Item Detail
-
University of Virginia
-
Located in Charlottesville, VA
Suburban
Public -
17011
-
8007
-
Governing/managing body: Library
Program partners
• Learning Design and Technology team in the College of Arts and Sciences
• Center for Teaching Excellence
Funding
• Alumni Association: Jefferson Trust
• Two library programs: Course Enrichment Grant program; Affordability and Equity Grant program -
Publishing - Aperio
Saving and disseminating through the Libra, UVA’s institutional repository
Leveraging library resources
Workshops and consultations
Grant programs
VIVA (state library consortium) grants
Course marking
Research on topics relating to open education -
The Library runs two grant programs that support open education; funding comes from various sources. The Course Enrichment Grant program, funded by the University Library, pairs librarians with faculty “to revise the syllabi and promote more media information literate practices in the teaching to benefit the students.” Creation and use of OER is one focus of the program. The second program is the Affordability & Equity grant program, sponsored by the Alumni Association’s Jefferson Trust, which offers awards to faculty for the adoption, adaptation, and creation of open educational resources. This program is oriented around the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and seeks to help faculty reduce course costs as well as engage students in active and inclusive learning. This focus on DEI is integral to our OER program trying to answer these questions: “How can inclusive, equitable, and accessible classes be conducted more successfully with open materials? What are the affordances of open that allow faculty to create a more diverse and equitable classroom experience?” This two-year grant is a great way to invigorate OER planning: specific project needs will inform our planning for OER support into the future.
Support from VIVA, the Virginia library consortium, funded by the State Council of Higher Education, is invaluable, “I can't underestimate how important that has been to us in our planning.” VIVA has also been important when it comes to finding affordable course materials that may be available through library purchases. VIVA has a “strong focus on discovery. They'll help faculty find existing content,” whether OER or through the library subscriptions.
Three library staff members devote part of their time to the OER program.They run the grant programs, secure resources, align technology and staff to current and emerging needs, conduct workshops and consultations on a wide variety of OER-related topics and perform extensive outreach, including to student groups such as Student Council and the local chapter of Student PIRGS. The library worked with the student council to help create their annual initiatives and agenda in which “a major part of their agenda this year is affordability and open educational resources.” Student support is a key to the success of OER programs.
There is also strong campus support from the Library administration. In fact, this initiative aligns with one of the Library’s strategic directions: “Collaborate with faculty to develop or identify course-related materials that are free to the student.”
Course markings are required by the state and show low- or no-cost courses to help students determine which classes to take. The low-cost option shows the focus on affordability for the campus.