Textbook Adoption Information for Faculty

Important Terminology

• Bulldog Shop – Online bookstore for textbooks, course materials, and Drake merchandise.
• FAST – Course material adoption portal (run by eCampus) used by instructors and administrators.
• eCampus – Third-party vendor that runs the Bulldog Shop, both online and in the Olmsted Center.

The Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) is a federal law that requires institutions to provide a term’s course book information to students in the course schedule or campus bookstore portal before registration begins for that term. The purpose of the HEOA’s Textbook Information section is to “identify ways to decrease the cost of college textbooks and supplemental materials for students while supporting the academic freedom of faculty members to select high quality course materials for students.”

Here is a simplified explanation of what happens at the beginning of each term (specific dates are available on Drake’s Important Dates page):

• The previous term’s courses roll over to the new term in Banner (e.g., Fall 2023 rolls to Fall 2024), at which point Drake schedule builders add/remove courses to reflect the new term’s offerings.
• Six weeks before registration opens, schedule builders finalize courses and the new term is created in FAST. This is the date you can begin adopting materials in FAST for the upcoming term.
• Although textbook information does not automatically roll over in Banner or FAST, materials you previously adopted for a course in FAST are available for you to select and easily re-adopt by using the View Adoption History button. Instructions are available in this guide and at eCampus Help.
• On the Friday before registration opens for students, course material adoptions are due in FAST.

Drake has implemented a program called Course Ready, in which all required course materials adopted in the FAST portal are provided to undergraduate students by the first day of class for an affordable fee. For more information, read about Drake’s Course Ready Program.

Please make every effort to make your textbook(s) available in the FAST portal before class registration opens. Circumventing the bookstore—by providing students with direct links to purchasing sites via a course syllabus or Banner—not only violates the HEOA, but also prevents those materials from being included in the Course Ready program and creates additional work related to financial aid:

• Students whose financial aid pays for textbooks must seek out reimbursement for materials purchased outside of the Bulldog Shop, and Drake staff must spend time tracking down and processing those reimbursements.
• By contrast, when students purchase course materials through the Bulldog Shop, reimbursements are automatically processed by eCampus.
• If you encounter any issues adding an item to FAST, email the Drake Bookstore Team. With very rare exception, the Bookstore Team can find a way to make it available in the catalog. This absolutely includes non-textbook items like paintbrushes and lab goggles.

No Textbook Required

If your course will not require students to purchase course materials, please indicate that in FAST by selecting the “Textbooks are not required for this course” option. Doing so will prevent you from receiving periodic email reminders from eCampus to complete your course material adoptions.

This applies to anything that appears as a course on a student’s schedule, including independent studies, capstones, research assistantships, lessons, practica, internships, etc.

Late Adoptions

If a textbook adoption is submitted or changed after the adoption deadline, eCampus must review it before it appears in the Bulldog Shop. This review has nothing to do with academic freedom; rather, it allows eCampus to confirm availability and pricing before displaying course material to students.

Until eCampus has finished reviewing a late submission, the course will continue to appear in FAST as if adoptions have not been completed. If this condition lasts more than 24 business hours, contact drake@ecampus.com.

Instructions in Blackboard Learn

1. From the Institution Page in Blackboard Learn, locate the Technology Support for Instructors section. Click the link to “eCampus FAST Book Adoption.”
2. Click “Help” located in the top navigation.
3. Download the document(s) you need.
   1. FAST Guide – How to Select and Approve Course Materials
   2. Faculty FAQ
   3. Faculty Resource Guide

If you have questions, please email drake@ecampus.com.