Case Study
What would the cost benefit for the University be to pay a professor at flat amount of $5000 to write a textbook for a class? Assume that the textbook is good to be used for three or four years of classes before needing to be updated. Would a fee of $50 per student be adequate to cover the $5000 upfront charge for paying the professor to write the text book? Consider the class sizes of 10, 20, 30 and 40 students.
a. What is the advantage to the student for this textbook to be written by the professor as described above? You may say it is a disadvantage.
b. What is the advantage to the University to have the professor write the textbook? What is the return on investment for the University depending on the number of students in the class? You may say it is a disadvantage.
c. What if the book is used one semester each school year, what’s the return on investment? What is the return on investment if the book can be used two semesters in a year?
d. List two other ideas for consideration of how students could receive a textbook for their class that would help the students to save money on the cost of the textbook. (The solutions must be ethical and legal as we are bound by the responsibilities of our profession)