“If we don’t know a book is going to be used, we’re not able nor would we want to pay half price for a book we want,” Wylie said. “It just doesn’t make any sense.”

The reason behind the differential, Wylie said, is that about 25-30 percent of professors and departments submit textbook requests by the first deadline, set by Spartan Bookstore, located in the International Center, six to eight weeks before final exams.

“We want to know what the books are prior to finals,” he said. “That makes a difference in what we offer for a book. We are not going to pretend we have a crystal ball. It’s a whole lot easier for everybody if we know what the course lists are.”

Jeanne Basnight, a receptionist in the Department of Chemistry, said there are a number of factors that can prevent professors from turning in requests on time.

“I think sometimes there’s like three professors teaching a class and they all have to agree on the same book they’re teaching, and just getting the three professors together and discussing can be difficult,” she said. “Some are out of the country or out of town, and that’s another issue.”

Often, secretaries or receptionists within a department will e-mail professors to remind them of passed or nearing deadlines for requests.

But a large part of the responsibility rests on the shoulders of the professor.

“I communicate with book companies when they’re sending me their promotional material,” said family and child ecology professor Julia Miller. “A lot of times, they send me things ahead of time to let me know if a book is coming out on a specific date or if a new book is coming out.”

Wylie said the cost is maybe “tens of thousands,” and the difference comes in money students receive when they sell books back to the store, not when they buy them at the beginning of the semester.

“If we don’t know if that book is being used, we’re not able to buy it back at the highest possible buyback price, then the student isn’t getting that price,” he said. “There’s a wholesale price that exists out there. They’re not going to get as much money as they’d like to get for it.”

While the problem can amount to significant financial sums, Wylie said, the solution is not particularly clear and no one is solely responsible for the problem.

“There are good reasons, in some cases, why a class is unable to present a book list,” Wylie said. “A professor not being picked to teach a class until the last minute is a prime example. Also, a new edition pending or waiting for a desk copy to see if that’s the book they want. Let’s not point a finger. People have to be very careful when they’re saying it’s ‘so and so’s fault.’ I think they would always try to get them in on time.Earlier is, in my book, better for everybody.”