March 13, 2024
The Colorado Commission on Higher Education approved 26 proposals for Open Educational Resources (OER) projects that will produce high-quality teaching and learning materials at no cost to Colorado students. Two of the 26 proposals will go to the University of Northern Colorado.
“No one should have to pay hundreds of dollars for textbooks for just one course. Colorado is breaking down barriers to free, open-source textbooks that can be even better than costly commercial ones. I’m excited to help establish 10 more Z-degrees that have zero textbook cost all the way through the degree or certification, saving thousands of dollars for every student,” said Governor Polis.
The OER grant program is in its sixth year. To date, grantees have collaborated to save Colorado students more than $31.5 million on textbook costs and transformed more than 1,600 courses to no-cost by creating, adapting, and adopting free openly licensed educational resources at campuses across the state.
Beginning in this grant cycle, the Colorado OER Grant Program awards funds to public higher education institutions in five tiers: zero textbook degree development, collaborative partnerships, small group, institutional general incentive funds, and individual. The sixth-year cohort of OER grantees features 20 Colorado institutions and four collaborative projects involving multiple institutions, including the first collaborative partnership grant involving a private institution of higher education and a high school. More than 60% of the $1 million in funding was awarded to zero textbook cost degree development and collaborative projects. Ten projects will develop “Z-Degrees” for students to complete their degree with zero textbook cost in disciplines from nursing to theater.
The University of Northern Colorado was awarded two grants totaling nearly $82,000.
Dr. Oscar Levin, Associate Professor of Mathematical Sciences, will collaborate with faculty at Fort Lewis College and Metropolitan State University to host a two-day workshop entitled “Collaborative OER Mathematics Textbooks” (COMaT). The workshop, which will focus on best practices in the use of OER in mathematics, will be held May 15-16, 2024 at the Auraria Campus in Denver, immediately preceding the free Colorado OER Conference on May 17. Dr. Levin’s team was awarded a collaborative grant of $51,916.
Nancy A. Henke, Assistant Professor in the University Libraries, was awarded an institutional general incentive grant of $29,995. This money will be used to support faculty who seek to convert courses to OER, renew courses that already use OER, and create shareable learning objects for UNC’s Learning Management System, Canvas.
“Educational materials are imperative to student success in any postsecondary program,” said Dr. Angie Paccione, CDHE executive director. “This substantial investment lets students know we want to support every aspect of their higher education journey and we are committed to providing a pathway that makes a career attainable.”
Since 2018, OER grant funds have supported 79 UNC faculty, instructors, and graduate students from 29 different departments as they have converted 74 different courses to open materials. To learn more about affordable and open educational resources at UNC, such as OER’s impact on student success and student-focused advocacy efforts, visit the Affordable and Open Educational Resources Committee website.
Following a few early governmental initiatives in other states, the Colorado General Assembly took up the issue of Open Educational Resources for the express purpose of alleviating the financial burden of textbooks placed on K-12 school districts and students in higher education. To this end, in the 2017 and 2018 Regular Session of the Colorado Senate and Colorado House the Open Educational Resources Council was created with the directive of constructing a plan for OER in Colorado and appropriating funds to expand the use of OER in Colorado educational institutions.