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What Does Immediate Access Offer?


Immediate Access is a collaborative program between the ISU Book Store, faculty, and publishers. Students who are enrolled in an Immediate Access course will receive access to all required course materials on the first day of class and at a reduced cost compared to the national average.

  • This will not apply to materials like Lab Manuals and Workbooks, which will continue to be offered in physical form.
  • To participate, please select “No” when Verba Collect asks, “I decline the use of Immediate Access in going Digital First for this material.” Or inform your department coordinator when turning in your course material requests.


 

Easy "Day 1"
Access

This course material is ready and waiting for students in Canvas on the first day of class.

Greater
Success

Get increased interaction with course content leading to greater student success.

Reduced
Cost

Students automatically receive the reduced course material (charged to U-Bill)

Local
Support

For support or questions, contact our team at immediateaccess
@iastate.edu

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How Does Immediate Access Work?


  • When a professor chooses Immediate Access, a student will still see material on their booklist. This message will be displayed:
  • Upon enrollment in the course, the charge will be automatically billed to a student's university account (U-Bill)
  • Students will be able to access the digital course material through Canvas LMS on the first day of class
  • If students do not wish to use Immediate Access, they have the ability to opt-out. Opting out does not mean they are dropping the course. It simply means they are choosing not to receive the digital content from the bookstore and they must find another way to acquire it in order to complete required homework assignments. Students have within the first 10 days of class to opt-out and receive a refund to their u-bill (5 days for courses 8 weeks or shorter).
  • CAUTION: Please speak to your professor BEFORE opting out. Some Immediate Access materials contain homework platforms that can only be accessed using Immediate Access. Eliminates need for multiple access codes
  • If students drop a course in allotted time period, they will be automatically refunded to their U-Bill.
  • Students will receive an email from Iowa State University Book Store no-reply@verbasoftware.com with more information about Immediate Access and what courses using Immediate Access.
  • Faculty will receive an email with Immediate Access information from John Weirson.


How to Access Immediate Access?


  • Depending on the publisher, how you access your Immediate Access material within Canvas may vary.
  • All VitalSource eBooks will be accessible through the Read Now button in Canvas.
  • Your professor should share instructions on how to access your Immediate Access materials.
  • Students will receive an email from Iowa State University Book Store no-reply@verbasoftware.com with more information about Immediate Access and what courses using Immediate Access.

 

Prices will vary depending on the course materials chosen by your instructor. Most Immediate Access prices are lower than the cost to access the material directly through the publisher and averages a cost savings upwards of 60% off the price of a new print textbook.

 

You will see a charge on your U-Bill from the bookstore on or before the first day of class. There is nothing tangible to purchase from the ISU Book Store. The billing description on your ubill will show the department and course number, followed by “IMMED ACCESS” and the last 4 digits of the ISBN. Below is an example of the billing description for a student enrolled in INTST 235.



Instructors and TAs will not be billed for access to Immediate Access Course Materials.

 

Students may choose to opt out of this cost saving program. Opting out does not mean you are dropping the course. It simply means you are choosing not to receive the digital content from the bookstore and you must find another way to acquire it in order to complete required homework assignments. Students have within the first 10 days of class to opt out and receive a refund to their u-bill (5 days for courses 8 weeks or shorter).

1. To opt out, click on the “Immediate Access Course Materials” tool on the navigation menu.



2. Click on “Want to opt-out?



 

No worries! If you are still within in the first 10 days of class, you can click the opt-in button in Canvas and have access to the material again. If you need assistance, send us an email at immediateaccess@iastate.edu.

 

If you drop your course prior to the 10th day of class (5th day of class for partial semester courses), you will automatically receive a refund for the digital course material. Courses dropped beyond the 10th day of class are not eligible for refunds. You do not have to contact the bookstore if you drop the course. Partial semester courses must be dropped by the 5th business day after the start of the course to receive a refund.

 

1. Click on the “Immediate Access Course Materials” link on the Canvas course navigation menu on the left side of your Canvas course page.



2. You should see a course card for each Immediate Access title being used in the course. At the top of the course card there will be a tab entitled “Notes”.



3. Click on “Notes”. The instructions for how to access your required course material will be in the “Notes”.

4. If your instructor provided directions on how to access the digital content always use those first.


 

You may not be able to access the digital content until the first day of class as some instructors may not publish the Canvas course for students to view until then. If however, on the first day of class you do not see the Immediate Access link, please email at immediateaccess@iastate.edu.

 

Google Chrome is the best browser to use to avoid digital access errors. Safari SHOULD NOT be used for any Pearson Courseware such as MyLab, Mastering, or Revel.

 

Disable AdBlock extensions that may be blocking pop-up windows:
Go to the left of the browser > Click on the three grey dots (if using Chrome) > Select More Tools Extensions
OR
On the Address bar, look for an icon that looks like a lock or a switch, click it and find "Permissions" and "Allow pop-up windows".

 

As you have already been charged by the bookstore for access to the digital content, please let us know immediately if you are prompted by the publisher to pay for an access code when inside the Canvas course. Please email at immediateaccess@iastate.edu.

 

Make sure you access the content within the first two weeks of class, or as soon as possible if you join the class after the first two weeks. You may lose access later in the semester if you don’t access it when you start the course.

 

Please contact immediateaccess@iastate.edu or please visit the ISU BookStore with any questions you have able your Immediate Access. If you know the publisher of the material you are trying to use you are welcome to contact their customer service.

 

When you look at your booklist if a course is using Immediate Access it will look like this:

All Immediate Access Materials say “Immediate Access-“or “IA-“ at the beginning. .

 

Immediate Access materials are automatically charged to your U-Bill. Since you have already been charged there is nothing you need to “purchase.” The material will be automatically loaded into your Canvas.

 

Immediate Access and purchased eBook are different. For eBooks that you purchased you should have received an email from ubsorder@mail.iastate.edu with instructions on how to access your eBook. If you don’t see the email please check your spam/junk folder.

 

If you have a question that was not included in the FAQ, please contact please contact us at immediateaccess@iastate.edu

 

Just email your title(s) to immediateaccess@iastaete.edu It’s best if you can provide Author, Title, and ISBN of the printed book. We will research to find out if it’s available from the publisher as an Immediate Access title. If your local publisher rep knows what title(s) you generally use, they may also check to see if it can be enrolled.

 
  • Spring Deadline: December 1
  • Fall Deadline: July 15
  • Winter Session Deadline: November 15
  • Summer 1st Session: April 15th
  • Summer 2nd Session: April 30th
    •  

  • All enrolled students will have access to their required material the first day of class.
  • It is charged to their ubill, therefore having access to their financial aid.
  • Increase learning outcomes for the students. Many of the publisher courseware products use adaptive learning tasks to make sure the student understand material before moving onto the next material. Also some ebooks have a feature called “CoachMe” that comes at no extra charge. The students use the “Doer Effect” help retain information they learned from answer questions in chapters that are embedded alongside the ebook content.

    •  

    Please visit this page to learn how to set up the Immediate Access link

    Once you have the link on your Canvas course don’t be alarmed if after you click on it and see “0 Materials” or “You currently have no materials associated with this course”. This is normal if you set it up early prior to the start of the term. The digital content is not linked to your Canvas course until two to three weeks before class as there is much prep work to be done on our end prior to that.

     

    The ebook is usually ready to view on the student’s canvas page a week before classes start. This requires that the Immediate Access link is set up on your Canvas Course and that we have your five digit Canvas course ID matched to the ebook on the bookstore side. About two weeks before class the CELT team provides VitalSource and the bookstore with each Canvas course’s 5 digit ID so we can link your Immediate Access title to your course.
    You will know it’s ready when after you click on the link, you will see a course card that has an oval field in the center of the course card noting “Immediate Access” on it (circled in red in the example below).

     

    The link serves two purposes. First, if you are requiring an ebook with no courseware, the link has be set up and “active” or students won’t be able to access the ebook. The second is that the link has be used by the student if they wish to opt out. If the link is not there they cannot opt out and then would not be able to receive a refund.

     

    Again, the link is needed in case the student would like to opt out to get a refund. Although this is an extremely rare occurrence, the student still has the right to opt out.

     

    The only courseware linked through the Immediate Access link is any Pearson MyLab, Mastering, or Revel titles.

    See the attached list for what digital materials are accessed through the Immediate Access link and which ones are accessed through a different link on the Canvas course page.

    Click Here to Download the Spreadsheet

     

    You can publish the course whenever you are ready. Most instructors add the Immediate Access link and later publish the course when they are ready for the students to view it.

     

    Immediate Access is only available for required materials. If you have an Optional title that you would like to be in the Immediate Access program, please send us an email.

     

    Students can opt out of the program within the first 10 days of class and receive a refund (5 days for courses 8 weeks or shorter). If they opt out, the student is responsible for finding access to the courseware or book by other means. Since this program started in 2014, the opt-out rate has only been around 2% for all courses.

     

    Students who drop the course within the first 10 days of class would receive a refund (5 days for courses 8 weeks or shorter). This is an automated process, so students do not need to inform the bookstore when they drop.

     

    If your question isn't covered here, you need help, or want to learn more about the Immediate Access ONE program, please contact us at immediateaccess@iastate.edu.