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Overview of BNC Virtual, the online textbook vendor and The Hive Campus Store
UBalt's "bookstore" includes a campus store without textbooks in the Student Center, and a completely virtual textbook fulfillment service. All textbooks are available virtually by Barnes & Noble's textbook company.BNC Virtual.
In addition to the online bookstore, Barnes & Noble College operates a campus store known as The Hive on the first floor of the Student Center. The Hive is stocked with UBalt logo items galore, including apparel with the mascot Eubie, school supplies, computers, diploma frames and graduation memorabilia. There is also a food and convenience area stocked with snacks, candy, protein bars, and bottled beverages.
Textbooks are adopted through Barnes & Noble's platform, known as "AIP" for Adoption & Insights Portal. Prior adoption platforms known as Facultyenlight and Course Director have been discontinued and AIP is fully functional.
AIP offers new, helpful features. The platform contains the history of textbooks previously adopted for each course, and contains short cuts to adopt the same book for multiple sections, or to learn there is a new edition and adopt the new version. Also, unlike FacultyEnlight, ISBN numbers can be added by cut and paste— just without dashes. Further, changes to adoptions can be made in AIP without the assistance of a bookstore administrator.
Training resources to use AIP can be found in Teams under AIP Adoption and Insights Portal; the avatar is an open book. A link to the team is here. The link connects directly to the AIP team; the next step to reach the training resources is to select "Files" at the top of the screen.
These resources are available under “Files” in the AIP Team:
1. A folder containing links to a variety of YouTube training videos produced by Barnes & Noble. There are videos specific to faculty as well as admin users. The videos use screen shots and captions to demonstrate.
2. A recording of the UB training session. In the folder, there is a single page document which contains the link to the recording.
3. Another folder contains tutorials specific to both faculty and admin users.
At this time, all faculty members have been granted access to the AIP platform. Some admins have also been granted access, and additional admins can be added by contacting me or the bookstore manager, Melanie Hogan.
Textbook Ordering Deadlines
To allow time to obtain books from the publisher, ship to the student, and allow the student reading time in advance of class, the ordering deadlines are:
Fall:
Law June 1
Graduate/Undergraduate June 15
Spring:
Law November 25
Graduate/Undergraduate December 15
Summer:
All courses: May 1
Winterim: November 25
Adopting Textbooks
Faculty members determine appropriate textbooks and course materials. Check with your Associate Dean or department chair for the textbook ordering process. If you encounter a problem with an edition of a book, you may contact Jessica Womack at BNC Virtual.
How to View Your Textbook in the Online Store
Below is a graphic of the online view students see when they search for their courses. To check that your textbook appears correctly, enter the semester on the left, and the course number in the box on the right; then,select the section from the drop down menu. Click the blue arrow in the bottom right to see the textbook view.
How the Bookstore Benefits Students
The bookstore offers students Price Match, which guarantees that if the book is available at a lower cost on the Amazon bookstore (not the marketplace) that BNC Virtual will honor the price or refund the difference. BNC Virtual also has a return program to protect the student if the class is cancelled or an incorrect edition is shipped. Students may use financial aid to buy textbooks and to pay for shipping costs, if any. Also, Veterans use the pricing found on the bookstore to prepare expense reports.
Course packets are printed locally and sold at The Hive campus store. Contact the campus store manager to make arrangements for course packets.