Beginning in fall 2025, Southern Illinois University Carbondale students will see two new initiatives designed to improve academic access and mental health services: a flat-rate textbook program and a new mental health fee. Both measures were approved by the SIU Board of Trustees on April 17.
The flat-rate textbook program will provide students with access to digital textbooks on the first day of class, with the option to opt out if they prefer to purchase books independently. SIU students will be charged $26 per credit hour for all necessary course materials identified by faculty.
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Penny Bordewick, president of the Undergraduate Student Government, explained the process leading to the approval of the program.
“So the textbook one, that was something that the admin had already kind of thought about a little bit here and there, mostly in the Provost Office… They thought it over, and then it had worked its way down to our adviser,” Bordewick said.
She further elaborated that, after receiving more details, they took the proposal to the USG Senate for approval.
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The flat-rate program will include digital features to support learning needs of a variety of students, Bordewick said.
“The online feature is going to be what the majority of students will be offered because it has a lot of different cool features that will actually enhance learning,” she said. “One of them being that it will read your textbook to you, or if you would like a dyslexic font that’s going to be available as well.”
While most textbooks will be available digitally, students who need physical copies will also have the option.
Bordewick said that the more students who enroll in the program, the more cost-effective it will become.
“The more people that pay in, the lower the fee gets as years go on and as semesters go on,” she said. “But for a lot of students, you know that is going to be lower than the price that they pay for books. And if it’s not, you just opt out of it.”
The second initiative, a new mental health fee, was developed after the Student Health Center staff presented their proposal to Bordewick and other student leaders.
She said, “It just seemed kind of weird at first. And you know, anytime somebody says we want to put in a fee, you know, student government kind of goes, ‘Are you sure?’”
Bordewick and her team worked closely with the center’s staff to understand the proposal and its potential impact.
“We sat down with the health center staff. It was the director of the health center and a lot of their administrative staffers who oversee, you know, the clinic, their nurse and staff, the CAPS staff,” she said. “They gave us a very comprehensive presentation of what needed to be done and why. They took like two hours out of their day to answer all our questions, go over this and explain.”
The new fee will help ensure mental health services are available to all students.
“We don’t have a mental health fee on campus currently,” Bordewick said. “But this, paired with our state funding for mental health, is essentially going to make care free on campus. And that’s unheard of for a college. There’s free counseling, and it’s available to both graduate and undergraduate students.”
This initiative will also reduce the cost for students who need frequent counseling.
“If you go to a certain number of appointments, you are getting more out of your fee than you would have if you were paying $10 every time you went,” Bordewick said. “It makes things more accessible. It is going to pay off.”
Chancellor Austin Lane praised the efforts behind both programs, emphasizing their role in improving the student experience.
“We will continue to provide a high-quality education as a Research 1 institution that offers undergraduate, graduate and professional degree-seeking students an excellent value,” Lane said. “Southern continues to honor its tradition of providing an accessible education to students from throughout the state, nation and world.”
The changes are also expected to streamline financial aid processes, making it easier for students to access textbooks without delays or confusion. Since textbooks will be included in the flat-rate fee, students will not need to make separate requests for financial aid to cover these costs.
Despite initial hesitations about new fees, Bordewick believes both initiatives will significantly benefit students.
“I know that fee is like a scary word. A lot of people don’t enjoy fees, don’t like them, don’t want to add them. But overall, these fees are going to make things more accessible,” she said. “We wanted to keep these things very accessible to students. And while it does seem like a big increase up front, it’s going to pay off.”
Staff Reporter Annalise Schmidt can be reached at [email protected]. To stay up to date on all your southern Illinois news, be sure to follow The Daily Egyptian on Facebook and Instagram @dailyegyptian.
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