MAT, or Movement for Affordable Textbooks, is made up of concerned faculty, students, and administrators who are working together to address the high cost of textbooks and other course materials for Vassar students. MAT came out of the Engaged Pluralism Initiative (EPI) Working Group and is now an Engaged Pluralism Working Group.
Among its recent accomplishments, MAT members have been gathering information and raising awareness on the Vassar campus. Accomplishment to date include:
One finding was a reliance by some students on the Libraries Reserve departments to gain access to textbook readings. As a result of the survey, MAT encouraged the Libraries to continue the Textbook Lending Program in which faculty request that textbooks be purchased for the Library collection and placed on Library Reserve.
The MAT syllabi statement, endorsed by the Dean of the Faculty, sent out to Vassar faculty members to share with the students in their classes.
A link to the MAT website in the student personna in the Vassar App.
For the academic year 2023/24 MAT members decided to focus on 4 projects and members selected one or more of the 4 project subgroups. Each project subgroup will be meeting independently to tackle work toward that project. In November the entire group will reconvene to share progress and brainstorm. The projects:
Now co-chaired by Sarah Pearlman, Elizabeth Salmon and Pambanisha Whaley, MAT meets to plan initiatives. MAT is looking for new members! If you are interested in working with other members of the Vassar community to find solutions to the high cost of course materials at Vassar, contact one of the committee members below to express your interest:
Members for the Spring 2024 semester include:
Sarah Pearlman |
sapearlman@vassar.edu |
Professor and Chair, Department of Economics; MAT Co-Chair |
Elizabeth Salmon |
esalmon@vassar.edu |
Social Science Librarian, Vassar College Libraries, MAT Co-Chair |
Pambanisha Whaley |
pwhaley@vassar.edu |
Head Users Services, Vassar College Libraries, MAT Co-Chair |
Mary Ellen Czesak |
maczesak@vassar.edu |
Advisor to the Class of 2025; Senior Lecturer and Laboratory Coordinator, Biology Department, |
Lioba Gerhardi |
ligerhardi@vassar.edu |
Dean of First-Year Students and Advisor to the Class of 2027; Visiting Assistant Professor, German Studies Department |
Simon Hoellerbauer |
shoellerbauer@vassar.edu |
Post doc fellow |
Jose Iona |
jinoa@vassar.edu |
Textbooks, VC BookStore |
Bianca Keesler |
bkeesler@vassar.edu |
House Advisor for Cushing & Noyes Houses; Assistant Director of Community Expectations |
Michelle Quock |
mquock@vassar.edu |
Director, Transitions Program |
Izzy Rico |
irico@vassar.edu |
Office of Sustainability Coordinator for Data and Programs |
Emma Ritter |
eritter@vassar.edu |
Senior Assistant Director of Student Financial Services |
Nicholas Sanders |
nsanders@vassar.edu |
Class of '27 |
Catherine Tan |
ctan@vassar.edu |
Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology |
Tianyu Xiong |
txiong@vassar.edu |
EP student intern |