Panther Book Pack FAQs

At the time you enroll in undergraduate courses, you will automatically be enrolled in the Panther Book Pack. The $20 flat rate per undergraduate credit will be posted to your FIU student account. If you find that the Panther Book Pack is not the best option for you, you may opt out. The deadline to opt-out is three (3) days after the last day to add/drop.

The objective of an opt-out program is to ensure that no student misses out on receiving their course materials prior to the start of their classes. This ensures that everyone will have their books on time while not being responsible for payment until the last day to pay after the start of each term. Students who do not wish to participate have the ability to opt-out easily on their myFIU portal.

The FIU bookstore website provides the details about the course materials needed for your classes. Visit the “Find Textbooks” page. Select your campus from the dropdown. Then select the appropriate term from the next dropdown (example: Fall 2021 OPT-OUT). You will see the required course materials for your courses once you enter the course and section numbers into the corresponding dropdowns. You will see all available textbook formats and costs. If you would like to compare that to the Panther Book Pack you may select the appropriate term with the words “Book Pack” after the term (example: Fall 2021 Book Pack).

You will receive emails and phone calls to remind you to verify your order. If you do not verify your order, you will not receive the course materials included in the Panther Book Pack. However, if you do not opt out, you will still be billed the Panther Book Pack charge.

Please contact the bookstore for available options. The contact phone number is 305-348-2961 and the email address is bookpack@fiu.edu.

Yes. If you verified your order and did not opt out of the program, you will still be charged. If you did not verify your order and did not opt-out of the program, you will still be charged.

You may return the course materials for the dropped class to the FIU bookstore right away, but no later than the date outlined by Barnes & Noble when they reach out asking you to return the books. If you do not return the materials by the deadline, you will be charged the cost of these materials on your FIU student account. If you drop a class and enroll in a different class prior to receiving your course materials, the bookstore will “swap” the required course materials/access codes so that you have what you need. Upon adding a class to your schedule, you will receive a new verification email from Barnes & Noble. Once you verify your preferred fulfillment method you can obtain the course materials for the newly added courses. You must return the course materials for the dropped course to the bookstore by the deadline.

You may opt-out via MyFIU by clicking on the Panther Book Pack tile and then clicking the opt-out / opt-in toggle for the session you would like to change your participation status for.

No, you will remain opted out for the session once you have made the opt-out selection in MyFIU regardless of whether you add additional courses. If you would like to opt back in because you have added courses, you may do so on MyFIU following the same steps you did to opt out. If you are unsure as to whether you are opted in or out for a given session or course, you may check on that in detail in MyFIU via the Panther Book Pack tile.

Yes, you have until three days after add/drop for the given session, as outlined in the Academic Calendar to opt-out of the program, even if you already picked up or received your course materials. However, you will have to return your course materials to Barnes & Noble at the time you opt out, or no later than the deadline provided by Barnes & Noble to you via email. If you do not return your course materials, the charges for the Panther Book Pack will go back on your student account.

Your order cannot be processed until your course materials are verified. You will receive an email beginning 30 days prior to the first day of class to verify your course materials for each term. If you have already verified your order, call or email the bookstore at bookpack@fiu.edu and give them your order number so they can check on the status of your order.

Send a copy of the syllabus to bookpack@fiu.edu. Make sure to include the course name and section for which you are missing materials and your contact information.

The deadline to opt out is three days after the last day to add/drop for the semester session, as listed on the Academic Calendar. The opt-out deadline date for each of your courses, as well as your participation status in the Panther Book Pack is visible in your MyFIU, via the Panther Book Pack tile.

The Panther Book Pack program is designed to be an all-in or all-out solution by session for the lowest flat rate possible. Participation is by session for all courses, not by individual course, therefore participation in some courses but not others in each session is not possible.

You may opt out of the program through your MyFIU page via the Panther Book Pack tile by clicking the opt-out / opt-in toggle for each session each semester. If you opt out of the Panther Book Pack, you are responsible for obtaining your course materials independently, either through Barnes & Noble at FIU or another supplier. If you decide that you would like to participate after you opt out, you may opt back into the program following the same steps you took to opt out.

The following undergraduate courses are excluded from the Panther Book Pack due to the location or scheduling:

• Dual enrollment courses taking place in a high school, NOT on an FIU campus
• Courses that are part of a dynamic session as defined above
• Courses taking place in a location outside of local FIU campuses and satellite locations, such as, China
• Courses taking place in the Fall D session
• Courses taking place in a dynamic session

You can visit MyFIU and click on the Panther Book Pack tile. Then select a term and a session to see all enrolled courses and their qualification status for the Panther Book Pack program.

Yes, you can change your decision until the opt-out deadline, which is three days following the add/drop deadline for the given session, per FIU’s Academic Calendar. If you already received your course materials, you will need to return them to the bookstore, prior to or immediately after opting out.

You can opt out and opt back in for each session until three days following the add/drop deadline for the given session, per FIU’s Academic Calendar.

No, there is no limit to how many times you opt-out or opt back into the Panther Book Pack via MyFIU. However, you will be unable to take any further action beyond the opt-out / opt-in deadline, which is three days after the last day to add/drop.

The Panther Book Pack charges will be added to and removed from your FIU student account in the same way tuition is when you add and drop a class. You will be charged $20 per undergraduate credit hour for each participating course that you are enrolled in. Just like you are credited tuition for any course dropped prior to the add/drop deadline, you will be credited the Panther Book Pack charge for such dropped courses. Students must return any course materials received for the dropped classes prior to or immediately upon dropping the classes but no later than the deadline outlined by Barnes & Noble. Students who do not return the course materials for dropped classes will be charged the cost of those course materials on their student accounts.

All course materials received for courses that are later dropped or if opting out of the Panther Book Pack must be returned to Barnes & Noble by the date outlined in the communications from Barnes & Noble requiring the return of the materials.

All course materials are provided in the format required by the instructor. If you would like a format other than that required by the instructor, you may purchase that alternative format from the bookstore directly at the regular price. An alternative format is not part of the Panther Book Pack rental program.

FIU is committed to providing affordable course materials and ensuring equitable access to course materials for our students. We understand that there isn’t one solution that will work for all students all the time. However, after much analysis, we deem that the Panther Book Pack rental program offers the greatest savings to the majority of our undergraduate students most of the time.

We urge you to compare the cost of purchasing your course materials independently versus paying $20 per undergraduate credit hour each session. You should also consider other program benefits of the Panther Book Pack in your analysis, such as guaranteed delivery of required course materials on or before the first day of class by a single vendor. Ultimately, each student should determine what the best option is each term. This program is intended to offer the most affordable and equitable access option for most.

Your participation is optional. If you wish to opt out, you may do so on the MyFIU portal.

It depends on the instructor’s preference. The instructor selects the required format in which the course materials should be used by the students. If an instructor adopts an e-book, that is what will be included in the Panther Book Pack. If an instructor selects a hard copy, then that is what will be included in the Panther Book Pack.

The following items are excluded from the Panther Book Pack: school supplies, kits, uniforms, art supplies, calculators, non-required course materials, and items that the FIU bookstore cannot source. An example of items that cannot be sourced by the FIU bookstore is a Netflix subscription.

Your personalized verification email from Barnes & Noble will outline any exclusions form the Panther Book Pack.

For the lowest institutional per-credit flat rate, all undergraduate courses must participate in the program. Courses with no required course materials, or course materials that are low- or no-cost to you, will all be part of the Panther Book Pack program and you will be charged the flat rate of $20 per credit hour. By the same token, for courses with very expensive materials or multiple required materials you will also only be charged the flat rate of $20 per credit hour. Under this subscription model, this should balance out and ultimately pass on significant savings to you across multiple courses. However, if the $20 flat rate is not the most affordable option when looking at your total cost for the term, you may opt out of the Panther Book Pack program for that term but will be responsible for obtaining the required course materials on your own.

First, try a different browser. You can access an article about supported PantherSoft browsers. You should also clear your cache and cookies. You can access an article with instructions on how to do this by clicking the link. Finally, you can try incognito mode on your browser. If it still does not work, please contact bookpack@fiu.edu with your Panther ID, full name and the steps you’ve taken. We will engage FIU IT to help with a resolution.

There are a number of ways to access digital materials included in the Panther Book Pack. You will know the delivery method for each of the included materials when verify your course materials and select your fulfillment method from Barnes & Noble at FIU.

Some digital materials will be accessible with a physical access code that you will receive with your other materials as part of the Panther Book Pack. Follow the instructions on the access code card.

Other digital materials will be available directly in your Canvas course. This may be available to you in one of three ways:

1. Access Code Reveal: You will click on the Panther Book Pack link in the course in Canvas. This will take you to the Barnes & Noble digital materials platform and a code will be revealed to you for access to your course materials. You will take this code and use it to access the materials based on the directions provided with the code.
2. Barnes & Noble direct access: You will click on the Panther Book Pack link in the course in Canvas. This will take you to the Barnes & Noble digital materials platform and you will be able to click on the materials and access them directly through this platform.
3. Publisher direct access: You will see a publisher link in the Canvas course, for example McGraw Hill Connect. You will click on that link and it will take you directly to the course materials on the publishers site and you will have codeless access.

Your access to the digital materials will be revoked on the opt-out deadline. If you need to gain access to the digital materials again after the opt-out deadline and after the access was revoked, you may purchase the digital materials from the bookstore at the regular retail price. Once you have purchased the materials you can regain access with the physical or digital access code provided with your purchase. Any work completed prior to the access being revoked will still be there when you regain access.

If your digital materials are not available in Canvas or the appropriate links are not in place, please notify your instructor and contact Barnes & Noble at bookpack@fiu.edu to have the issue resolved right away.

Yes, these are your textbooks for the term to be used as you normally would, but you must return the materials in reusable condition at the end of the semester.

You are responsible for the course materials rented through the Panther Book Pack and we expect gentle use so that the materials can be used by others in the future. But we know things happen! Contact the FIU bookstore team to work it out on a case-by-case basis if your course materials are lost or damaged during the term.

If you are a dual enrollment student taking courses at your high school, your course does not qualify for the Panther Book Pack. You are responsible for coordinating your course materials with your high school dual enrollment administrator. If you are a dual enrollment student taking classes online or at an FIU campus, you are automatically enrolled in the Panther Book Pack and should verify your course materials and select a fulfillment method when you receive the verification email from Barnes & Noble.

BNC is committed to protecting all personal information and take the utmost precautions to secure and store data.

The data provided to the bookstore is only used to help us deliver all your course materials based upon your selected courses.

No. We are committed to the safeguarding of all personal information.