Welcome to CRAM

Canada Votes 2008

A federal election means that politicians are listening. It is important to reach out to them and explain how a simple regulatory change will mean more money in your pocket, without them having to spend a single tax dollar. Click here to find a web form that lets you send candidates in your riding a message asking them to support lower textbook prices. Please take a second to fill it out, and help make textbooks cheaper.

Canadian Roundtable on Academic Materials

In November 2007, representatives from a number of Canadian student associations, university bookstores and publishers met to discuss issues relating to academic materials. The meeting was arranged by the University of Alberta, and reflected the cooperative relationship between the Bookstore and the Students’ Union at that school. It also reflected a joint desire by those parties to establish a national forum to address the fact that the price of academic materials is proving to be a large and increasing barrier to affordable education. The meeting was so successful that the participants decided to create an ongoing medium for cooperation between Canadian bookstores, student associations and faculty representatives; know as the Canadian Roundtable on Academic Materials (CRAM).

On August 22nd, 2008 CRAM passed another milestone with the formal adoption of a set of Key Principles. The Key Principles are the first product of the national dialogue on academic materials and they will guide the dialogue into the future as CRAM expands to include more post-secondary schools from across Canada.

CRAM will focus on nine principles:

1. Academic materials must be a high quality and offer reasonable value to students.
2. Academic Community Members are the ultimate decision makers for selecting academic materials.
3. Academic Community Members should consider the cost for students when selecting course materials, and should explore and utilize the most cost-effective forms of delivery.
4. Publishers and other supply chain providers should, where feasible, utilize the most cost-effective technologies for delivering academic materials.
5. Strive for a clear balance in copyright legislation between owner and user rights that promotes the sharing of ideas.
6. Encourage academic community members to fully and clearly understand the legal implications of copyright-related agreements, so that Fair Dealing can be fully exercised at the campus level.
7. The academic materials delivery processes at each participating school should incorporate joint Bookstore, Student, Academic Community Members and Library committees that foster communication, promote enhanced relationships, and facilitate the sharing of ideas and concerns.
8. Establish monitoring and feedback mechanisms in order to measure and enhance the quality, affordability, and accessibility of academic materials.
9. Advance the cost-effectiveness and affordability of academic materials through the development of:
   1. Advocacy strategies and tools that can be utilized at the campus level to promote enhanced awareness of the problems and the solutions.
   2. Advocacy strategies and plans at the national level that focus on presenting a concerted and unified position in relation to matters concerning academic materials.
   3. Communication with other national entities in the sphere of post-secondary education, including but not limited to the Association of Universities & Colleges of Canada (AUCC), the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT), the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) and Campus Stores Canada (CSC).

For the full document, please read: CRAM_KeyPrinciples.pdf