The cost of textbooks has become a significant barrier to student success and learning. The goal of the ETSU Open and Affordable Awards Program is to encourage instructor experimentation and innovation in finding new, better, and less costly ways to deliver learning materials to their students through Open and Affordable course materials in ETSU classrooms.
Awards are available for instructors and programs who plan on using, customizing, or creating open or affordable materials in their courses. Open in this context means free plus rights to retain, reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute, which is generally accomplished through a Creative Commons license. Affordable in this context means using materials freely available to our students which are not and cannot be licensed as Open, such as articles and resources available through library databases. General information about OERs and our program efforts so far are available at https://libraries.etsu.edu/research/oer.
Award amounts may range from $500 to $2,000 based on selection criteria and funding available.
Individual instructors of record for ETSU course(s) and cohorts are eligible for funding. Cohorts are multiple instructors teaching across multiple sections of the same course with plans to implement Open/Affordable materials the same way. If you are a cohort, you only have to complete one application instead of completing one application for each instructor. If awarded, instructors within the cohort will receive individual stipends between $500 to $2,000 similar to awards for individuals.
Funds cannot be used to cover purchase of commercial electronic versions of textbooks, rentals of textbooks, or for already adopted open texts. If you are seeking funds to cover the purchase of a commercial e-textbook, you can request an e-textbook licensed for unlimited use through Sherrod Library’s Suggest a Purchase.
The award is co-funded by the Student Library Fee (as decided by the Charles C. Sherrod Library's Student Advisory Council) and the Center for Teaching Excellence. The awards are co-managed by Sherrod Library and the Center for Teaching Excellence. Please email oer@etsu.edu if you have questions about the ETSU Open and Affordable Course Materials Awards Program.
Complete submissions will be evaluated by representatives from Sherrod Library, Center for Teaching Excellence, and other ETSU faculty and staff based on the following selection criteria and narrative responses to the proposal questions.
Complete the Open and Affordable Course Materials Awards Program Application before the appropriate deadline. You may use this PDF version of the application to plan your responses.
Deadlines are based on the semester you intend to implement the Open or Affordable resources in your course.
Deadline to Apply: May 15, 2023 for Fall 2023 and beyond
Charles C. Sherrod Library and the Center for Teaching Excellence are available to advise you in the process, including finding, creating, evaluating, and implementing OERs in your courses. Please email oer@etsu.edu if you would like assistance prior to submitting the award proposal.
Awardees are expected to comply with several provisions designed to ensure the openness and availability of the funded project, as well as provide feedback to inform assessment of the awards. Awardees agree to the following conditions:
Generally, the award will be distributed after the submission of deliverables (assessments, submissions to Digital Commons@ETSU) due a month after the close of the semester of OER use.
Applicants will be informed of the decisions via email three weeks after the deadline. Award notifications will include an MOU and additional paperwork needed for the distribution of funds.
Note: ETSU OER Award’s guidelines and application are based on the University of Kansas Libraries' OER Award Initiative.
Please email oer@etsu.edu with any questions or requests.