"Leveraging the Power of the University System of Ohio to Help Make College Textbooks More Affordable."

Eric D. Fingerhut was appointed the seventh Chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents on March 14, 2007. He was the first to be appointed by the Governor of the State of Ohio as a member of his cabinet, and is charged with building a system of higher education designed to prepare all Ohioans for the 21st century and rival the nation in accountability and innovation. On March 31, 2008, he delivered Ohio's 10-year Strategic Plan for Higher Education to the Governor and General Assembly, which details strategies to meet the Governor's goal of enrolling 230,000 more students while keeping more graduates in Ohio and attracting more talent to the state.

SOLUTIONS ROUNDTABLE:

"A discussion of strategies that Ohio's universities and colleges can adopt to reduce the cost of textbooks." Moderated by Chancellor Eric Fingerhut.

John J. Burke is the director of the Gardner-Harvey Library on the Middletown regional campus of Miami University. He is just concluding the second year of offering a textbooks on reserve program in his library that now includes textbooks for over 70 courses.

John Cuppoletti, Ph.D. has been a Professor of Molecular and Cellular Physiology at the University of Cincinnati since 1986. John has brought over $20 million dollars of research funding into the Ohio and has trained numerous high school students, undergraduates, graduates, medical students and postdoctoral fellows over his tenure.

Sean Devine has more than 25 years experience in the development, sales and marketing of online information services. Sean joined CourseSmart in May 2006 and has been responsible for the company formation and the development of CourseSmart's product and marketing strategy. Prior to joining CourseSmart, he was CEO of Safari Books Online, a leading provider of electronic access to Computer & Business books. Prior to Safari Books Online, Devine was Senior Vice President at ibooks.com.

Richard Hershman is the Director of Government Relations for the National Association of College Stores, which is headquartered in Oberlin, OH. Richard opened NACS' first Washington, DC office in November 2003 and has focused most of his efforts since then on policies to make course materials more affordable. He has participated in a number of state and federal advisory committees studying the issue and has worked with other stakeholders, including student and faculty organizations, other higher education associations, and publishers in lobbying for policies and legislation to help students with course material costs.

Connie Myers is a student at Columbus State Community College, and serves as the student representative to the college's Board of Trustees. She is an international officer of the student honor society, Phi Theta Kappa, and will pursue a university degree upon graduating from CSCC.

State Representative Shawn Webster graduated with a D.V.M. from the Ohio State University. He is a member/ affiliated with the American, Ohio, Cincinnati, and Butler-Warren Counties Veterinary Medical Associations; Ohio Farm Bureau; Governor's Council on Higher Education and the Economy; Chairman, Nursing Facilities Reimbursement Study Council.