Three members of Student Senate met this past weekend to discuss textbook prices, tax credit bill and other issues in higher education.

Andrew Berger, student executive vice president and the Student Action Team leader, along with Student Senate members Jeffrey Lange and Jeff Melanson attended the Illinois Board of Higher Education Student Advisory Committee conference.

The student advisory committee reports to the Illinois Board of Higher Education the rights and concerns of students.

The conference, which took place at Harold Washington College in Chicago, was a meeting place for representatives from other colleges and universities in Illinois to discuss problems and work toward solutions.

As an on-going issue the student advisory committee came up with a list of goals in its meeting last August to work on the systems of textbook rental or purchase at Illinois four-year institutions.

Lange said the issue of textbook prices is a problem that resurfaced and the committee is trying to resolve.

“We’re looking for alternative plans and trying to make it more affordable for students,” Lange said. “Publisher prices are hard for students to pay. We haven’t come to a conclusion, but there is a lot of research being done on the topic.”

According to its Web site, the Illinois Board of Higher Education was created in 1961 at a time when post-high school education was on the rise. It was designed to help Illinois’ colleges and universities find a working and sufficient direction for the significant growth of higher education.

This weekend, which was both Jeffrey Lange and Jeff Melanson’s first time attending the conference, was thought to be a success, although Lange said, “it’s a work in progress.”

Both said they found the conference to run smoothly and sufficiently and are happy with how the conference went overall.

“I think it was a very productive weekend,” Melanson said. “We covered a lot of key issues.”

Lange said senate members will benefit from this conference because it gives them a chance to discuss concerns they have and also work toward solving these concerns.

“It gives us a chance to voice our own opinions,” he said.