MAT, or Movement for Affordable Textbooks, is an Engaged Pluralism Working Group composed of faculty, students, and administrators. MAT works to address the high cost of textbooks and other course materials for Vassar students by gathering information and raising awareness around textbook affordability challenges and solutions. 

Accomplishment to date include:

• The creation of this MAT website to share information to students, demystify financial awards regarding textbooks, and highlight options for Vassar students to access and obtain textbooks.
• MAT surveyed students in Spring 2021 and again in Spring 2023 to better understand the impact on Vassar students.
  • 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.

Awareness has been raised through:

• Presentations and discussions with students and faculty: Library Committee, Chair and Directors meeting, EPI summer student institution presentations by co-chairs Christopher Raymond and Sarah Canino, July 2021 and July 2022.
• A Talking About Teaching session was held in January 2022.
• 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 Vassar App. 

For the academic year 2023/24 MAT members decided to focus on 4 projects:

• Users: data-gathering subgroup: which will look at crafting an annual student survey to collect data on textbook usage at Vassar College 
• Textbooks at Vassar: data-gathering subgroup: which will look at the cost of textbooks assigned at Vassar College by subject
• OER subgroup:  which will look at online educational resources and ways to support Vassar faculty in the creation of online textbooks
• Sources of textbook funding subgroup: which will explore viable funding sources for helping Vassar students purchase their textbooks.

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.