Atlanta — February 9, 2005

In response to a growing national concern on the part of students, parents, college and university administrators and elected officials over the price of college textbooks, the University System of Georgia will hold a series of three public forums on this issue during the month of February.

The forums are planned for Atlanta, Athens and Statesboro. All three will be open to the public.

The first forum will be held from 9:00 a.m. until noon, on Mon., Feb. 14, at Georgia State University in Atlanta. The program will be held at Georgia State’s Student Center in the Speaker’s Auditorium. The next two forums in the statewide series are slated for Wed., Feb. 16, from 1-4 p.m. at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro and Thurs., Feb. 17, from 1-4 p.m. at the University of Georgia in Athens.

“Our purpose in holding these forums is to provide information that will help all interested parties understand the various factors driving the cost of textbooks,” said Bill Bowes, Vice Chancellor for Fiscal Affairs. “We will utilize the information gained from these forums to develop recommendations on future textbook pricing that will be presented to the Board of Regents.”

Georgia State University Provost Dr. Ron Henry will provide the welcome and Bowes will present an overview of the issues for the Feb. 14 event. The forum will include a panel representing students, the textbook industry and university faculty. It will be moderated by Jim Flowers, special assistant to the chief information officer for the University System.

Panelists will include: Tourgee Simspon, a student and president of the Student Government Association at Georgia State; Wade Douglas, manager of the Follett Bookstore at Georgia State; J. Bruce Hildebrand, executive director for Higher Education of the Association of American Publishers; and Dr. Hugh Dorsey Hudson, Jr., professor of history and head of the history department at Georgia State.

In addition to presentations by the panelists and a general discussion, the program will accommodate written questions from the audience, which will be directed to panel members.

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