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St. Cloud State University
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Prof strikes deal for students
By Nick Aaland
Published:
Monday, November 1, 2004
Media Credit: Matthew Kaster
Anand Mylavarapu studies the text professor Barry Schreiber uses for his class. Schrieber has saved students more than $58,000 each year for the past five years by negotiating with publishers.
An SCSU professor is saving students more than $58,000 a year.
Professor Barry Schreiber has taken it upon himself to fight against the high prices of textbooks.
Students enrolling into Criminal Justice Studies 111 are normally expected to buy a textbook and study guide that are valued at $105, but they don't have to spend that much anymore.
For the fifth year in a row, Schreiber has cut that cost by more than half.
Compared to other universities, SCSU's CJS 111: Criminal and Justice In America has an unusually large amount of students enrolled in the course. Approximately 1,000 students take the introductory criminal justice course each year.
"There are several excellent textbooks I could use for the course," Schreiber said. "It put me into a position to factor price into my choice."
Schreiber said that because there are so many books to choose from, and there are so many students taking the course, he can wheel and deal with the wholesalers.
"Both factors give me enough clout to win the wholesale pricing," Schreiber said.
When deciding which text to use, Schreiber narrowed his choice of books down to five. He called the wholesalers and told them he was looking for the best price and then the wholesalers began their bidding. The companies' competition allowed Schreiber to get the best price possible.
Schreiber has been at SCSU since 1979, and became a full professor in the department of criminal justice in 1986.
Schreiber has taken on many challenges, and he is part of many professional organizations such as; Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Xi, Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, American Society for Industrial Security and Police Futurist Society.
In 1986, he took on the challenge of ATM and night depository crime and security and he also helped in the matter of bank robbery prevention. As the principal investigator, it was his job to identify sources of ATM crime data, design the research and to develop the first detailed data collection instruments for this crime in the industry.
Getting involved in the community and the college, Schreiber took it upon himself to try and help his students.
"I can only imagine how hard it is on students who are working to pay for college," Schreiber said. "I'm doing what I can."
The discount of textbooks has helped the students in their financial savings. The books have gone from $108 to $42 and most students have taken advantage of it.
Schreiber sent out a notice at the beginning of the semester to all his students in the course about the discount on the books.
"I have a lot of empathy towards students," Schreiber said. "I'm a father of a college student and I have experienced the 52 percent increase in tuition in the last four years."
With tuition costs rising every year, professors are doing what they can to help with the costs for students. Textbook discounts is just a start for saving money while attending college.
"Some of the faculty are doing something (to reduce costs)," Schreiber said. "Students are like my clients and I have to look out for my clients like in a job."
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