Because professors select the textbooks students must buy, they are caught in the center of a debate over book prices and industry practices.
Experts say professors are increasingly concerned about what students shell out but must balance easing financial burdens with finding high-quality materials that complement their courses. They face a web of procedures and choices - from customizing books, to writing their own, to forgoing them altogether.
Professors and departments find out about new textbooks from publishers' catalogs and sales representatives, Business Services spokeswoman Barbara Lea-Kruger said.
Orders placed earlier - the Penn Bookstore begins outreach for spring semester in late September - allow more time to stock used versions. Students can also search more successfully for used copies if they know what books they need ahead of time.
Lea-Kruger added that the Bookstore is working to make faculty more aware of the "authority and influence" they have on publisher practices that inflate prices - like de-bundling extra materials or holding onto old editions, which keeps the used book option on the table.
"Ultimately, professors are the ones who choose their books and we have to honor their choices," she said.
Albert Greco, a Fordham University Graduate School of Business professor who studies publishing, said faculty's main considerations when choosing books are ancillary products - like PowerPoint slides and chapter outlines - followed by content, accuracy and finally price.
English and Cinema Studies professor Peter Decherney said the best textbooks are like the best teachers: "clear, concise and know their audience."
He added that if he chooses a pricey text, he tries not to make students buy other books.
Economics professor and associate undergraduate chairman Aureo de Paula said price is a concern but "a cheap book with poor content is not a choice."
Lea-Kruger said more professors are submitting book orders earlier, which shows they're sympathetic to student budgets. They are also exploring other options that could cut costs, like electronic and customized books.
De Paula tried a customized book - commercial texts personally adapted by professors - but said some students complained about lower resale value.
Economics professor Gwen Eudey, who uses customized books in two courses, said modified mass-market books are often cheaper because they include less material.
But books for specific classes or niche markets don't save much, she said. Initial costs are lower without extensive reviews and editing, but prices are still high because fewer students buy them.
Most professors have a "hands-off" relationship with publishers, Greco said, but the minority who author their own texts play a different game.
Eudey is currently writing a mass-market macroeconomics book, prompted by a publisher interested in her customized text. Other times, professors approach agents with ideas.
Text and Academic Author Association executive director Richard Hull said when professors make their books required reading, there is often controversy over whether they are trying to profit off students or are just using the most suitable materials.
Hull said he recommends professors give students rebates on the royalties they would have earned or contribute them to a student fund.
Another thorny issue in the textbook trade is publishers paying professors to select a certain book - which Hull said is unethical and has "an air of a bribe."
Greco added that the practice is "exceptionally uncommon." In his 13 years as a professor, "nobody has offered me anything except a book," he added.
Some professors forgo textbooks altogether, instead using bulk packs, Internet forums and hand-outs to teach.
Developing technologies - such as journal articles on Blackboard and open-access books available for free online - enable professors to conduct class with less reliance on traditional textbooks.
Statistics professor Paul Shaman uses online notes for a course for which he could not find an appropriate book.
"My motivation was, I couldn't find a textbook that I liked," he said. The switch "had the added benefit of lower cost."
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