A Cal State Fullerton math professor was reprimanded by the university after he used less expensive – and in his view, better – textbooks instead of a $180 text written and mandated by his department chair.

University officials threatened Alain Bourget last year with discipline as serious as dismissal after Bourget taught his sophomore-level course, Introduction to Linear Algebra and Differential Equations, with his preferred books.

The university says he violated policy and went against orders from the provost and former dean of the math and sciences college, according to the reprimand letter. Bourget disputes this, saying he was told only by the math department chair – the book’s co-author – to continue using the original text.

“I didn’t gain anything from doing this,” said Bourget, who will challenge the reprimand at a grievance hearing scheduled for Friday. He has taught at the school for nine years. “I knew it would cause me trouble in the department, (but) I feel completely dishonest trying to sell a book I don’t believe in.”

Bourget’s matter highlights several touchy subjects in higher education: academic freedom, the ethics of professors assigning their own texts and soaring textbook prices.

University officials, including those involved in the case, said they’re unable to comment on personnel matters.

The school formed a committee to hear Bourget’s concerns but it did not reach a consensus on a textbook change. Bourget taught with the books he wanted in the following semester.

The book, “Differential Equations and Linear Algebra,” was written by Stephen W. Goode and Scott A. Annin, the chair and vice chair of the university’s math department. In some form, the book has been used to teach CSUF’s Introduction to Linear Algebra and Differential Equations course, or Math 250B, for 25 years.

Bourget dislikes the book because it’s what he describes as a “succession of topics with little connection among them.” The Goode-Annin text also lacks practical examples, which are important to students in this course, most of whom are engineering majors, he adds.

So he shopped around.

Bourget settled on two books, both written by prominent mathematicians and widely used at other universities. One costs $76 and the other is free. A new copy of the Goode-Annin textbook is $180 at the campus bookstore.

Bourget’s attempts to persuade his superiors to allow him to use other texts proved futile. In October 2013, Goode told Bourget he had to use the Goode-Annin book, citing a decision made in a 1984 math department meeting, Bourget said.

Minutes of that meeting show a “motion made to have 250B text approved by department” that was carried. There’s no mention of the text title or author. It also doesn’t spell out how a department textbook is decided upon. The first edition of the book mandated by the math department was published in 1991, Bourget says – seven years after the math department’s decision to use a singular text for Math 250B.

In November 2013, the university assembled a committee to discuss Bourget’s concerns with the Goode-Annin book. No consensus was reached, so no changes were made to department policies, according to Bourget’s reprimand letter. Bourget was to continue using the Goode-Annin textbook.

In spring 2014, Bourget used his preferred teaching materials instead. He was written up and school officials banned him from teaching the linear algebra class.

“You acted contrary to department policy when you did not use the single assigned textbook for MATH 250B sections,” the school reprimand states.

Fellow math professor Tyler McMillen, who was part of the committee to discuss Bourget’s concerns, said the meeting was “kind of a joke.” There was no agenda, no minutes taken and no motions passed, he said. Neither Goode nor Annin was part of the committee.

Up until that committee meeting, there had been no discussion of text selection for the Math 250B course over 25 years, which means the Goode-Annin book has “never been questioned,” said McMillen, a friend of Bourget’s.

McMillen said that’s not the case for other courses, such as Math 150A and 150B, calculus courses for which a committee regularly considers book recommendations.

Goode and Annin could not be reached for comment. An email sent to Goode was forwarded to a university spokeswoman, who said the school is unable to comment on personnel matters.

Faculty members have the “freedom to teach,” which includes picking course materials, “without having their decisions subject to the veto of a department chair, dean, or other administrative officer,” according to the American Association of University Professors.

However, with a multi-section course, which is the case in Bourget’s situation, “the individual (faculty member) would have to work with the other people … to make the best decision together on what those materials would be,” said Craig R. Vasey, chair of AAUP’s teaching, research and publications committee.

With the Fullerton case, it’s important that those involved have an opportunity to make their case and that students learn what they need to learn, regardless of which book they use,” added Vasey, also a member of AAUP’s committee on professional ethics and professor of philosophy at the University of Mary Washington in Virginia.

Mahamood M. Hassan, who is representing Bourget at the Friday grievance hearing, says “power and greed” are at play in the textbook matter. Goode and Annin, the authors of the department-mandated textbook, receive royalties from the sale of their book, he says.

“It’s a difficult situation; there’s a vested interest,” said Hassan, who is the Fullerton chapter president of the California Faculty Association and a longtime accounting professor.

It’s a common practice for professors to assign their own texts, says the American Association of University Professors. But it’s important, the group adds, that faculty members “avoid any exploitation” of students.

College textbook prices have risen over the past decade, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

In 2004, then-California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill into law that encouraged textbook publishers to reduce book costs and college professors to consider price when selecting texts for their students.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill this month that aims to reduce textbook costs for students within the Cal State system and at state community colleges. It will provide incentives, including grants, to campuses that adopt open-source teaching materials.

Contact the writer: 714-796-4976 or lleung@ocregister.com Twitter: @LilyShumLeung.

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