Grant Description 

The Open Educational Resources Adoption Incentive Grant will provide faculty with an opportunity to foster student success and enhance teaching and learning by integrating Open Educational Resources (OER) into their courses. The Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) defines OER as “teaching, learning, and research resources that are free of cost and access barriers, and which also carry legal permission for open use. Generally, this permission is granted by use of an open license which allows anyone to freely use, adapt, and share the resource-anytime, anywhere.” Examples of teaching, learning, and research resources include textbooks, modules, software, video production, etc. This grant is funded by Texas Tech University Libraries and eLearning & Academic Partnerships, and sponsored by the Office of the Provost. 

Why Should You Apply?

Have you noticed:

• An increase in the price of your required course textbook?
  • According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, textbook prices increased 88% between 2006 and 2016 https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2016/college-tuition-and-fees-increase-63-percent-since-january-2006.htm 
• Students have not or do not purchase the required textbook(s) for your course?
  • According to the “Fall 2020 Currently Enrolled Student Survey” conducted by Texas Tech University Libraries, 36% of TTU students surveyed did not purchase the required textbook.
• Students have dropped your course because of the cost of a textbook or access code?
  • 48% of students surveyed for a “Student Public Interest Research Group” stated that the cost of textbooks affected how many and which classes they took https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/01/28/textbook-prices-still-crippling-students-report-says  
• Students do not have the required materials the first day of class?
  • Research estimates that the proportion of students who have the required course materials on the first day fell to 29% in 2020, an 11 point decrease in three years https://www.edsurge.com/news/2021-08-23-some-colleges-are-relieving-student-worries-by-making-textbooks-free?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Issue:%202021-08-25%20Higher%20Ed%20Dive%20%5Bissue:36285%5D&utm_term=Higher%20Ed%20Dive  

If you answered yes to any of these questions, the success and retention of your students may be affected by the rising cost of textbooks and other required course materials. According to the “Currently Enrolled Student” survey completed in fall 2020, more than 4,000 Texas Tech students chose not to purchase textbooks or had to get additional full or part-time work as a result of textbook costs. Rising textbook costs have become a significant barrier to the success of many students at Texas Tech University. The goal of the Open Educational Resources Adoption Incentive Grant is to encourage instructor experimentation and innovation in finding new, better, and less costly ways to deliver learning materials to students by using open educational resources. 

The funds awarded through the Open Educational Resources Adoption Incentive Grant may be used as one-time compensation to support the development and adoption of OER in the faculty's learning environment. The funds awarded to successful applicants of this grant will be used according to their proposed budget. A proposed budget could include projected hours spent locating appropriate OER, cost of materials needed to redesign a course if TTU materials are not used, digital media production, projected hours spent creating OER, anticipated time spent consulting with the OER Librarian, or other costs directly related to content development. These grant funds are taxed as a lump sum payment.

Eligibility 

To be considered for a grant, applications must meet the following criteria:

•  Applications can only be submitted by Texas Tech University faculty who are authorized to adopt course materials and who are SACSCOC certified for the course(s) affected. 
• The course listed in the application must be an academic course that will be offered in the  2023-2024 academic year. 
• The applications will include a detailed and realistic plan for completion. 
• Applicants must not be the recipients of an Open Educational Resources Course Development and Implementation Grant from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board in the 2022-2023 academic year. 

Award Levels

*Library licensed material that will be considered need to be DRM-free (or Open Access) and perpetually licensed. This is an e-resource that is free of restrictions and allows unlimited users, downloads, saves, and prints. 

**Interactive learning aids that will be considered need to be created under an open license. 

OER Creation

The faculty who wish to create an OER are asked to do so using RAIDER Publishing, a service of TTU Libraries. RAIDER Publishing aims to publish open textbooks and other educational resources created by faculty to be used in TTU classrooms at no cost to the faculty member or the students. Materials created using RAIDER Publishing are created through the PressbooksEDU platform. RAIDER Publishing also offers a peer-review service. The Texas Tech University Libraries will fund peer-review services for the recipients of this grant if they choose to create an OER. 

For any questions regarding RAIDER Publishing, PressbooksEDU, or the peer-review service, please contact the Digital Services Librarian, Heidi Winkler, at heidi.winkler@ttu.edu.  

Grant Timeline

Expectations of Grant Recipients

• Recipients should work with the OER Librarian to establish a timeline for project completion. 
• Recipients should work with the OER Librarian to discuss ways to assess the success of OER materials used in the course. At a minimum, assessment measurements should include student grades, how the use of OER addresses the learning outcomes for the course, and student retention in the course. 
• Recipients will complete a training session or attend a relevant OER workshop provided by the library/TLPDC.
• Recipients who redesign their course or create an OER will schedule a 1:1 monthly meeting with the OER Librarian to discuss their project plan and progress toward project goals. 
• Recipients will submit a final report at the end of the semester following the completion of the project.
  • The final report should include:
    • Number of students enrolled in the course and cost savings; summary of usage across sections (if applicable)
    • Student feedback/evaluation on OERs used in course
    • Evaluation of impact on learning
    • Explanation of how material was accessed
    • Summary of usage
    • Future plans (Will you use the open book or other materials again? Why or why not?)
    • General assessment of how the project went? 

Faculty Champions

Recipients of a grant will become OER “Faculty Champions.” The faculty will be featured on the OER webpage and recognized on library social media platforms. 

Get Creative! 

One of the great things about OER is that it promotes versatility in course materials to help all students be successful regardless of need. There are many creative projects that could be completed through this OER Adoption Incentive, the only limit is your imagination! Here are a few examples of projects that could be done:

• Support Materials Award Type: The creation of a video by a marketing faculty member to highlight “The 4 Ps of Marketing” that can be added to an appropriate OER textbook.
• Remixing Award Type: An instructor teaching about Byzantine Art wants to use the “Guide to Byzantine Art” textbook from the Open Textbook Library but wants to ensure that the concepts covered in class fit the interests of the students in the class. Using the selected OER textbook, the instructor wants to adapt the material to include sections relating the artwork to contemporary practices using student created presentations.  
• OER Creation Award Type: A history instructor who teaches about local history works with students in their class to create an open textbook that focuses on Lubbock. Student contributions could include focusing on areas of Lubbock history that interest them. Students could be asked to conduct interviews with local residents, local historians, visit local archives to gain experience using primary archival materials, and then create material based on their research. 

Again, these are only examples of projects that could be completed under this incentive! Have fun and be creative! 

Application Evaluation

Applications will be evaluated, and funding decisions will be made by the Textbook Affordability Committee using this rubric. It is recommended that those interested review the rubric prior to submitting their application. The Textbook Affordability Committee is composed of members from the Vice Provosts, eLearning & Academic Partnerships, Libraries, student success departments, an SGA representative, and faculty from different colleges. 

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

APPLICATION FORM

EVALUATION RUBRIC

BUDGET TEMPLATE

• Please email completed budgets to libraries.oer@ttu.edu