By JADEN MOUNT
Fort Hays State University announced it will be closing the on-campus university bookstore next week. The announcement came in an email from Vice President of Student Affairs Joey Linn to faculty and staff.
The email read:
“Starting with the Fall 2018 term, Fort Hays State University will be launching a new online bookstore for all textbooks and course materials while the campus store will be revamped into a spirit store that sells branded merchandise, school supplies and other items.”
The store, located in the Memorial Union, will be renamed Tiger Spirit Shop.
According to Linn, students will benefit in several ways from the online conversion. The benefits include a personalized page, multiple, low-cost options, and free shipping for orders more than $49.
Mike Barnett, vice president of administration and finance, said the decision to institute an online bookstore is to provide lower costs to FHSU students.
“Most students are already purchasing online,” Barnett said, “and with the company we decided to go with, Akademos, their model is — I call it the Progressive insurance model, where they will do price comparisons for students at Amazon and Chegg and other places … other online book services and allow students to purchase the most efficient, most cost-effective book that they can find.”
College tuition has continued to rise in Kansas and throughout the country. Barnett believes lowering the cost of “materials required for class” will save students in the long run.
The closing of the FHSU University Bookstore will pin Tiger Book Shop, located across the road from Picken Hall, as the closest and only physical bookstore in Hays.
No comment has been made by that business.
Another piece of FHSU also might be affected. In April, Student Government Association Presidential Candidate Adam Schibi and Vice Presidential Candidate Kayelani Kirschbaum released their campaign platform with a section titled “Affordability.” The section laid out their ideas to keep Fort Hays affordable for students, including promoting open resource textbooks.
Since then, the two successfully won the offices in the election and were sworn in in early May for the upcoming school year.
In a statement by Schibi, he said:
“This was a great step in the right direction. There was quite a bit of student input that was taken into account when this decision was made, from focus groups to simply talking to students about their experiences within the bookstore. As the cost of textbooks continue to rise, and various organizations/companies/corporations continue to add to that rise in cost, students and administrators are taking notice. This decision was made with the belief that there is a cheaper alternative, that the students’ interest is the most important, and that taking input from all parties is the best way to go. Going forward, we believe that by continuing to look at alternative options, such as open resource textbooks, a similar pattern will occur. We are excited to continue to push in this direction.”
No official date for the conversion process was mentioned in the announcement.
Stay tuned to Tiger Media Network and KFHS Online Radio on this developing story.