SPARC Projects

Connect OER

Open Education

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC, United States
Official Website

Type: Public 4-Year, Research University
Annual Enrollment: 29,135

  SPARC Member  


Overview

In 2012, Brad Hemminger, an Associate Professor in UNC’s School of Information and Library Science started the Carolina Open Educational Resources initiative to raise awareness of the benefits, strategies, sources, and support for creating and using shareable teaching and learning materials. Other goals were to make use of OERs a practical way of rethinking pedagogy, integrating existing content into courses, expanding the reach of faculty instruction, and lowering student course materials’ costs. Members of the committee included librarians, faculty from the Center for Faculty Excellence, and the UNC Press. The committee awarded several faculty stipends to professors who wanted to adapt their courses to use OERs.

In 2017, the University of North Carolina System’s University Libraries Advisory Committee received a grant from the UNC System Office to build the Open Educational Resource capacity at all system institutions. The grant allowed the University Libraries Advisory Committee to purchase system-wide membership in the Open Textbook Network, and hold a series of faculty and librarian workshops for participants from all 17 institutions to “train the trainer,” who will conduct additional workshops at their home campuses. As part of this effort, a representative from UNC Chapel Hill attended the Open Textbook Network Summer Institute in 2017 and 2018. One open textbook train-the-trainer workshop has been held for library staff, and one workshop was offered for faculty. The Library’s OER representative serves as the liaison for student groups working to promote affordable textbooks and learning materials.

Campus Details

Campus Entities Most Active in Efforts Advancing OER:

Library Departments Active in Efforts Advancing OER:

Academic Subjects With Greatest OER Traction:




Point of Contact

Jacqueline Solis
Director of Research and Instructional Services