No one knows more about a faculty member's textbook selection better than the faculty themselves. For this reason, accurate ZTC course marking relies on faculty reporting whether their courses use entirely zero-cost course materials.
The overall process is no different than what you are used to! When you report information about your courses to your department chair/director in the usual way, simply indicate whether each one is a ZTC course section. When your department chair/director has completed the schedule, the designated scheduler for your department will ensure that your course sections are coded appropriately for Banner/UAOnline.
Be sure to view the Commonly Asked Questions on the main tab of this guide for basic information about ZTC course marking at UAA.
Every course section that has zero total course materials cost should be marked ZTC.
For the purposes of calculating total cost, all required course materials for each course are considered; optional materials are disregarded. Recall that required course materials are those that are essential for success in the course while optional materials may be helpful but are not necessary. When a course material can be accessed online for free and also has a print format available for purchase, the former should be listed as required in the UAA bookstore and the latter should be listed as optional.
Course materials are those resources used to convey course information or evaluate student performance, including (but not limited to): books/ebooks, lab manuals, workbooks, and homework/courseware systems. Course supplies (such as calculators, art supplies, and lab safety equipment) and fees (except when assessed specifically for access to required course materials) are not included in calculating course materials costs.
Continue reading for sample scenarios that may help you navigate your particular situation.
If you are unsure whether your course should be marked ZTC, contact D'Arcy Hutchings (dlhutchings@alaska.edu) for guidance.
Dr. Wu uses an Openstax (OER) textbook for her Business Ethics course. It is available freely online but a print copy can be purchased as well. She wants students to choose the format that works best for them. The course requires no other course materials.
This course should be marked ZTC. Further, when Dr. Wu enters her course textbook adoptions in the bookstore system, she should list the print copy as optional rather than required and explain in the notes field that the book is freely available online.
Professor Adams uses an OER textbook with a low-cost homework system ($25) for their College Algebra course.
This course should not be marked ZTC since some of the course materials have a cost.
Dr. Chadha teaches CHEM 103L, the lab course for General Chemistry. His students are not required to buy a textbook or lab manual but they must buy a chemistry model building kit, lab coat, and safety goggles. Someone else teaches CHEM 103 (lecture) and they use a commercial textbook. That textbook is not needed to be successful in CHEM 103L (lab).
CHEM 103L should be marked ZTC; all items bought for this course are considered supplies, not course materials. CHEM 103 (lecture) should not be marked ZTC. Course markings are specific to each section.
Professor. Kaitaq teaches Beginning Handbuilt Ceramics. Students aren't required to buy anything for the course, but they do pay a course fee that covers the clay and glazes they use during the semester, as well as shared tools, supplies, and equipment.
This course should be marked ZTC. If any of the fee went toward the purchase of course materials for a specific student (such as a textbook that they keep or a homework system), then this would not be marked ZTC.
Dr. Novak doesn't use a textbook for Sociology of Globalization. Instead she uses a mix of journal articles accessed through the Consortium Library and links to materials freely available on the web. All of the materials are "all rights reserved" copyrighted materials so none of them are OER.
This course should be marked ZTC. Students do not have to pay anything to access these materials so they are considered ZTC. It does not matter whether they are OER.
Dr. Carson has never used course materials for their Psychology Practicum course in the past. They will continue not using course materials.
This course should be marked ZTC.
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