OER update

October 2023

As NPC gears up for its 50th anniversary, it is imperative to shine a light on our dedication to fostering and integrating open educational resources (OERs). 

On September 29th, a group of faculty, staff, and administrators attended the Arizona Open Textbook for Rural Colleges Summit in Prescott. This summit was a platform to connect, applaud, and kindle enthusiasm among members of the Arizona Open Textbook Consortium. The day was packed with group sessions, targeted professional development, subject-specific discussions, and an opportunity for partners to showcase their achievements. Our team proudly shared a video highlighting NPC’s adoption of OERs (Watch it here).

NPC is a member of the AZ Open Textbook consortium that consists of seven Arizona community colleges. This consortium was the recipient of an $801,218 grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The three-year grant is aimed at reducing student textbook costs through the creation and dissemination of Open Education Resources (OERs), with a vision to motivate faculty to transition from conventional textbooks to open textbooks. Our immediate goal is to alleviate financial strains on students, enabling them to progress swiftly in their chosen programs. The initiative emphasizes transformative teaching methodologies that well align course materials, pedagogy, and learning outcomes. Faculty members are invited to present proposals that embrace, modify, or originate OERs for this initiative.

According to the Fall 2022 data provided by Institutional Effectiveness, 62% of NPC students with at least 13 credits spent more than $500 on textbooks. Books and supplies constitute 15% of the total cost of attendance for an in-state, off-campus student with family. By championing open textbooks and OERs, we are actively dismantling these financial obstacles.

Our grant team currently consists of an educational technologist, an instructional designer, and a librarian, all working in collaboration with the consortium and faculty to ensure our faculty receive sufficient professional development opportunities and support in OER adoption. We have a number of faculty from Arts & Sciences and CTE who are diligently contributing to this cause, making significant progress in OER utilization. Some of them even started the effort before the grant. With the support from our faculty and team, we are optimistic about OER's potential to elevate awareness and foster student success at NPC.

Stay tuned for future newsletters where we will spotlight more collaborative and innovative initiatives at NPC.

Wei Ma, PhD
Dean of Instructional Innovation
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