Total Access: Course Material Adoptions Best Practices

Total Access: Course Material Adoptions Best Practices

Timely, accurate adoptions are the foundation of a successful Total Access term. This article covers your responsibilities each term and the best practices that keep adoptions and everything that depends on them running smoothly.

Why adoptions matter

Everything your students receive and when they receive it starts with your adoptions. Materials cannot be sourced, priced, or delivered until adoptions are confirmed. Late or incomplete adoptions affect student access on day one and can increase program costs.

Each-term checklist

• Check adoption completion: all adoptions completed 90 days before your first day of class. Track progress in the Submitted Adoptions Report.
• Confirm the adoption deadline has been communicated to all departments and faculty. Also ensure all relevant adoption policies (late adoptions, physical approvals, digital-first requirements, etc.) are updated on any faculty-facing websites and shared broadly before the deadline.
• Review any material notifications flagged for your adoptions. See Material Notifications Reporting Terminology for what each flag means and what action is needed.
• Follow up with departments that are behind on submissions.
• Confirm any new or late-added course sections have an adoption in place.
• Hold to your change cut-off date: send any adoption changes or additions to adoptions@vitalsource.com.

Tracking adoption progress

Use the Submitted Adoptions Report in Analytics & Insights to monitor completion by department or course. Review it at least weekly in the 60 to 90 day window before your term starts. (Limited report available to Primary Adoptions Contact, additional reports may be available on Collect for Reviewers)

• Sort by department to see where follow-up is needed.
• Check the Access & Affordability Match tab to confirm courses that were auto-enrolled from a prior term and verify these are still accurate for the upcoming term.
• Courses with no assigned faculty will not have an adoption submitted automatically. Review unassigned sections before your deadline and confirm someone is covering them.

Need help navigating reports? How to Use Reports in Analytics & Insights

Material notifications

If an item faculty or admin has adopted has a potential availability issue, these will be surfaced in your weekly Adoptions & Material Notifications report emailed to your Primary Adoptions contact. Notifications are classified as red or blue:

• Red status: The item cannot be fulfilled in its current form. Work with the faculty member to update the adoption. Contact adoptions@vitalsource.com for guidance on an alternative.
• Blue status: The item is still available. Our team is reviewing it and will follow up if any action is needed on your end.

For a full explanation of notification types, see: Material Notifications Reporting Terminology

Handling late and missing adoptions

Late adoptions

• Send all adoption additions or changes to adoptions@vitalsource.com — do not make changes directly in the portal after your cut-off date
• Late adoptions default to digital when a digital option is available
• Physical materials added late may not arrive by the first day of class — communicate this to faculty and students proactively

Removing an adoption

• If you need to remove an adoption, contact success@vitalsource.com as early as possible — this can have cost and delivery implications depending on how far along fulfillment is

Managing adoption changes

Every adoption change made after your cost forecast has been generated can affect your final invoice. The best way to protect your budget is to keep adoptions stable once the deadline has passed.

• Send all changes to adoptions@vitalsource.com. Do not make edits directly in the portal after cut-off.
• When a change is unavoidable, submit it as early as possible.
• Keep your internal billing contact informed when material changes occur late in the term cycle.

Material format reference

Digital (default)

• Digital is the default for all Total Access programs. Prioritize digital when available.
• Supports day-one access and eliminates physical delivery variables.

Physical

• Faculty must explicitly select physical format when adopting. The system defaults to the lowest-cost option, which is typically digital unless physical inventory exists in the warehouse or locally (school-owned). If school-owned inventory is available, it will default to physical, so it's worth evaluating whether converting to digital makes more sense, especially when existing inventory won't cover full enrollment.
• Physical selections require more lead time and introduce fulfillment variables. Limit these to genuine instructional need.

OER and library resources

• These are valid adoption options. Confirm access links are easy for students to find within your LMS.

Related resources

Submitted Adoptions Report — track adoption completion by department and course

Material Notifications Reporting Terminology — understand what each notification flag means

How to Use Reports in Analytics & Insights

Contact

Adoption questions or changes: adoptions@vitalsource.com

All other program questions: contact your Customer Success Manager

Questions? Contact your VitalSource Customer Success team at success@vitalsource.com