Time to get serious about online textbook listings

As we begin the process of pre-registration this week, students are once again being forced to make important academic decisions based on inadequate information. Many courses on MyAccess violate federal law by not specifying the required textbooks. Others do not list course descriptions—or even instructors. The dearth of information is unfathomable and totally inappropriate. Professors lamented the “crisis” of undergraduate intellectual life at Georgetown in the Executive Faculty’s Intellectual Life Report in 2007, decrying the lack of undergraduate academic engagement. But by consistently withholding information about classes during pre-registration, professors and departments have severely limited the ability of students to enroll in courses most suited to them.


The 2008 Higher Education Opportunity Act, which went into effect July 1, requires that universities include a list of texts for every course during registration. But so far, Georgetown has not complied with the new law. Although all courses on MyAccess now have links to the bookstore’s website, many lead to an empty text list. Comparative Political Systems—a course taught by many different professors with very different textbook requirements—attracts over one hundred students every semester, but is one of the many classes whose course materials are “still under review by the department.”
Missing information affects students not just intellectually but economically. Because so many professors do not choose their books in a timely fashion, students who must take finances into account when selecting their courses are severely limited. Textbook lists, course descriptions and syllabi enable students to make thoughtful decisions about what material they want to study, but many Georgetown classes do not list that information. The quality of a professor also makes a big difference in a student’s class experience. It is unacceptable to ask students to make choices about their courses without knowing who will be teaching them.


Providing students with textbook information, professor listings, course descriptions, and syllabi must be a priority for Georgetown’s academic departments. Georgetown is an expensive, challenging school, and leaving students in the dark as they make huge decision about their academic life sends the message that the University is insensitive to students’ financial needs and academic interests. Although next semester’s pre-registration may be a lost cause, it is time for Georgetown to step up and demand that professors and departments take their legal and academic obligations to students seriously.