Deadline Approaches for Faculty Awards

The deadline for University of Arkansas faculty to apply for $3,000 and $7,500 awards for adopting or creating open educational resources for the spring and fall 2018 semesters is 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 29. The purpose of submitting an application is to express interest only; University Libraries and the Global Campus will assist faculty in the planning and development of these resources. 

Open educational resources promote the use of textbooks and other materials for free or at a minimal charge. By collaborating to create high-quality shared texts, the academic community can dramatically lower the cost of textbooks and class materials for the students they teach.

Five U of A professors received awards for the fall 2017 semester: Patricia Herzog, Garry McDonald, Zhenghui Sha, Michael Thomsen and Jingzian Wu. It is anticipated that over 1,000 students will have lower textbook costs for the 2017-18 academic year as a result of these professors' adoption and/or creation of open educational resources. This number will be amplified as future students are also able to benefit from these open resources.

“I look forward to continuing to work with our outstanding faculty to embrace and create high-quality, free and open materials for our students,” said Carolyn Henderson Allen, dean of University Libraries.

A $3,000 award is available to faculty who adopt open access course materials by incorporating previously published open access materials into their classes, thereby eliminating the need for students to purchase textbooks or other course materials.

A $7,500 award is available to faculty who create open access course materials. At least 75 percent of the course content must be original, with the remaining 25 percent or less being adopted open access materials.

Selection of award recipients will be based on the overall quality of the application and the feasibility of the completion timeline. For full details or to download the application form, visit the OER webpage.

“We are so pleased to help our faculty members participate in this international movement to share educational materials in the spirit of improving textbook quality and affordability,” said Lora Lennertz, director for academic and research services.