Campus Entities Most Active in Efforts Advancing OER:

• Academic Department
• Academic/Information Technology
• E-Learning/Distance Education
• Faculty Champions(s)
• Library
• Student Government
• Teaching and Learning Center
• Other

Library Departments Active in Efforts Advancing OER:

• Collections & Technical Services
• Scholarly Communication
• Subject Liaisons

Academic Subjects With Greatest OER Traction:

• Agriculture, forestry, fisheries and veterinary
• Engineering and engineering trades
• Journalism and reporting
• Mathematics and statistics
• Sociology and cultural studies

Mechanisms to Support OER Included in the Following:

• Course/Curriculum Design/Redesign
• Library Services
• Professional Development
• University Press/Publishing

OER Staff Location:

• Library
• Teaching and Learning Center

Determine and promote methods to increase the use of open-access textbook and educational resources to reduce costs to students:
1. Improve adoption of existing OER/eText material through the selection and implementation of an OER/eText catalog tool.
2. Implement state-wide PR and marketing efforts to increase faculty awareness as well as coordinate usage, training, and technical support.
3. Select and implement a repository tool to support sharing and adoption of new OER.

Reduce the costs of eTextbooks for students through mechanisms that could include negotiating lower pricing with vendors and providing an enhanced repository for educational material:
1. Recommend adoption of eTexts which can be made available more cheaply than print texts.
2. Negotiate volume pricing through the state system or other consortiums such as Unizin (through its Engage eText platform.)
3. Aggregate eText and OER options into one catalog tool.
4. Leverage and expand library resources to support appropriate use-cases.
5. Implement PR and marketing efforts to support eText adoption. These should be combined with other OER strategies listed.

Program Type:

• Task Force/Committee

Duration: 01/2017 - 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 Research

Program Partners:

• Library
• Teaching and Learning Center
• Other

Source of Program Funding:

• Not Applicable

Incentives Offered by the Program:

• Not applicable

Links:
Other Resource

The goals of this task force are as follows:
- Inform the development of a campus strategic outreach plan to promote awareness of Open Educational Resources and their impact on student success.
- Identify internal and external funding opportunities to support a Faculty Learning Community and other campus initiatives to create or adapt Open Educational Resources.
- Provide feedback and guidance on the planning and implementation of a Faculty Learning Community focused on OER.
- Recommend to Associate Provost for Academic and Faculty Affairs that the UF Policy on Course Syllabi include a statement promoting affordability of textbooks and other course materials.

Current members include Perry Collins, Libraries (co-convenor); Micah Jenkins, Center for Teaching Excellence (co-convenor); Ariel Gunn, Center for Instructional Technology & Training; Romi Gutierrez, University Press of Florida.

Program Type:

• Task Force/Committee

Duration: 01/2020 - Present

Program Webpage: http://affordabletexts.ufl.edu/

Scope: OER (open course content)

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:

Teaching and Learning Center

Program Partners:

• Academic/Information Technology
• Faculty Champions(s)
• Library
• Other

Source of Program Funding:

• Not Applicable

Affordable UF Libraries Working Group Charge

The Affordable UF Libraries Working Group leads the Smathers Libraries’ efforts to engage with textbook and course material affordability initiatives at the local, state and national levels. This includes solutions such as open educational resources, collection development strategy, resource discovery and access, and professional development and training. The Working Group is committed to promoting principles of equity and inclusion, and we believe that affordable course materials are most valuable when they amplify marginalized and antiracist perspectives, ensure accessibility to students with disabilities, and acknowledge the labor of all creators.

Committee Members

Lauren Adkins

Lisa Campbell

Tara Cataldo

Perry Collins (co-Chair)

Erin Gallagher (co-Chair)

April Hines

Micah Jenkins (ex officio)

Lily Pang

Patrick Reakes (ex officio)

Colleen Seale

Program Type:

• Task Force/Committee

Duration: 01/2016 - Present

Program Webpage: http://affordabletexts.ufl.edu/

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

Primary OER Strategy: OER Awareness

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

Unit Housing the Program:

Library

Program Partners:

• Teaching and Learning Center

Source of Program Funding:

• Not Applicable

Incentives Offered by the Program:

• Professional development

Jeff Gallant (Visiting Program Officer for Open Educational Resources, Affordable Learning Georgia, University System of Georgia) spoke on OER generally and why it's an important issue in higher education.

Christina Hillesheim (Past President of the Mississippi State University Graduate Student Association) presented on the student government activities as relates to OER and gave a call to action to all students. There was then time provided for Q&A with speakers/librarians and then a small group activity where student attendees and their advisors worked with librarians and speakers on crafting an action item to take back to their respective campuses.

Closing presentation was provided by Dr. Bruce Herbert (Director of the Office of Scholarly Communication at Texas A&M University.

Date: June 22, 2016 - June 22, 2016

Event themes:

• Other

Scope: OER (open course content)

Approximate Attendees: 100

Links:
Event Summary

Go To Resource

Very basic guide to OER provided as a tab on a larger OA libguide.

Resource Citation:
UF Libraries OA/OER guide. Author Christine Fruin

Go To Resource

An annual required report from each State University System public university in Florida. The report is published each fall following the year for which data is reported. The report includes contributions from the Provost's Office, Institutional Planning and Research, Libraries, and Center for Teaching Excellence.

Resource Permissions:
Public Domain