Textbook Resources for Faculty – FAQ

Knowledge of course material requirements helps students proactively balance course load based on reading demands and the cost of course materials. Timely posting of textbook adoptions is required by the HEOA and has the strong support of the student body. PLU students continue to endorse the availability of textbook information online and have indicated it aids in course selection and managing the costs of their education at PLU.

The PLU Lute Locker has partnered with MBS Direct to ensure PLU is in compliance with the HEOA. This mandate requires course material information (including that no text is required) be available to students at the time of registration. PLU’s textbook team collects, reviews and submits course information and makes it available to students on the MBS Direct website.

Verba Collect is the online tool that faculty use to adopt course materials and MBS Direct is the vendor we use to provide course materials to students. Why two vendors? Because of the complexity of the MBS online adoption system we’ve partnered with Verba Collect to be our adoption system. This decision is not without costs: The yearly license fee for Verba is more than $3600. Adoptions must be extracted from Verba and manually entered into the MBS adoption tool. But it does add convenience and ease of adoption for PLU faculty.

Processing adoptions manually is time consuming and requires additional attention from the PLU textbook team. On time adoption allows us to plan for the cyclical nature of the adoption process and schedule our staff accordingly.

• The HEOA mandates requires all course materials (with ISBN numbers) be available to students prior to registration for the term.
• Students prefer early access to information about required materials.
• Students prefer a one stop shop to easily gather titles and ISBN numbers.
• Students have the option of purchasing through MBS Direct and it is the only way to ensure access to buyback dollars for eligible titles.
• ONLY MBS Direct and the PLU Lute Locker can accept Department of Veteran Affairs and Department of Vocational Rehabilitation scholarship and financial aid payments.

Faculty should submit all required materials–textbooks, course packets, access codes, clickers, school supply items, etc. If an item (clickers, lab coats, art kits, etc.) is available at the PLU Lute Locker, it will be listed in the textbook list for students to see. Imported titles will take 8-10 weeks to arrive, so these need to be adopted as early as possible.

MBS Direct sources books from student buybacks, wholesalers, publishers, and other distributors. Sometimes books are still for sale from individual re-sellers on sites like Amazon.com. This availability is limited and books have unpredictable condition and pricing.

The PLU textbook team and MBS Direct work together to secure enough quality, affordable materials for students as well as guaranteeing students receive the exact title and edition you require.

Please log into the Verba Collect system and select “No Books Required.” The message to students will change from “No Information Available” to “Your professor has indicated no books are required.” Knowing no book is required for your course will be important to students budgeting semester finances and assure them they haven’t missed purchasing a book they will eventually need.

The university sends a data feed to the Verba Collect adoption system. If you have been added as a professor to a course at PLU, you will automatically receive a welcome email asking for your book adoption.

Most questions about submitting your adoptions via Verba Collect can be answered HERE.

Yes, clickers are ordered based on class enrollment. Also, VA and DVR scholarship students cannot purchase them with a scholarship funds unless they are requested. Please be aware, a last minute adoption will usually cause us to sell out, adding stress to your students.

Attention to accuracy when submitting adoptions is crucial. Changes to adoptions made after they have been approved may result in the cost of non-returnable materials being charged to your department. Additionally, if course materials are removed after students have purchased them, MBS Direct will recall and arrange for the return of the items at no cost to the students. Your department has agreed to pay for costs incurred by MBS Direct. Your department will also be responsible for working with students who purchased from other vendors to return the items at no cost to the students.

Absolutely! Use the “Add Materials” tab in Verba Collect.

Desk copies are available directly through the publishers. Please direct your requests for these materials to the publishers and not the Lute Locker. MBS Direct created this guide to assist faculty in requesting instructor editions from publishers.

We realize not all faculty can meet the adoption deadlines and new classes, sections and instructor changes sometimes come after adoption deadlines. These requests should be made as soon as information is available.