inaccurate course title

[sanantone]

I got to choose my books, and I was informed that I would be teaching the class less than two months in advance. If it's a canned course, then the instructor doesn't have a choice.

Did your school have a bookstore where the students could use financial aid or were they responsible for obtaining the book themselves from wherever they like?

Students were expected to use their refund checks to purchase books. That's the way I purchased most of my books. I was never able to use financial aid directly unless the course materials were included in the tuition.

It doesn't matter- but I was just curious and asked because when I had to place my bookstore orders, it was based around the access of federal financial aid funds - not the start date of a course.  
In a college that participates in federal financial aid (like a community college or state university)  purchases of textbooks and course codes often happen BEFORE class begins and before distribution of funds, because a refund isn't processed until the FA census date- which is always after classes have started.  It would be impossible to use a refund for books in that system.

I'm sure the reason you could select your student's book title so close to the start date is that you were selecting the "titles" vs the bookstore making a physical purchase for shelving.  (thus they could buy their book from anyone)

I've learned that schools operate differently. I attended several colleges that disbursed financial aid 10 days before classes started, so I had my refund direct deposited before the beginning of the semester. I also had one school that didn't disburse financial aid until a couple of weeks after classes started. 

This was an upper level penology course, so it wasn't going to have generic textbooks anyway. Most corrections books are written for introductory classes. Physical security is not a course that's offered at a lot of colleges, and there aren't going to be many students taking it. I'd expect that there aren't many college textbooks out there, and a professor would likely have to assign a professional book for reading.