OER grant bannerOpen Educational Resources Grant

The Sherratt Library is excited to offer the OER Grant Program, which supports faculty in creating and adapting open educational resources (OER) to use in classrooms at SUU.

About

Integrating OER into courses positively impacts students and pedagogical innovation by lowering the financial barrier to learning. With OER, instructors can both create custom material for courses and increase access to knowledge for students.

Individuals, teams, and departments/programs may submit proposals to:

  • Adapt existing open educational resources to your instructional needs, up to $500
  • Create an open educational resource where none currently exist, up to $750

The goal of the OER Grant Initiative is to encourage instructor experimentation and innovation in finding new, better, and less costly ways to deliver learning materials to their students through open educational resources.

There are 2 models through which OER may be implemented: you can adapt existing resources to local needs and create new resources to fill a gap in suitable materials. The second model, creating new resources, can be quite time-consuming. Each model requires an investment in time and effort to identify materials and adjust the course to new material.

Who is eligible?

Any instructor of record for a course at SUU is eligible for funding.

Awards will range between $500 and $750; funding level will be determined by the needs of the project. Funds may be used to complete the project outlined in their proposal pursuant to the adoption, adaptation, or creation, and implementation of an open resource in a course they are teaching or will soon teach. Funding may be used to compensate the time and effort needed to assess, choose, and adopt and/or adapt an open textbook.

Material eligibility: the fund cannot be used to cover the purchase of commercial, electronic versions of textbooks; rentals of textbooks; or for already adopted open texts.

Selection criteria

Completed submissions will be evaluated by members of the SUU OER Working Group. Awardees will be selected based on the narrative responses to the proposal questions, as well as:

  • Impact; first consideration will be given to projects that offer the highest potential savings to SUU students (based on enrollment numbers and current text costs)
  • Quality and strength of the application and how well it meets requirements
  • Timeline to implementation (preference for shorter over longer)
  • Ability to adapt or produce a quality product and actively engage students in the learning process
  • Sustainability of the resource beyond initial use
  • Willingness to apply an OER-compatible Creative Commons license to the finished product (if adapting or creating)
  • Accessibility and usability of the resource for all students

How do I apply?

To apply, submit an application to Chris Younkin, Scholarly Communications Librarian, chrisyounkin@suu.edu