74 students get help from Single Parent Book Loan

The Single Parent Book Loan Program is unique to Metropolitan Community College-Blue River. While other programs are tied to financial aid or specific degrees, Blue River’s program is open to all single parents who attend classes at our campus. Students complete a simple application for assistance with books when they enroll. Most students receive books for at least half of their classes. After classes begin, any Blue River student who has a financial need is eligible to borrow books.  At the end of the semester, the books are returned and re-issued the following semester. 

The program continues to grow as more students become aware and as financial need becomes more severe. When the program began in fall of 2001, we served 18 students with 51 books. Fall 2011 semester funded 74 applicants, totaling $4,568.00, or 184 books, and 493 credit hours. Not only does the book loan program provide financial assistance to students, it also provides personal support and encouragement and has helped to contribute to the MCC-Blue River sense of community.

MCC-Blue River students can obtain an application for Spring 2011 on November 1, 2011 in Arts & Sciences Room 113.

contributed by William Jeser and Victorie J. Hollwell, Ed.D.

Email: Victorie.Hollwell@mcckc.edu

Students: Rental returns and book buyback

The MCC Bookstores will conduct the end of semester buyback on the following days:

July 28 - 8 a.m.-noon and 1 p.m.-6:30 p.m.
July 29 - 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Rental books are due back no later than 4 p.m. on July 29, 2011 to avoid charges to your student account.

Students: Textbook rentals are due next Friday

All MCC students who rented textbooks this semester must return those books to the MCC bookstore where they rented them from before 4 p.m. on May 20. Charges will be placed on student accounts of those students with outstanding text rentals.  If a student has an outstanding charge on their account, they will not be eligible to graduate or enroll for future semesters until those charges are cleared.

Shorter lines anticipated at MCC bookstores

College bookstores across the city are expecting long lines as student’s line up to get their text books and supplies for the upcoming spring semester. While lines are a common problem during the first days of school, MCC has been working on ways to make the student experience better.

One of those ways is the implementation of new shipping deals. Students who ordered text books from MCC’s online bookstores were able to take advantage of free shipping to their homes. MCC began offering free shipping on all text books and materials ordered through the online bookstore from Dec. 20 through Jan. 5.

Though the final numbers are not in yet, the free shipping program seems to be working. Preliminary numbers show that what used to be a 20/80 ratio now looks to be about 75/25, with 75% being the number of books shipped. MCC-Maple Woods shipped 485 orders last week. Beth Austin, MCC-Maple Woods bookstore manager is excited about the free shipping because it will help eliminate line processing and cashier hold up.

Rental Texts
The text rental program, which began at MCC in 2009, didn’t originally allow rentals to be ordered through the online bookstore. That old process contributed to even longer lines and hold ups in the book stores. It was a hassle for students who purchased the majority of texts online, because they still had to come to campus to get their rental texts. That has now been streamlined through online orders.

Rental books offer students greater savings. Some texts can cost as much as $250. Reinhard Weglarz, director of management and auxiliary services at MCC said, “Through the rental program, the student never gets stuck with a book that we won’t buyback.”

Students picking up rental books at campus bookstores will be triaged through a different line, (if they have no other purchases). The bookstores have been staffed differently than before to handle the volume with much more efficiency. “Students can sign for rental books and leave,” said Weglarz.

“To help reduce line reduction during peak times, the bookstores have implemented the ticket system, like at the DMV,” said Selin Gaona, MCC-Penn Valley bookstore manager. “Our computers now check financial aid information when students pick up their ticket [for online orders]. These changes are going to make people more satisfied because the lines are anticipated to be shorter.”

Notice to Students: Important bookstore information!

The bookstores throughout the district will close at noon on Dec. 8. Make sure you purchase any materials you may need for testing (scantrons, etc.) if you have a test that afternoon or evening.

The bookstores will reopen at 7:30 a.m. on Dec. 9. and continue the regularly scheduled hours. Book buyback is the following week, Dec. 13-17.

Those students that have rental text books need to have them returned to the bookstores by Dec. 17 at 4 p.m. to avoid charges on your student account.

Single parent book loan program - MCC Blue River

The Single Parent Book Loan Program is unique to Metropolitan Community College-Blue River. While other programs are tied to financial aid or specific degrees, Blue River’s program is open to all single parents who attend classes at our campus. Students complete a simple application for assistance with books when they enroll. Most students receive books for at least half of their classes. After classes begin, any Blue River student who has a financial need is eligible to borrow books. At the end of the semester, the books are returned and re-issued the following semester.

The program continues to grow as more students become aware and as financial need becomes more severe. When the program began in fall of 2001, we served 18 students with 51 books. In the fall of 2008, 93 students were served with 232 books. This past summer 2010, 23 students were served with 35 books. Fall 2010 semester funded 63 applicants, totaling $3,854.91, 187 books, and 467 credit hours. Not only does the book loan program provide financial assistance to students, it also provides personal support and encouragement and has helped to contribute to the MCC-Blue River sense of community.

MCC Blue River students can obtain an application for Spring 2011 on November 1, 2010 in Arts & Sciences Rm. 113.

Blue River campus contact:

Dr. Victorie J.Hollwell
Email: Victorie.Hollwell@mcckc.edu
Phone: 816.604-6651