Cleveland, OH, United States
Official Website
• @CSUOhio
Type: Public 4-Year, Research University
Annual Enrollment: 16,936
Cleveland State University’s Michael Schwartz Library has been offering small grants for faculty to adopt or adapt open educational resources since 2014. CSU was also one of the founding members of the Open Education Network (then called the Open Textbook Network) in 2014. The library’s grant program has impacted over 11,000 CSU students and saved them over $795,000. In addition to offering grants, the library works with the campus bookstore to provide access to required course materials as library-licensed ebooks when possible, maintains a physical collection of textbooks called the Textbook Center, and collaborates with the Center for Faculty Excellence to offer 2-3 workshops per semester about open textbooks, affordable course materials, and Creative Commons licensing.
The campus OER Committee, which consists of faculty, librarians, instructional designers, administrators, and a student representative, coordinates CSU’s annual Textbook Affordability Summer Symposium (TASS). TASS is a three-week online training opportunity that requires the faculty participants to review an open textbook, make a plan to advocate about OERs to peers, record a short presentation about their experience in the symposium, and adopt an OER in one course (as an optional or required resource for students). The OER Committee also helps the Student Government Association select a winner for their annual Textbook Hero Award. This teaching award goes to a faculty member who has improved the learning experience for students by choosing a low-cost or free textbook.
Campus Entities Most Active in Efforts Advancing OER:
Library Departments Active in Efforts Advancing OER:
Academic Subjects With Greatest OER Traction:
Mechanisms to Support OER Included in the Following:
OER Staff Location:
Co-sponsored by the Michael Schwartz Library and the Student Government Association, the Textbook Hero Award is awarded annually to encourage and reward faculty for their work to reduce textbook costs for CSU students. The criteria for this award include 1) the amount of effort needed and spent to replace a traditional textbook with a low-cost or open alternative, and 2) the impact of that replacement on textbook costs, classroom engagement, and student achievement.
Duration: 05/2019 - Present
Program Webpage: https://library.csuohio.edu/affordable-learning/heroes.html
Scope: Affordable course content, including cost-free course content and OER
Primary OER Strategy: OER Awareness
Secondary OER Strategies: OER Pedagogy
Unit Housing the Program:
Program Partners:
Source of Program Funding:
Total Program Funding to Date: $ 400
Incentives Offered by the Program:
Michael Schwartz Library Textbook Affordability Grants are offered each semester and encourage faculty to create or adapt an open educational resource to replace a commercial textbook. Grant winners are provided with support from a team of CSU staff members, including publishing help.
Program Type:
Duration: 09/2014 - Present
Program Webpage: https://library.csuohio.edu/affordable-learning/grant.html
Scope: Cost-free course content, including OER
Primary OER Strategy: OER Publication
Secondary OER Strategies: OER Adaptation, OER Adoption, OER Awareness, OER Curation, OER Research
Unit Housing the Program:
Program Partners:
Source of Program Funding:
Total Program Funding to Date: $ 34,500
Total Student Savings to Date: $ 785,000
Incentives Offered by the Program:
Conditions: Recipients are required to openly license and freely share resources created or adapted
Total amount of incentive grants awarded to date: $ 34,500
Total number of incentive grants awarded to date: 40
Typical amount of each grant: $ 1,000
Links:
Assessment Instrument
CSU’s Textbook Affordability Summer Symposium is a 3 week asynchronous program that teaches faculty about open education, supports them in adopting an open educational resource, and provides opportunities for them to advocate for open education to their peers.
Program Type:
Duration: 09/2020 - Present
Program Webpage: https://researchguides.csuohio.edu/blog/OE-Week-Day-2-Textbook-Affordability-Summer-Symposium
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:
Program Partners:
Source of Program Funding:
Total Program Funding to Date: $ 8,400
Incentives Offered by the Program:
Total amount of incentive grants awarded to date: $ 14
Typical amount of each grant: $ 600
The charge and purpose of Cleveland State University's OER Committee.
Duration: 09/2019 - Present
Policy Type: Formal Policy
Governance Level: Institution wide
Links:
Policy Text
OpenCon Cleveland is an annual regional event which celebrates the benefits of open education to student learning. Faculty, students, librarians, instructional designers, and administrators, especially in the Northeast Ohio region, gather each year for this conference event.
Date: May 14, 2021
Event Type:
Event themes:
Scope: Cost-free course content, including OER
Approximate Attendees: 175
Event Hashtag: #opencon2021cleveland
Links:
Event Summary
A series of informational presentations about OpenStax textbooks, featuring Nicole Finkbeiner of Rice University's Free Textbook Initiative. During her visit, Nicole met with the OER Committee, Provost’s Council, a representative from SGA, Department Chairs and Directors, and Faculty Senate. She also recorded a brief podcast and offered a general session open to all of the CSU community.
Date: Sept. 11, 2019 - Sept. 11, 2019
Event Type:
Event themes:
Scope: OER (open course content)
Approximate Attendees: 110
Links:
Event Summary
Recording
An infographic describing the impact of the Michael Schwartz Library’s 2020 efforts and services on affordability for CSU students. A textual version is also provided for accessibility.
Resource Permissions:
CC BY
Resource Citation:
Michael Schwartz Library. (2020). Affordability Impact Infographic. https://library.csuohio.edu/information/btn-affordable2020.html
A tri-fold brochure describing Cleveland State’s affordability initiative and how support is provided to faculty interested in open education.
Resource Permissions:
CC BY
Resource Citation:
Michael Schwartz Library. (2016). Affordable Learning @ CSU Brochure. https://library.csuohio.edu/affordable-learning/docs/oer_brochure_May_2020.pdf
A worksheet for librarians, instructional designers, support staff, or faculty to use when adopting open or affordable content to replace a traditional textbook or meet the learning outcomes of a syllabus.
Resource Permissions:
CC0 Public Domain Dedication
Resource Citation:
Michael Schwartz Library. (2020). Textbook/Syllabus Map Template. https://researchguides.csuohio.edu/textbookmapping
Mandi Goodsett
OER & Copyright Advisor, Michael Schwartz Library