The University Library invites applications for participation in the pilot Open & Equitable Course Materials Community of Practice. The program application should take 5-10 minutes to complete.

If you struggle to get your students to complete course readings or find that you have to supplement your textbook a lot to make it work, this Community of Practice is for you! Receive $2,000 in funding, a project budget, and support from librarians and your peers to transition one of your modules or chapters to Open Educational Resources (OER). OER can be legally customized by instructors and this year-long program will focus on customizing materials within an equity lens. Some examples might include (but are not limited to):

• Editing course materials to center underrepresented authors’ voices and perspectives
• Adding new images, examples, names, and works cited to further representation and student belonging
• Updating course materials to reflect gender inclusive language and pronouns
• Removing harmful/ outdated language or frameworks (e.g. shifting to a substance use disorder framework instead of addiction)
• Reorganizing course material content to be align with neurodivergent readers’ needs
• Enhancing accessibility features, including alt text text, headings, and closed captioning to increase compatibility with screen readers

An information session will be held on November 4 from 1-2 PM on Zoom (register for the information session). Common questions are also addressed on our FAQ.

Still not sure if your project is in scope? Contact the OER Librarian to talk in more detail about your idea.