The Apprehensive Appraisal of Wolverine Access 

schedule 8 min read
The UVU Campus Bookstore's main entrance

This semester, UVU rolled out a new tool to purchase textbooks and other course materials called Wolverine Access. The system, which is integrated into Canvas, automatically enrolls students to pay a flat rate of $250 to gain immediate access to their required materials. Students can choose to, before the add/drop deadline, manually opt out of the flat rate and purchase textbooks à la carte through Wolverine Access or opt out entirely and find their materials elsewhere. 

When Wolverine Access was announced last semester, student and professor reception was mixed. The system was criticized by some for its opt-out, rather than opt-in, nature. Many faculty were surprised when the Review reached out last November to ask about it because they had yet to hear of it. Many students considered the $250 rate to be too high. As Wolverine Access has been rolling out this semester, the system has continued to cause frustration–especially for students. Amidst the system’s rocky introduction, student employee Brendon Ball has carved himself a steadfast position in the conversation. 

Brendon has been a Dean’s Office Student Representative for the College of Engineering and Technology since the summer of 2024. From the moment he first learned of Wolverine Access in October of that year, he’s been incredulous. 

Brendon Ball, student employee
Brendon Ball, student employee | Credit: Jeremy Curle

Brendon said that planning for Wolverine Access began under the President’s Cabinet and University Executive Council (UEC) of the 2023-24 academic year. The UVUSA President is a voting member of UEC, as is the Faculty Senate President and PACE President during their terms. The system was approved by UEC over the summer of 2024, meaning some of the term-based UEC members like the UVUSA President of 2024-25 were in the dark about it until October 2024, just a few months before its implementation, as were other administration and leadership. “It was the 23-24 cabinet and UEC that had discussed it [Wolverine Access] as an option for students right before they…were no longer in that position, and so 24-25 had no idea it was coming, and then it kind of got dumped on our plates last second” he recounted, “and from how it was described it seemed very counterintuitive to what would actually be legitimately beneficial to students.” Brendon decided then that he would act as a voice for student concerns over the system, and lobby to improve it. 

Taking swift action, Brendon met in October 2024 with Parker Smith, a representative of the Campus Store, to learn more. “I wanted to ask a lot of clarifying things, because some of it seemed kind of vague. Some of it seemed kind of intentionally vague.” One issue Brendon saw with Wolverine Access’s implementation is the lack of oversight over what is being charged: “What they had described is that there is no sort of student council, senate, whatever, approval for these prices, it’s basically just ‘whatever we feel like per semester; we’re going to take analytics on it…and then we’re just going to pick a number.’” According to Brendon, Smith said that because the Wolverine Access price is classified as a ‘charge’ rather than a ‘fee’, it is not subject to the laborious approval process involving campus government that student fees go through; instead, the Campus Store determines the price. 

“The problem is that no statistics have been taken, no metrics have been taken, as far as I’m aware,” Brendon remarked regarding the system’s “rushed” implementation. “This was much too early of a release.” He noted, however, that since his conversation with Smith in October, the Campus Store may now have relevant statistics. Brendon went on to say that even if surveys were done to discover the average amount students spend on textbooks, the number may be unrepresentative of what most students actually pay. A small handful of students may spend significantly more than others, skewing the mean. Brendon also noted that there are many resources available to students to find textbooks at a low price, such as libraries, which makes the price of Wolverine Access seem even more unnecessary. “Half the time, professors are going to pick a textbook that’s covered by Fulton anyway.” 

Brendon acknowledged the rationale behind automatically opting students into the system. “The pros that Mr. Smith had illustrated for me originally made sense…the automatic opt-in is so that the semester can start sooner…the way that he described it to me is if I had a textbook, and let’s say within the first three weeks I’m supposed to cover the first chapter, even if I opt-out the first day of class I should still have access to that first chapter just so that I can get through those first three weeks.” However, Brendon remains unconvinced that such benefits are really meaningful: “I haven’t really seen that in play. I haven’t really seen that at all.” Brendon continued, “It seems like what they cover and what they don’t is kind of finicky…it’s been kind of a mess to try and determine what is covered and what isn’t covered.” Brendon cited an email he saw from a student frustrated with Wolverine Access’s inconsistent coverage of math textbooks. English major Carter Bertasso said that of his required readings for the semester, only a single book was covered by the system. 

Brendon is not opposed to Wolverine Access entirely. “I don’t think Wolverine Access is bad. I think Wolverine Access in its current condition has a lot of potential to do bad, and I think that with some minor refinements, it could be beneficial.” During his meeting with Smith, Brendon suggested ideas to modify the system, so it works better for students. “One of the things that I had pitched to him is: what if we had a floor-ceiling system, where everybody by default pays, say–and these are arbitrary numbers, of course–say, $50 every semester, there’s no opt-in or opt-out, it’s just added to student fees; if the textbook cost is less than $50, it’s automatically covered. If it’s between $50 and $250–still arbitrary numbers–then it’s up to the student to pay for whatever’s beyond the $50. Then if it’s above $250, it’s just automatically subsidized by the university. That makes it so that everybody, regardless of what bracket you’re in, benefits from the system, and then you don’t have to worry about whether or not people are opting in and opting out.” Brendon said he was told that while similar ideas were being actively discussed, the Campus Store had no official statement about it as of October. 

Inside the UVU Campus Store
Inside the UVU Campus Store | Credit: Jeremy Curle

For as long as he’s known about Wolverine Access, Brendon has been soliciting students to come to him with feedback about the system. During his interview, he showed the Review a stack of printed emails he’s received from students with (mostly negative) feedback about the system. The stack was tall; despite that, he said that to change the system, he would need more. “[The Student Council] had talked to me about how there’s only so much that can be done unless people are sending in things like this,” Brendon said, gesturing to the emails. He added “It’s not that Student Council is for or against Wolverine Access, from my understanding, it’s that they want to be representing what it is that benefits the students and what they’re asking for.” To that end, he said, “The more emails that I have, the better. It does not have to be negative; it just needs to be constructive. I want to know what works for people, I want to know what can be done to make it better for people…I want to see an improvement for the student experience. As it currently stands, this is not good, this is not helping people, this is causing stress, this is causing turmoil; I don’t want this…I’m not trying to pick a fight, I’m trying to make sure that people are getting what they need, and I’m trying to do so in a way that is as peaceful and constructive as possible.” He said that even though dozens of students have conversed with him in private, only a small handful had actually emailed him, so his tangible evidence of student frustration is lacking. 

The emails received by Brendon shared some common critiques of Wolverine Access. Nearly every student cited the opt-out process as a source of frustration. Many were displeased by the fact that everyone was automatically enrolled in the program, and many said they found it difficult to opt-out. Students also felt that the $250 price tag was higher than necessary, especially since students are unable to keep textbooks purchased through Wolverine Access past the end of the semester. Many of the students mentioned never having spent $250 in the past on a semester’s worth of textbooks. 

Brendon reiterated that he doesn’t want to aimlessly bash Wolverine Access but instead wants to improve the system as it exists. He mentioned that he would be having more meetings with influential student representatives soon and wants to have as much student feedback to cite as he can. He emphasized that feedback should be constructive and should come from UVU email addresses. Brendon’s email address is [email protected]. Cautiously optimistic at his potential to change Wolverine Access, Brendon said, “I’m really hoping that something good can come from this. I can’t make any guarantees that stuff is going to happen, but I can make the guarantee that I am just going to keep swinging.”