SUNY Niagara identified challenges with the high cost of textbooks impacting student success and retention rates. Additionally, national reports indicated that students often opted not to purchase required materials or selected courses based on additional textbook costs. We observed a shift by publishers away from physical textbooks that students could retain or resell. All of these issues were affecting our students' success rates, so we needed to research options to remove the barriers to the rapid increase of textbook/course material costs.
In response, the Business & Finance and Barnes & Noble College (B&N) a contract that offered students another way to pay for required course materials - essentially a bundled price. Under the arrangement, students are charged $22 per credit hour if enrolled in a non-culinary major and $27 per credit hour for culinary majors. Charges are included in the semester bill, and financial aid eligible. Convenience is also built into the program. A student can elect to pick up materials in the bookstore or have them shipped to wherever. Another feature of Wolf Packed is the exclusion of Open Education Resources (OER) from the per credit hour computation. This feature was negotiated by former SUNY Niagara President William Murabito. Faculty using OER as required course material saves students money. Students now have options. Remain in Wolf Packed or opt-out and purchase required course material using traditional “a-la-carte” methods of securing materials in the bookstore or via other means.
Our persistence reports allowed us to compare and assess the improvement in student success between the semester before the program's implementation and the semester after its initiation. During the first semester, we encountered some growing pains. One significant issue was the disconnect in communication with faculty, as the program primarily focused on informing students about changes in paying for and accessing their course materials. There was a misunderstanding that all course materials would be accessed through a single link, the B&N LTI integration link. We realized the need to enhance communication with faculty and departments to ensure all content was available on the first day of classes.
We successfully addressed several challenges, including managing the multiple components required to execute the program with minimal disruption to access. One key improvement was enhancing communication with faculty by creating a flyer with detailed instructions for them to follow. Additionally, we provided example statements for course syllabi, tailored to the type of materials each course uses—whether OER, physical textbooks, textbooks only, or eBooks with third-party resources. The Online Learning Department also conducted a tour of all divisions, outlining strategies for program improvement and offering resources to make the process easier and more effective for students. The creation of a widget that appears on the home page of all courses in Brightspace has eliminated the need for faculty to manually add this information to their courses. The widget includes a link to the digital course materials accessed through the B&N LTI integration, a video on how to verify the order, links to the website, and support resources. Plus we added a module for Accessing Course Materials to our template that is given to any faculty developing a new course at SUNY Niagara.

For students, a website was developed and refined based on lessons learned from the first semester. A survey was also distributed to gather feedback on the program's effectiveness and its impact on student persistence and success. Additionally, students were informed about the program during class registration, and letters were sent to explain their responsibility for paying for course materials and how these costs were included in their tuition bill.
The OER component of the program has helped students save over $500,000. With the widespread adoption of OER materials by faculty, close to three (3) in five (5) students benefit from lower course material costs.

As a result of these updates, we experienced a much smoother start to the Spring 2025 semester. To ensure the continued success of this program, it is essential to consistently educate both students and faculty about its benefits. This ongoing education will help us achieve increased persistence and success among our students. As a community college, we must rigorously implement our plan each semester to ensure that all new students and faculty are aware of the program and understand their roles in making it a successful endeavor.