Florida Atlantic University’s Student Government is launching a textbook relief program for the Spring 2023 semester.

The program will provide $100 FAU bookstore credit to 500 total students including those who are fully remote. The application for the program opens Thursday at 1 p.m. on a first-come-first-serve basis, and will only be valid in campus bookstores. 

This program will provide educational needs, including new and used textbooks, access codes, goggles, and lab coats. 

“We are so excited for this program to launch,” said Student Body Vice President Dalia Calvillo. “Our textbook support program is designed to benefit our student body by providing them access to required materials. As a college student myself, I am aware that this will be of great financial support for our students across all campuses.”

Student Body President Pierce Kennamer said SG considered how else they could benefit the student body, so they developed the textbook support program. 

The only requirement is to at least be registered as a part-time student. 

“This doesn’t interfere with anybody’s financial aid, which is probably one of the barriers to getting started,” Kennamer said. “We really didn’t want this to have to go through the financial aid office for how many barriers [there are] with that, so we didn’t want somebody who started receiving financial aid [to] have their total income [affected] by accepting and being a part of this program.”

Students fund SG’s budget, so Kennamer says this is a way for SG to give back. 

“[SG is] giving it back to them in a resource that we believe is extremely beneficial and that they can see,” he said. 

Freshman theater design and technology major Chloe Bowe said she would use the program. 

“It’s nice having a store like that on campus to get school supplies but it’s expensive,” she said.

To fill out the application, students should log in to Owl Central and click on the form titled “Textbook Support Program” and fill out the form requiring students’ names, Z-numbers, and answer a few questions.

Kennamer says students will go through a waiting period before being able to use the money at FAU bookstores. 

“We will aim to get the info to the bookstores quickly, those who sign up this week should be [able] to start utilizing their discounts later next week,” Kennamer said. “Also, if students want to wait to use their discount until syllabus week when they see what classes they are taking for sure, they can do that as well as making their purchases further in advance.”

SG will communicate with bookstores to see who has not utilized their discounts. 

“If it’s past an amicable amount of time, we will reach out to the individuals who have claimed one and remind them to utilize their discount,” Kennamer explained. 

If the student doesn’t use the discount after the reminder, SG will allocate the discount to another student.

Jessica Abramsky is a staff writer for the University Press. For more information on this article or others, you can reach Jessica at [email protected] or DM her on Instagram @jessabramsky.