term. For custom course materials and for titles coming from overseas, the lead time could be between eight and 16 weeks. Also note that books from previous semesters are not normally retained. Whenever possible, please notify bookstore staff of winter 2021 term requirements and we will either retain left over books or re-order them.
How to place your order:
- Course Materials orders can be submitted to the bookstore buyers by email. A list of subjects purchased by buyer can be found here.
- Keele Campus textbook buyers:
- Alan Madsen – amadsen@yorku.ca
- Elisa Morera – emorera@yorku.ca
- Frank Ennis – fennis@yorku.ca
- Gerard Stocker – gstocker@yorku.ca
- Glendon Campus textbook buyer:
- Gerard Stocker – gstocker@yorku.ca
- Through the online ordering system – If you do not already have a login account and password, faculty and staff can email orders@yorku.ca. For detailed step-by-step instructions on how to use our Textbook Requisition Platform please download this document.
Course kits:
The York University Course Kit Centre is located at 043 Central Square. Please call 416-736-2100, ext. 20203 or 40727 or email ckits@yorku.ca for more information or to get your order started.
In order to ensure availability of course kit or case books for the winter term before or on the first day of class, we need your materials by Oct. 19. Materials submitted after Oct.19 will still be accepted. Printing Services can review the materials and let you know an approximate availability date within 48 hours. Every effort will be made to have the casebooks available as soon as possible.
For help and suggestions Laura Deszpa, manager of Business Development and Purchasing, will be available at ext. 22063 or ldeszpa@yorku.ca.