Item Detail
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University of Massachusetts - Amherst
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Located in Amherst, MA
Suburban
Public -
24233
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7409
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Governing/managing body: Library
Program partners
• Center for Teaching and Learning - participating in the grant funding process
• Instructional Design, Engagement, & Support (IDEAS)
Funding
• Library
• Provost -
Grant program
Workshops/training
Leveraging library resources
Publishing - Pressbooks -
The grants program has been running for many years and is very successful. They “have had a peer review process in place since we first established the grants, knowing that faculty expect and value such a process to be in place.” The process takes a holistic approach from beginning to end. A faculty who is not given a grant can ask for help for a future application. Additionally, interested faculty can get help before applying for the grant to increase the possibility of receiving a grant. The Center for Teaching and Learning and the Instructional Design, Engagement, & Support (IDEAS) group partner with the University Libraries to provide assistance with pedagogy, assessment, instructional design, and work with us in the review of the faculty proposals for the Open Education Initiative (OEI) grants (along with a couple of faculty members who have previously received grants) and provide faculty support. While funding for the grants if provided mainly by the library and Provost, occasionally other departments collaborate to provide funding for open education mini-grants.
While the OER program operates outside other library departments there is still great collaboration. The library provides course reserve services and will purchase an eBook version of a textbook with unlimited user licenses. One of the greatest strengths is the open nature of services and referrals. Each member of the OER team, whether officially part of the job description or not, knows enough to refer faculty to the correct person. This does produce a weakness in the system that if someone were to leave or retire that line of communication and relationship will need to be rebuilt. “If any one of us leaves, that's a big chunk of knowledge that walks away.” The relationship with CTL has been excellent at getting new faculty informed about OER and the program. It is the “willingness to not silo information or access” and provide a “warm handoff” to the right person that creates good will.
Despite the success, the program still could grow but it would require more resources including funding and personnel. The balance of duties needs to be maintained for all participants, especially those who are passionate about the work. As a good step, the “Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs is very supportive of who we are and is fully on board.“ This relationship led to the inclusion of a supportive phrase for OER in the “Provost letter tenure and promotion.”
In addition to administrative support, state support has been key for inter-campus collaborations and setting requirements for state institutions. Course marking, surveys and key performance indicators have been approved by the state Board of Higher Ed. Having someone at the institution who has a close relationship with those at the government level has proven to be key in success at a state-wide level.