SCCCD students impacted by bookstore outsourcing

It's been a rocky start to the school year for many State Center Community College District students.

Almost six weeks into the semester, some students are saying they don't have the books for their courses.

District officials are working to address the needs of students impacted by the outsourcing of campus bookstores to a third party, Follett Higher Education.

Roosevelt High School graduate Annely Lopez is trying to navigate her first semester of college without the books or codes she needs for two of her classes.

She says, "I'm already behind. I already have a bad grade and I can't do anything about it."

Faculty members like Academic Senate President Karla Kirk say they're doing everything they can to make this a successful semester.

She adds, "Their frustration, we are the ones hearing that. We are getting the stories, their tears, their anxiety and their fear that they're going to fail this semester of college."

The campus institutional research team developed a survey to find out just how widespread this problem is.

It's already seen 2,000 responses, like Brayden Perri's.

He says, "Since I had such a terrible experience during the summer I did everything online. I tried to find books elsewhere."

On Wednesday, a district-wide message went out to students stating Vice Chancellor Cheryl Sullivan was working to rectify the situation with Follett.

"We're communicating with Follett and then as we come across a problem, we're trying to get those addressed as fast as we can," Sullivan said.

While they gather information on specific issues, the district says any academic impact will be dealt with at the local level.

Follett Higher Education didn't respond to our request for comment.