Northwestern University
Evanston, IL, United States
Official Website
• @NorthwesternU
Type: Private 4-Year, Research University
Annual Enrollment: 21,554
OER LibGuide
Overview
Northwestern University Libraries partners with the Office of the Provost and Northwestern Information Technology on the univerity's Affordable Instructional Resources (AIR) initiative. This initiative is focused on supporting faculty in reducing the costs of their courses through the use of library services, OER, and related university programs. AIR's flagship program is the OER Faculty Grants opportunity. In addition to OER grants, we offer a suite of services to assist faculty in finding, developing, and teaching with OER.
Campus Details
Campus Entities Most Active in Efforts Advancing OER:
- Academic Department
- Academic Division
- Academic/Information Technology
- Assistive Technology or Disability Services Office
- Campus Store
- E-Learning/Distance Education
- Faculty Champions(s)
- Faculty Senate or Union
- Library
- Senior Administration
- Student Government
- Student Services
Library Departments Active in Efforts Advancing OER:
- Administration
- Scholarly Communication
- Subject Liaisons
Academic Subjects With Greatest OER Traction:
- Economics
- Engineering and engineering trades
- Languages
- Law
- Mathematics and statistics
- Physics
- Political sciences and civics
- Social and behavioral sciences
- Sociology and cultural studies
Mechanisms to Support OER Included in the Following:
- Library Services
OER Staff Location:
- Library
OER Programs
OER Grants Program
The Affordable Instructional Resources (AIR) initiative invites faculty to apply for grant funding to develop Open Educational Resources (OER) for undergraduate courses. OER are teaching materials that are free, distributed online, and allow anyone to copy, use, adapt, and remix the materials for free. OER are commonly used as alternatives to expensive textbooks by providing students with high quality course readings at no cost. Funded by the Office of the Provost and the Libraries, these grants are intended to fund the work involved in finding, creating, using, and sharing OER as replacements for required commercial textbooks. No experience with OER is necessary to apply.
Program Type:
- Grant Program
- Publishing/Development Program
Duration: 05/2017 - Present
Program Webpage: https://air.northwestern.edu/get-started/open-educational-resources/oer-faculty-grant.html
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:
- Senior Administration
Program Partners:
- Academic/Information Technology
- Campus Store
- Faculty Champions(s)
- Faculty Senate or Union
- Library
- 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: $ 55,000
Total Student Savings to Date: $ 345,000
Incentives Offered by the Program:
- Financial incentives (grants, stipends)
Conditions: Recipients are required to openly license and freely share resources created or adapted
Total amount of incentive grants awarded to date: $ 55,000
Total number of incentive grants awarded to date: 12
Typical amount of each grant: $ 5,000
OER Resources
Adopt an Open Textbook
A how-to guide on finding and adopting open textbooks for Northwestern University undergraduate courses.
Resource Permissions:
CC BY
Point of Contact
Chris Diaz
Digital Publishing Librarian
@chrisdaaz