Hornets are receiving $100 to put towards textbooks from the bookstore until Sept. 5, as a new book aid appeal by Fullerton College President Cynthia Olivo was approved by the NOCCCD.
All students enrolled in 12 or more units have access to the voucher, which is automatically redeemed at the FC bookstore when purchasing books on the spot or online, as explained by Olivo.
For the bookstore to know which students qualify for this voucher, the book store is provided a list from the school, telling which students are enrolled in 12 units or above.
“We are given a list from the school daily that includes adds and drops as students go above and below twelve units. We put that into our system and students come into our store and provide us with their ID number,” said bookstore manager Andrew Diaz.
Olivo claims that the idea came as a re-structure of the denied Follet Access program she proposed in the previous spring semester, which would have automatically charged students with over 9 units enrolled $19 per unit and given them access to all needed textbooks online.
She also explained that the funds for the vouchers came directly from the NOCCCD as part of the new appeal made by her and the Fullerton College faculty senate.
“We’re so thankful to our district office. Our faculty senate and myself appealed to the district office for these funds so that we could help students address the cost of textbooks,” Olivo said.
While students may utilize the voucher service online, Diaz warned that this option might terminate one day before than scheduled by the college
“That probably is gonna shut off on Monday. If the transaction is not complete, if it’s in progress, unfortunately it’s not going to process in time. So we [will] turn off the online early,” Diaz said.
Olivo claimed that the voucher could also stay open after Sept. 5, if the school considers that not enough students have used it.
“We are going to monitor how many students used it by September 5th. If not that many have used it, then it will remain open for those who have not used it yet,” Olivo said.
In addition to the voucher, students enrolled in the fall semester also have access to other services such as free groceries via the food bank, free mental health care services, a free parking permit, laptop loans and a new interactive map alongside a virtual tour of the campus.
