Day One Course Materials for Faculty

The Day One Course Materials Program provides students with access to required digital course materials in Canvas on or before the first day of class. The program works with publishers to offer discounted pricing while ensuring students have immediate access to the materials they need to succeed.

Faculty continue selecting course materials as they normally would. The program changes how materials are delivered and billed - not what you teach.

Day One Course Materials helps ensure every student has access to the required materials on the first day of class.

Benefits

• Students have immediate access to required materials.
• Discounted pricing helps reduce students' course material costs.
• Students can begin reading and completing assignments right away.
• No access codes or separate purchases are required for participating students.
• Digital materials are integrated into Canvas.

No.

Faculty retain complete academic freedom when selecting course materials. You choose the textbooks, courseware, OER and other required materials that best support your course.

The program changes only how required materials are delivered and paid for.

Faculty interested in using Day One Course Materials should contact BGSU Textbooks to inquire about course and material eligibility. BGSU Textbooks will work with publishers to negotiate price and coordinate student access. Not all publishers offer discounted pricing and Day One Course Materials delivery.

All faculty should continue submitting required course materials in Verba, regardless of whether their materials are eligible for Day One Course Materials. 

The program supports many required digital materials, including:

• eBooks
• Publisher courseware
• Digital lab manuals

Availability depends on publisher participation and licensing. Contact BGSU Textbooks for eligible options.

Faculty should submit textbook adoptions by the published adoption deadlines to allow sufficient time for publishers to negotiate pricing and prepare student access before classes begin.

View current adoption deadlines on the BGSU Textbooks website. The deadline is dictated by the Higher Education Opportunity Act and is typically the Friday before students are eligible to register for classes.

Day One Course Materials is a digital delivery system. If you choose to teach only with print materials, your course does not qualify for Day One Course Materials at this time.

Some publishers offer optional print versions for an additional cost. Availability varies by publisher and title. Contact your publishing representative for details.

If the student needs accessibility accommodations, they should contact Accessibility Services.

You can choose OERs or library materials in addition to coursewear. However, OERs or library materials cannot be linked through Day One Course Materials at this time. Those links will need to be provided directly in Canvas in addtion to your "VitalSource Course Materials" link.

Participating faculty will provide a VitalSource Course Materials link in Canvas that will open external tool for Day One Course Materials.  

BGSU Textbooks suggests you place this external link in the "Home" tab in Canvas for a consistent student experience.

Depending on the publisher, materials may open within Canvas or launch through the publisher's learning platform. Contact BGSU Textbooks or your publishing representative for access details.  

Yes.

Day One Course Materials requires faculty to add a link in Canvas to the external tool titled "VitalSource Course Materials." 

BGSU Textbooks suggests you place this external link in the "Home" tab in Canvas for a consistent student experience.

Instructions for adding specific publisher content are provided by BGSU Textbooks or the publisher. Completing any required setup before the semester begins helps ensure students have access on the first day of class.

Desk copy requests follow the same process used outside the Day One Course Materials program.

There are two ways to request a desk copy.

1. Contact your publisher representative or visit the publisher's desk copy request page for more information.
2. Find the title on the VitalSource catalog and request a "faculty sampling" of the title you need. You will need to create an account using your BGSU email if you do not already have one.

Students who opt out are responsible for obtaining the required course materials on their own.

If your course uses publisher courseware for homework, quizzes or exams, students who opt out must purchase access independently to complete required coursework.

Yes.

Students can log into Canvas and click on the VitalSource Course Materials link. 

The course dashboard will show current Day One Course Materials participation status for each enrolled course. From here, students can change their status back to "opt in." 

Yes.

Faculty are encouraged to remind students that Day One Course Materials includes an opt-out option with a published deadline. Students should understand that opting out means they are responsible for obtaining all required materials on their own.

Students who have opted out may opt back in by the same deadline.

Faculty may continue using OER as all or part of their required course materials. At this time, OERs cannot be included in Day One Course Materials. OER will need to be linked separately inside Canvas.

Using OER does not affect your academic freedom, and many courses combine OER with publisher content when appropriate.