Faculty Requisitions and FAQs

                            THIS PAGE IS INTENDED FOR SFU FACULTY AND STAFF

 

Digital and Physical Course Material Requests

This page is intended for SFU Faculty and Staff that are teaching classes that require the ordering of physical/digital course materials. SFU Bookstore uses Online Course Adoptions (OCA), a textbook requisition management system to collect and manage textbook requisitions to order course materials for the upcoming term.  If you normally submit textbook requisitions directly to the Bookstore, please continue to do so.  If a Departmental coordinator submits them upon your behalf, please continue to coordinate with your department.

How to submit your textbook adoptions in Three Easy Steps:

  1. A "login button" will be sent to you in a separate email when the new requisition period opens. The login button will let you log into OCA directly without the need for MFA.  We find this method the easiest for all parties.
    Haven't received a login button email?  Please email textbook@sfu.ca
    If you are new to SFU, welcome! To obtain your new user access along with your personalized login button email, please email textbook@sfu.ca, with "New OCA User Account" in the subject line and what course(s)/section(s) you will be teaching.  
  2. Select your course materials.  Follow the OCA How-to guide OCA_Requisition_System_How_To.pdf
    If you do not see your course, or if the course assignment is for someone else, please email textbook@sfu.ca.
  3. Submit by the deadline
                        Adoption Submission Deadlines
    Term Open Date Due Date
    Fall May June 15
    Spring Sept October 15
    Summer February March 1
                        Course Pack Submission Deadlines
    Term Due Date  
    Fall June 30th  
    Spring October 30th  
    Summer February 28th  

        Thank you in advance for your support to get your physical & digital adoptions to us on time. 

Looking for extra assistance?

Please see the following Online Course Adoption (OCA) How-To Guide

 

 Frequently Asked Questions

Why work with the Bookstore?  Why do you need to know what course materials that I will be using for my course?

As part of Campus Services, we strive to support faculty and student learning at Simon Fraser University by ensuring we provide all course material information to students, whether you order textbooks, use OER, user your own materials, or no textbook at all.  Student sponsorships also benefit from knowing what course materials you will be using, so that they can get access to their materials.  Lastly, students using the Single Sign On/My Personalized Course List are able to find what course materials they need based on what faculty and departments adopt through the Bookstore, compared to what courses they've registered with, saving time and effort from selecting each individual course to find textbooks.

Will the Bookstore be selling print course materials?

In our most recent student survey, 75% of students preferred Digital, while 25% of students preferred Physical.  In our most recent sales history results, 80% of students purchased Digital, while 20% of students purchased Physical.  We also monitor student buying patterns, as well as listen to Faculty/Staff input to order accordingly.  If there is a digital option available, in general, the Bookstore will not be ordering physical copies of the same title.  However, as we navigate towards future terms, we will be ordering more and more limited quantities of physical textbooks as student demand increases. 

I don't see my course, what do I do?

Continuing Studies, FIC and other non-credit courses that are not a part of SIMS/SIS are added manually into Online Course Adoptions (OCA) upon email request to textbook@sfu.ca. 

Are there any other sources for course materials?

In addition to VitalSource, please click the links below for additional resources:

What if I find a digital option for my textbook on RedShelf or Kobo?

We have worked with VitalSource and Campus eBookstore to ensure access for all of our students, regardless of their geographical location. Kobo & Redshelf have limitations for access outside of North America, and we strongly encourage you to choose VitalSource or Campus eBookstore as a digital option, as there may be potential privacy issues for students as well.

The publisher has given me a link to their website. Can I just post this for my students?

If possible, please notify the Bookstore so we can ask the publisher to use one of our preferred vendors. The Bookstore is not able to provide additional support to students if they encounter any issues with the publishers.

How do I obtain a desk copy for my course?

Please contact publishers directly for physical and electronic desk copies.  Each publisher has their own criteria for desk copies.  Some publishers only have fillable online web forms as well.  Please email textbook@sfu.ca if you require further assistance.

What if I have questions about creating Course Packs?

A Course Pack request can consist of one or any of the following:

  • Excerpt of a book/journal, which exceeds 10% of a book
  • A chapter of a book, which exceeds 10% of the total number of pages of a book
  • Multiple chapters from the same book
  • Multiple articles from a journal
  • Any short stories from a book

Please find additional information regarding copyright by clicking the SFU Library Copyright at SFU link here or email copy@sfu.ca.

Course Pack Submission Deadlines

Fall June 30th
Spring October 30th
Summer February 28th
 

 

 

You can submit coursepack requests or any questions regarding the above to coursematerials_coordinator@sfu.ca.

What if I have changes/late submissions?

If you have any changes regarding your course material adoptions after they are submitted in Online Course Adoptions (OCA) (course cancellations, dropping a textbook, deciding not to use it after the fact, etc.), please contact us right away at textbook@sfu.ca. Any changes made after physical textbooks have shipped to the Bookstore, may incur additional administrative costs such as one-way outbound return shipping charges back to the Publisher at the Department's expense.  

Alternatively, we understand that late submissions happen.  If you have a late submission (newly hired sessionals, new sections added, additional textbook to use, etc.) after our adoption deadline, it will be placed on an Internal Rush (ie. we will drop everything and work on your textbook orders as a priority).  Also, If you wish to have an External Rush (ie. provide a Departmental Charge Account Number to pay for expedited shipping from the Publisher to the Bookstore), we can accommodate this request as well. This would apply for physical books, not digital eBooks.

Where and when can my students purchase their upcoming term's course materials?

Now that you have submitted your Course Material requisitions to the Bookstore, students can login here and get their personalized course materials list to purchase their upcoming term's course materials approximately 2-3 weeks prior to the course start date.