Campus Entities Most Active in Efforts Advancing OER:

• Academic Division
• E-Learning/Distance Education
• Faculty Champions(s)
• Library
• Senior Administration
• Student Government

Library Departments Active in Efforts Advancing OER:

• Scholarly Communication
• Subject Liaisons

Academic Subjects With Greatest OER Traction:

• Biological and related sciences
• Engineering and engineering trades
• History and archaeology
• Welfare (incl. social work)

Mechanisms to Support OER Included in the Following:

• Library Services
• New Faculty Orientation
• Professional Development
• Teacher Training Programs
• University Press/Publishing

OER Staff Location:

• Library

As colleges and universities across the country seek ways to make education more affordable and increase student success, a growing number of educators are adopting open educational resources (OER). OER are free teaching and learning materials that are licensed to allow for revision and reuse The cost of commercial textbooks and other resource packages, which has been rising at an unsustainable rate for decades, demands exploration of alternative publishing models. Teachers, authors, and other stakeholders have responded, resulting in a large corpus of educational materials suitable for courses at a variety of levels in nearly every discipline.

The UTA CARES Grant Program, sponsored by UTA Libraries, was established in 2017 to support educators interested in practicing open education through the adoption of OER and, when no suitable open resource is available, through the creation of new OER or the adoption of library-licensed or other free content. Additionally, the program promotes innovation in teaching and learning through the exploration of open educational practices, such as collaborating with students to produce educational content of value to a wider community.

Funding is awarded in three categories:

Adoption Stipend ($1,000 each)
Scale Grant (up to $5,000)
Innovation Grant (up to $10,000)

Program Type:

• Grant Program

Duration: 05/2017 - Present

Program Webpage: http://libguides.uta.edu/utacares/grants

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:

• Library departmental budget
• Library’s general operating budget

Funding from Library Departments:

• Administration

Total Program Funding to Date: $ 35,000

Incentives Offered by the Program:

• Financial incentives (grants, stipends)
• Instructional design assistance
• Technical assistance

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

Total amount of incentive grants awarded to date: $ 35,000

Total number of incentive grants awarded to date: 14

Links:
MOU for Participants

This librarian leads the development and promotion of open educational resources (OER) within the Scholarly Communications Division of the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) Libraries. Additional key responsibilities include partnering with faculty and students from across the campus on issues related to scholarly communication, research, data management, community building, and knowledge sharing. This work requires partnering with subject matter experts, including liaison librarians, colleagues within the Scholarly Communications Division, faculty members across campus, and other campus personnel. This librarian works with the Associate University Librarian for Scholarly Communications and colleagues within this division to develop strategic priorities, professional development plans, and projects that aid liaison librarians to partner on creation and promotion of OER. This librarian also has liaison librarian responsibilities in assigned discipline areas (dependent on incumbent’s experience and organizational priorities).

Duration: 09/2016 - Present

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

Source of Program Funding:

• State/Province

Funding from Library Departments:

• Scholarly Communications

Incentives Offered by the Program:

• Financial incentives (grants, stipends)
• Instructional design assistance
• Technical assistance
• Professional development
• Award or public recognition

Links:
Job Description