The Course Materials Department at Rams Bookstore is here to support the academic mission of Victor Valley College by providing the materials instructors need to teach their classes effectively.  We strive to provide those materials at the lowest prices we can to help our students’ textbook dollars go further.

The way you can help in this mission is to ensure your course materials adoptions – or that of your departments – is to submit your course materials adoptions in a timely manner.

In mid-March, Sidewalk Hero was purchased by Verba/VitalSource which caused us to move to a new platform.  The similarities between the Hero Adoption tool and the Verba Collect adoption tool allowed for a smooth transition to this new collection tool.  Rams Bookstore began utilizing the new Verba Collect tool to gather adoptions for Summer 2018 and Fall 2018 adoptions.  These adoptions are beginning to flow in and we are receiving a lot of positive feedback.

Verba Collect provides a course history going back up to 2 years where faculty can simply 're-adopt' all or some or even none of the prior books used in their courses.  You are also able to select 'No Text Required" for your courses.  If you teach several sections of the same course, you can adoption materials for all or some of those sections, dependent upon your circumstance.  The log-in difficulties experienced by Hero users is now a thing of the past.  Each faculty member is emailed a user specific link that takes them directly to their courses.  When selecting titles, affordability scores allow faculty to make decisions that take into account student materials costs.  Verba Collect also notifies faculty when titles are out of print and when new editions are available.  Please note:  Course Packs are the custom packages that are printed in the VVC Print Shop.

Welcome and notification emails will be sent at the outset of each new adoption season.  Emails will persist as long as there are courses that have no adoption information submitted.  If you do not see your courses, it is likely we do not have you listed as the instructor for the section.  Please notify Kendra Ullger if this occurs.  She will be able to update the section information which will allow you to submit your adoptions.  If you would like additional support as a new Verba Collect user, contact Kendra Ullger for more details.

Those in need of a new or updated link to submit, please email the request any time to kendra.ullger@vvc.edu.  Be certain to verify the course(s), section(s) and your VVC email address.

Typical Textbook Adoptions Deadlines:

• For standard textbook adoptions, they are due no later than 8 weeks prior to the beginning of each semester. 
• For special/custom packages, they are due at least 12 weeks prior to each semester.