Campus Entities Most Active in Efforts Advancing OER:

• Academic Department
• Academic Division
• Campus Store
• Faculty Champions(s)
• Library
• Senior Administration

Library Departments Active in Efforts Advancing OER:

• Subject Liaisons
• Teaching & Learning

Academic Subjects With Greatest OER Traction:

• Arts
• Business and administration
• Earth sciences
• Education
• Engineering and engineering trades
• Health (incl. medicine, nursing)
• Literature and linguistics
• Psychology
• Other

Mechanisms to Support OER Included in the Following:

• Campus Store Policy
• Library Services

OER Staff Location:

• Library

In spring 2018, UH Libraries hired an Open Educational Resources Coordinator to build and lead its OER program. The OER Coordinator engages campus stakeholders to advance OER, including faculty, students, instructional designers, Faculty Engagement and Development, the campus bookstore, and more. Responsibilities of this role include managing the Alternative Textbook Incentive Program, coordinating library OER services, encouraging OER adoption across the undergraduate curriculum, facilitating professional development for faculty and librarians, and providing guidance on copyright and open licensing. This position reports to the Head of Liaison Services within the University Libraries.

Duration: 05/2018 - Present

Scope: Affordable course content, including cost-free course content and OER

Primary OER Strategy: OER Adoption

Secondary OER Strategies: OER Adaptation, OER Awareness, OER Curation, OER Pedagogy, OER Publication, OER Review/Assessment, OER Research

Unit Housing the Program:

Library

Source of Program Funding:

• Not Applicable

Incentives Offered by the Program:

• Not applicable

Links:
Job Description

The cost of textbooks is recognized as a significant burden to the success of many UH students. To help defer costs of textbooks, UH Libraries offers the Alternative Textbook Incentive Program (ATIP) for faculty to adopt OER for their curricula. ATIP is co-sponsored by the Office of the Provost, and incorporates support from UH instructional designers, the campus bookstore, and faculty advocates.

Awards range from $500 to $2500 and are granted based on projected cost savings for students, the type of project (i.e., adopt, adapt, create), and feasibility of successful implementation. Award recipients are expected to replace required traditional text(s) in a course with adoption, adaptation, or creation of an open textbook or other open resource(s); or assembly of freely available or library sponsored resources. All UH instructors are eligible to apply for ATIP.

In the first two years of the program (the 2018-19 and 2019-20 academic years), 39 alternative textbook projects were awarded, affecting approximately 6,383 UH students and resulting in an estimated student cost savings of $863,902. For the 2020-21 academic year, an additional 19 courses were awarded, which will impact approximately 3,352 more students and result in a projected student savings of $426,556.

Program Type:

• Grant Program

Duration: 05/2018 - Present

Program Webpage: https://libraries.uh.edu/oer/incentive/

Scope: Affordable course content, including cost-free course content and OER

Primary OER Strategy: OER Adoption

Secondary OER Strategies: OER Adaptation, OER Awareness, OER Pedagogy, OER Publication

Unit Housing the Program:

Library

Program Partners:

• Senior Administration

Source of Program Funding:

• Library’s general operating budget
• President, Chancellor, or Provost’s budget

Funding from Library Departments:

• Administration

Total Program Funding to Date: $ 54,500

Total Student Savings to Date: $ 863,902

Incentives Offered by the Program:

• Financial incentives (grants, stipends)
• Technical assistance

Conditions: Recipients are encouraged to openly license and freely share resources created or adapted

Total amount of incentive grants awarded to date: $ 54,500

Total number of incentive grants awarded to date: 39

Typical amount of each grant: $ 1,500

The UH Libraries OER Coordinator led three OER training events during summer 2020. Each training session covered a different topic of need for UH faculty: OER and Creative Commons Licenses, Finding and Evaluating OER, and Modifying and Creating OER.

Date: July 17, 2020 - Aug. 6, 2020

Event Type:

• Event Series
• Workshop/Professional Development

Event themes:

• Other

Scope: OER (open course content)

Approximate Attendees: 15

Links:
Event Summary
Slides

In collaboration with Faculty Engagement and Development, the OER Coordinator offered a series of 13 drop-in consulatation hours in the UH Faculty Cafe in spring 2019. Each drop-in consultation was an opportunity to promote OER, assist faculty in finding and evaluating OER for their courses, and provide consultation on OER use. A total of 13 consultations resulted from this event series.

Date: Feb. 4, 2019 - March 26, 2019

Event Type:

• Event Series

Event themes:

• Open Education Week

Scope: Affordable course content, including cost-free course content and OER

Approximate Attendees: 15

Links:
Event Summary
Photos

Emerging Trends in Educational Technology is a series of talks hosted by the UH College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences in collaboration with the Office of the Provost. In this presentation on Open Educational Resources, the OER Coordinator provided an introduction to OER with a focus on Creative Commons licenses so that attendees would be able to find, identify, and provide attribution to OER for use in their courses.

Date: Nov. 9, 2018 - Nov. 9, 2018

Event Type:

• Talk/Presentation

Event themes:

• Other

Scope: OER (open course content)

Approximate Attendees: 25

Links:
Event Summary
Slides

Emerging Trends in Educational Technology is a series of talks hosted by the UH College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences in collaboration with the Office of the Provost. This specific presentation, "Alternative Textbook Incentive Program: Faculty Insights," was given by the OER Coordinator and three faculty members who participated in the 2018-19 cohort of the UH Alternative Textbook Incentive Program (ATIP). The aim of the presentation was to inform attendees of the impact of textbook costs on student success, share information about ATIP, and highlight faculty experiences in implementing OER or affordable resources in place of commercial textbooks.

Date: Feb. 8, 2019 - Feb. 8, 2019

Event Type:

• Talk/Presentation

Event themes:

• Other

Scope: Affordable course content, including cost-free course content and OER

Approximate Attendees: 40

Links:
Event Summary
Slides

University of Houston faculty, staff, and students were invited to the Alternative Textbook Incentive Program (ATIP) reception at the MD Anderson Library to celebrate the first winner cohort of the program and to learn more about open educational resources. ATIP awardees gave lightning talks about their alternative textbook projects, followed by discussion.

Date: Oct. 23, 2018 - Oct. 23, 2018

Event Type:

• Talk/Presentation

Event themes:

• Open Access Week

Scope: Affordable course content, including cost-free course content and OER

Approximate Attendees: 30

Links:
Photos
News Coverage

UH Libraries hosted informal gatherings to meet and learn from others on campus who are interested in open educational resources. The primary audience was faculty, though the events drew student, instructional designer, and librarian attendees as well. Discussion topics included motivations behind OER, tools for creating OER, copyright and fair use, and more.

Date: Sept. 27, 2019 - Nov. 15, 2019

Event Type:

• Event Series

Event themes:

• Open Access Week

Scope: OER (open course content)

Approximate Attendees: 10

Links:
Promotional Material