Projected ECC 20/21 Budget Surplus

From: Del Hornbuckle, SRDC Liaison

Date: 3/12/2021

There is a projected ECC budget surplus of approximately $450,000 this fiscal year. SRDC proposes that this projected surplus be used to pursue a JSTOR ebook EBA and possibly a Knowledge Unlatched campaign for books used in multiple CSU courses or an Oxford book purchase. If there are concerns with this proposal, we would appreciate hearing that at this stage before further negotiations.

We polled the SRDC membership regarding priorities for spending this surplus. The full results of the poll are attached. The highest priority was a JSTOR ebook EBA, which would provide temporary access to a large number of ebooks and perpetual access to a small number selected at the end of the period. The cost would be $239,009.

The second priority was a HathiTrust membership, but after further discussion, the ongoing expenses and uncertainty regarding the Emergency Temporary Access Service make this a less than ideal candidate at this time. The third priority was Knowledge Unlatched, which would have the CSU put funds toward the conversion of coursebooks assigned among multiple CSU campuses from paywalled access to open access. The initial price quoted would be greater than what would likely be available following a JSTOR EBA. We are currently investigating an Oxford ebook proposal after receiving comments from SRDC members suggesting that, and it would also be possible to increase the spend with JSTOR to secure more perpetual access.