Faculty FAQ

Overview

What is Triton One?

Triton One is UC San Diego’s new equitable access program launching in Fall Quarter 2026. It ensures every student, with exceptions to the Skaggs School of Pharmacy, the School of Medicine and Extended Studies, has all required course materials (digital and physical) by the first day of class for a predictable, flat rate of $199 per quarter.

Who is participating in this program?

UC San Diego students are automatically enrolled to ensure they are prepared for the first day of instruction. However, students retain the agency to opt out of the flat rate by the Friday of Week 2.

Does this limit my academic freedom to choose the materials I use?

No. Faculty retain 100% academic freedom. You may continue to request any materials you believe are best for your pedagogy, including traditional textbooks, custom course readers, or Open Educational Resources (OER). Triton One simply manages the delivery and ensures students pay a predictable price.

Adoptions & Deadlines

How do I submit my course material adoptions?

You will receive an automated email which will give you access to the adoption portal. The portal allows you to search for materials by ISBN or title, re-adopt from previous quarters, or indicate that your course uses OER/Library materials.

When are adoptions due?

To ensure the program's success, adoptions are due 60 days before each term begins.

Fall: Mid-May
Winter: Mid-October
Spring: Mid-January

Why is the deadline so early?

The $199 flat rate is possible because The Bookstore needs time to negotiate bulk pricing with publishers. Furthermore, under the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA), institutions are required to display estimated costs during registration.

Why do timely adoptions matter?

When adoptions are delayed, students often must wait weeks for materials or pay high retail prices. Meeting the 60-day deadline ensures that every student in your classroom starts the quarter on equal footing.

What if I want my students to have physical books?

You may still request physical formats. However, Triton One is a "Digital-First" program. If a digital version is available, it will be the default to ensure students have instant access. If you have a pedagogical requirement for print, please specify this during adoption for The Bookstore's review.

Adopting Course Materials

Will Triton One affect textbook selection or academic freedom?

No. Faculty retain full academic freedom under this program. Any required title with an International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is included in this program. Additional items that may not have an ISBN but are included in the program include campus custom coursepacks and lab manuals. Whether you are assigning paid publisher content or free and open educational resources (OER), all of your textbooks remain available for adoption. Only required titles are included; recommended/Optional, out-of-print, and hard-to-find titles are not included in the program. If you want a title to be offered within the scope of this program, it must be requested on your adoption as required.

Do I need to use Canvas for instruction?

Courses do not require Canvas for instruction to participate in Triton One. All courses will have a Canvas shell created, and Canvas is a single access point for students to access their course materials. Faculty do not need to use Canvas for instructional purposes. Courses that use alternative Learning Management Systems (LMSs) may add a URL within the course content to provide access.

How do I adopt materials?

You will no longer use the Follett Discover Portal. You will adopt content using the Verba Collect Adoption tool, which was used on campus prior to Follett’s arrival. The Verba Collect tool is only available during active adoption periods. If you do not receive an email with your adoption link, reach out to textbooks@ucsd.edu.

What happens after I submit my adoption?

As Triton One is a digital-first program, titles will be researched for their available digital options. After submitting a textbook adoption, items on your adoption will be reviewed for eBook availability. Titles available in eBook format will be offered on Canvas as eBooks. Titles that do not have an eBook available are further reviewed for print-only options in a new format. Titles available in new print will be included in the Triton One Program. Titles without new print or eBook availability will not be included in the program. Titles available only from used marketplace vendors will not be included in the program. This includes out-of-print, rare, and any title otherwise unobtainable in new print or eBook format.

How do I obtain a desk copy?

You can reach out to your publisher’s representative to request a desk copy, or initiate a sampling request in the Bookshelf platform in Canvas as part of the VitalSource Faculty Sampling Service. Canvas course users with the role Teacher, Course Admin, or TA receive complimentary access to eBooks provided by VitalSource. For eBooks or courseware provided directly through a publisher’s content platform (such as McGraw-Hill Connect or Pearson MyLab), please contact your publisher representative or textbooks@ucsd.edu for further assistance.

If I cancel my adoption, will my students still get charged?

Triton One is a flat-rate, term-level program that covers all required textbooks for every student. The fee is not based on individual classes. Therefore, if you decide to cancel an adoption for your class, there is no additional cost or reduction for the student.

Digital course materials are not suitable for my course. How can my students participate in this program? Will exceptions be made to accommodate print?

Yes, but it depends. It is understood that a one-size-fits-all model may not meet the needs of every course format, curriculum, or instructional model. The program has reserved limited space for titles remaining in print format. However, in instances of pedagogical mismatch where the required course materials are impractical, unfeasible, or unavailable in digital format, print options may be considered on a title-by-title basis. In situations where digital greatly outprices print, the program's success assumes the greatest risk by deferring to print when digital options are available. Additionally, if requested titles are out of print or hard to find, the program will not be able to provide copies in any format. Please submit a Content Format Restriction Form or reach out to textbooks@ucsd.edu.

I use content from sources other than textbook publishers, such as third-party software, library resources, and OER. Can I continue to do so?

Yes. You may continue to request the same content as in prior terms. Many third-party software/courseware providers may already be integrated partners or can be integrated. Library Reserves may be offered on Canvas in addition to, or as part of, this program. For a library resource, use the “Comments Field” on the Verba Collect Adoption tool (coming soon) to list the material being used. If you have the library link, please provide that in the same “Comments Field.” For questions regarding non-publisher content’s fit within the program, contact textbooks@ucsd.edu.

We should strive to use free or low-cost course materials and not paid publisher content. My course(s) will use Open Educational Resources (OER), Open content, or Creative Commons (CC) licensed materials. Why would my course participate in this program?

Triton One, as an initiative, is designed as a “both/and” environment. We applaud any and all adoption of OER alongside the program’s paid publisher content. Scalable OER solutions at UC San Diego are still several years in the horizon, and the Triton One Program is bridging this transition. Additionally, providing free or low-cost content will bring down the associated costs that the University incurs, a main goal of this program.

All of my course materials are freely available in the library reserves. Why would my course participate in this program?

Triton One is inclusive of all student courses. Students taking courses in addition to your course may find that their other courses require paid content. Library Reserves may be limited on some items, so be sure to check with the library to ensure the items on reserve have adequate capacity to accommodate all your students’ access. Additionally, you may choose to have your reserve items displayed in the student dashboard so students only need to access a single page to view all their paid and free content.

Who do I contact for more information or assistance?

For help with Triton One Program course materials: textbooks@ucsd.edu

For help with Canvas setup: canvas@ucsd.edu

For faculty help with course material access: success@vitalsource.com

For student help with course material access: live chat in Canvas Bookshelf or visit support.vitalsource.com

For help with Library Reserves: reserves@ucsd.edu

Your Students

My course doesn’t require textbooks. Why would students in my course benefit from this program?

Triton One includes all student courses. Students taking courses in addition to your course may find that their other courses require paid content.

How do students access their course materials?

All digital course materials will be provided through your Canvas course. You do not need to use Canvas for instructional purposes; however, a course shell must be created for each participating course to distribute course materials.

Students initially access eBooks directly through Canvas. After initial access, a student may continue to access through your Canvas course or by logging in directly to their VitalSource (coming soon) account. eBooks provided by VitalSource can be downloaded to any device and used offline across devices. At the conclusion of a term, eBooks may be accessed through VitalSource (coming soon) until the eBook’s duration expires.

Publisher courseware (such as McGraw-Hill Connect or Pearson MyLab) is accessed through an integration in Canvas or with a provided URL. Most publisher courseware is integrated with Canvas to connect to the publisher’s content platform, and students will use the Canvas link to create their initial courseware login. After an initial login is created, students may either go directly to the publisher’s content platform or bookmark its login page. It’s important these items are adopted to the program, as student participation in the program controls access and publisher payment.

For non-digital course materials (only those titles offered as new print), copies will be distributed to students through the UC San Diego Bookstore at the start of the course.

How long do students have to access these eBooks or courseware?

It depends. Some publishers do not offer more than 6-month access. However, for most eBooks, a 5-year or lifetime subscription is usually selected, allowing student access beyond the course’s end. After the course ends, students can continue accessing the course by logging in to their VitalSource Bookshelf account. Post-course access is unlikely to be restricted unless courses adopt courseware (e.g., MyLab, Connect, Achieve). Publisher courseware is extremely expensive to create and maintain and is indeed the unfortunate reason why access can be restricted to a 1-or 2-term limit.

Can my students decline access or opt out? How do they do so?

Yes, students can choose to opt out by quarter or may choose to participate in Triton Select, where they can select individual titles at specially negotiated pricing. When advising students on the opt-out process, it is important to consider a student’s full-term course enrollment, and not a single course. Single-course opt-out is not permitted; students who opt out will have program access removed for all courses in that term. Please view the Student FAQs above for complete details of the opt-out process.

How do students acquire their textbooks if they choose to opt out of Triton One?

Students who opt out of the Triton One Program are expected to self-source the required course materials necessary for the course. However, The UC San Diego Bookstore will assist any student seeking help acquiring the correct course materials.

For eBooks: Students may purchase individual eBooks and other digital course content directly within their Canvas Bookshelf or through VitalSource (coming soon). For courseware (depending on the publisher), students may purchase an access code through VitalSource (coming soon) or the corresponding publisher’s website

For printed textbooks: The print textbook inventory held at The UC San Diego Bookstore is reserved specifically for participating program students. Students who opt out of the program for the term may special-order a print copy of a textbook by contacting textbooks@ucsd.edu.

Can students download eBooks or use without internet access?

The Vitalsource eReader is fully device-agnostic, scalable, and allows simultaneous use across 2 mobile devices and 2 desktop devices. Further, content downloaded to the eReader app can be accessed offline as long as it was downloaded before the loss of internet connection. As for saving as a file, copyright laws can restrict licensed content from taking form as redistributable files. Allowing content to be downloaded only within the eReader places the onus on the provider to protect copyright and relieves the University of associated risks.

Will course materials still be available at The Bookstore?

Students who choose to opt-out the Triton One Program will be responsible for obtaining the required materials. The UC San Diego Bookstore will not stock course materials for participants who opt out. To search the availability of individual digital course materials, students may browse The Bookstore website.

Impact of Materials Choice

What if I use free OER or Library resources?

We highly encourage the use of OER! Please still submit these adoptions in the portal. While students in your specific class may not "need" the $199 rate to cover their materials, their participation in the program helps subsidize the high costs of materials for their peers in other departments, maintaining the "Equitable" nature of Triton One.

Yes. The Bookstore will handle any necessary copyright clearances and deliver the reader digitally via Canvas.

For non-digital course materials (only those titles offered as new print), copies will be distributed to students through the UC San Diego Bookstore at the start of the course.

Student Interaction

How do students access digital materials?

Most digital materials (e-books and courseware like MyLab or Connect) will be integrated directly into your Canvas course shell via the "Triton One Bookshelf" tool. Students will also receive an email with access instructions on or before the first day of class.

What should I tell a student who wants to opt out?

Remind them that while they can opt out and save the $199 fee, they will be responsible for sourcing all materials themselves. They can use the Triton Select (a-La-Carte) option to purchase individual digital titles from the bookstore, but they may end up paying more than the $199 flat fee if they have multiple courses. Ensure students are checking their Personalized Value Sheet where they can view program details and pricing to make the best informed decision.

Where should I send students with technical issues?

You can always start with the Bookstore or you can direct them to the live chat option in the Canvas Bookshelf or Vitalsource Help at support.vitalsource.com. For questions about physical book pickup, they should visit the The Bookstore at Price Center.

Support

Who is my point of contact?

The Course Materials Team at The Bookstore is your primary point of contact. You will also have access to an Adoptions Enablement Team to help optimize your adoptions and find lower-cost alternatives.

What if I have trouble setting up publisher courseware?

For integration issues with platforms such as Pearson, McGraw-Hill, or Cengage, we recommend contacting your publisher representative first. If the issue relates to student access in Triton One, contact The Bookstore team.