Textbook purchase is ‘eZ’ for increasing numbers of UW-Green Bay students
The once-formidable task of pre-semester textbook buying is becoming easy — make that eZ — for an increasing number of students at UW-Green Bay.
Since its inception six years ago, The Phoenix Bookstore’s eZ Books reservation program has continued to set records in terms of student participation. More than 2,200 students — about a third of UW-Green Bay’s student population —have placed orders through the system for fall 2011. That number has increased steadily since eZ Books’ inaugural year, when just a couple hundred students signed on.
“The eZ Books program has a number of benefits, from one-stop shopping for students to ease of payment and access to used or rental — and therefore less expensive — textbooks,” said Sue Machuca, customer relations associate at The Phoenix Bookstore. “In addition, the money students spend on campus, stays on campus.”
The eZ Books system allows students to order their textbooks in advance and have Phoenix Bookstore staff pull and package the items for easy pickup. Rather than combing bookstore shelves for each selection, students sign in, grab a preordered, prepackaged box containing all of their books for the semester and head out. Prepay via Student Information System (SIS) or credit card further streamlines the process.
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The first big push for eZ Book pickup generally is freshman move-in day — this year, Thursday, Sept. 1 — Machuca said. But bookstore staff already have had students trickle in to get their textbooks and avoid the rush.
One of those students is Adrian Garza, a UW-Green Bay sophomore who first used eZ Books as a freshman last year. After finding out about the program thanks to SIS, Garza said it’s something he’s sticking with.
“It saves the hassle of finding all the books yourself,” Garza said Monday, Aug. 29, after picking up his fall semester books. “They have it all packed up, ready to go.”
As of Monday, bookstore staff had received and packaged nearly 1,900 eZ Books orders for student pickup, and another 340 or so for delivery via UPS.
In addition to the convenience and cost-saving factors, eZ Books offers a promise that students won’t get when buying elsewhere, Machuca said. The bookstore guarantees a textbook as long as the student retains the receipt — so if a professor changes textbooks, students quickly and easily can make the switch.
Bookstore staff members have been working to get the word out about eZ Books, the ordering process for which begins during book buyback from the previous semester. Students who missed out for fall, they say, still can sign on for spring semester when the time comes.
If the past is any indication, it’ll be an eZ way for even more students to prepare for back-to-school.
More information about eZ Books is available at www.uwgb.edu/bookstore/ezbooks.htm.
