September 2023 | Volume XLI, Issue 3 »
A “Course” of Action: Incentivizing the Move to Low and No Cost Course Materials
September 1, 2023
Dee Anna Phares, Northern Illinois University Libraries; Larissa Garcia, Northern Illinois University Libraries
INTRODUCTION
The high cost of course materials is not just a student problem—it has far-reaching consequences for all stakeholders of colleges and universities, and for society more broadly. Barbara J. Wilson, former Executive Vice President and Vice President for Academic Affairs for the University of Illinois System, remarked that “Changing the model for access to textbooks and other learning tools is important, especially as we address issues of social and educational equity.” Wilson further noted that “challenges facing higher education require collaborative solutions.”[1]
One of the most productive and vital collaborations is the one between faculty and academic librarians. Since the llinois Board of Higher Education and the Illinois Community College Board surveyed public and private institutions about Open Educational Resources (OER) initiatives in 2021, there has been a significant increase in the number of faculty partnering with libraries and faculty development offices to opt out of traditional textbooks and opt into electronic and print reserves, library-licensed materials, and Open Educational Materials.[2] While great strides have been made in textbook affordability across Illinois, transforming the access model for required course materials needs greater institutional and individual buy-in. Faculty incentive programs are one way to achieve this.
A SHIFTING LANDSCAPE
The Illinois Institutional Survey on Open Educational Resources (2021) revealed some good news about efforts to confront course materials affordability while illuminating areas where programs and initiatives are vulnerable. Of the 65 institutions that responded–representing 36 community colleges, 18 private institutions, and 11 public institutions–44 institutions (68%) stated that OER was being used as required course materials at their institution. Twenty-five institutions identified having 1–10 instructors using OER, and 24 institutions reported Open Educational Resources being utilized by 11 or more instructors. In addition, schools more than doubled enrollments in courses with OER materials from 2019 to 2020.[3] While the survey results showed dedicated affordability committees or task forces and instructional design and professional development support for faculty, there were few OER incentive or grant programs, with only 14 institutions reporting a current program and 7 institutions reporting a program in development. Fifty-two of 65 institutions reported less than $10,000 was dedicated to OER initiatives. Potentially powerful tools for driving progress in affordability efforts are faculty incentives; however, these are often dependent on sufficient and sustained funding, which the survey data shows, is more the exception than the rule.
STATEWIDE EFFORTS
The most notable addition to the state’s course materials landscape is the $1.08 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Open Textbooks Pilot Program awarded to the University of Illinois System and the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI) to support the creation of OER. Illinois SCOERs (Support for Creation of Open Educational Resources) provides subgrants of up to $65,000 to “develop, improve, and expand” open textbooks and ancillary materials focused on “The Human Condition: Care, Development, and Lifespan.”[4] The first round of funding went to 9 teams at institutions across the state: City Colleges of Chicago and Olive-Harvey College; Illinois Central College; Morton College; National Louis University; Roosevelt University, DePaul University, and Harper College; Southern Illinois University Carbondale; University of Illinois Chicago; University of Illinois Springfield; University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (Carle Illinois College of Medicine) and Knox College.[5] Two additional rounds of funding allowed for the development of materials for courses beyond STEM fields, with 14 more teams from 13 institutions receiving the financial award: Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Southern llinois University Edwardsville, Parkland College, Illinois Institute of Technology, Moraine Valley Community College, Lincoln Land Community College, Governors State University, College of DuPage, Northern Illinois University, Columbia College Chicago, Concordia University Chicago, Roosevelt University, and Triton College.6 Materials produced from all rounds of grants will be deposited into CARLI’s Open Illinois Hub.
Further recognizing the importance of incentive programs, the Illinois Association of College and Research Libraries (IACRL) launched the first OER Campus Kickstart: Award for Growing Illinois OER Programs designed to help smaller college campuses or campuses with little or no support for OER initiatives.[7] Teams from Governors State University, Roosevelt University, Elgin Community College, Chicago State University, and Oakton College were selected to receive a $500 award for implementing an OER textbook in fall 2023 and spring 2024 courses.[8] These inducements are significant not only because of the free materials used in classrooms statewide but because they acknowledge the time, labor, and financial support required for such an undertaking, including collaboration between librarians, instructional designers, and teaching faculty.
INCENTIVIZING CHANGE
Individual college and university libraries and their campus allies have been expanding course materials affordability efforts with faculty incentive programs that financially reward and recognize the energy instructors expend to rethink and redesign their courses when transitioning to low and no-cost textbooks and other classroom resources. In fall 2022, Bradley University’s Cullom-Davis Library and the Center for Teaching Excellence and Learning rolled out a pilot OER program that provided internal grants of up to $500 to support OER adoption; 9 instructors working on 6 projects received funding and library-led training on OER, Creative Commons licensing, and Open Pedagogy. Morris Library at Southern Illinois University Carbondale awarded grants to 5 faculty applicants to adopt ($500-$1000), adapt ($1500-$2000), or create open textbooks ($3000) with funding levels varied based on the number of course sections impacted, number of participants on the project, and level of labor required to make the transition to OER. In addition, they provided a $200 stipend to faculty who reviewed an open textbook from the University of Minnesota’s Open Textbook Library–the process of reviewing not only adds legitimacy to the open resources but also familiarizes faculty with the textbooks available in their field.
Northern Illinois University Libraries and the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning launched its Leading Impact Program in fall 2022. This program included a $500 stipend for 7 faculty selected for the ACM Integration Cohort to transition existing courses to low or zero-cost materials. In addition, NIU implemented affordable materials course designators in its MyNIU registration system in late spring 2022, so the percentage of courses using low ($40 or less) or zero-cost course materials in a department can now be calculated. Departments offering the highest percentage of affordable materials courses in the academic year received a financial award funded by the University Libraries. Although the hope is that the faculty and department incentive programs will continue beyond the pilot, here currently is no dedicated budget to support these initiatives.
One of the more established programs in the state, College of DuPage’s OpenCOD, has awarded approximately $400,000 in incentive grants and professional development opportunities to faculty over the last three years, saving students $3 million. While most institutions worry about sustainable funding for their faculty incentive programs, COD serves as an aspirational model: its Board of Trustees and the Provost’s office recently created a budget to support OER, and the College hired a tenure-track librarian assigned, in part, to lead its textbook affordability initiatives.[9]
CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
Because course materials affordability is a seemingly insoluble problem that seriously affects student success and retention, it feels as if progress is slow. However, academic librarians in Illinois have been working diligently to increase the faculty allies needed to ensure change. Faculty incentive programs are making a difference, especially after the pandemic when the consequences of high-cost and inaccessible course materials became undeniable and untenable. Even the modest number of CARLI Illinois SCOERs grants, ILA awards, and internal stipends financed by colleges and universities across the state offer the promise of significant savings for students and the potential for increased academic success. However, these programs are only as stable as their funding. At present, many academic libraries are footing the bill for these initiatives–some of which were conceived as pilot programs instead of ongoing ventures with commitments for sustained funding. Ultimately, pilots need a safe place to land.
Promoting and supporting a transition to affordable textbooks and Open Educational Resources is often a labor of love rather than a labor enumerated in a librarian’s job description, and very few carry the official title of OER Librarian. Instead, college and university librarians frequently work as unofficial champions, advisors, and occasional gadflies whose OER endeavors extend beyond their official duties–which means that on-campus efforts can be derailed if that cheerleader-in-chief leaves the institution or takes on a new role. Faculty and librarians need clear, consistent, and continuing funding from their institutions that sends the message that their college or university is not only talking about affordable course materials but also making a pledge to ensure they are. James Baldwin once noted that “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”[10] In Illinois, academic librarians and faculty are facing course materials affordability. However, it will take financial commitment from their institutions, the higher education community across the state, and consortial partners to guarantee positive change now and well into the future.
The authors thank Dan Matthews, Moraine Valley Community College; Lauren Kosrow, College of DuPage; Christina Norton, Bradley University; and Amber Burtis, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, for contributing information.
REFERENCES
1. United States Senator Dick Durbin, “University of Illinois System Awarded $1 Million Open Textbook Pilot Grant,” June 10, 2021. https://www.durbin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/university-of-illinois-system-awarded-1-million-open-textbook-pilot-grant.
2. For an overview of open educational resources, see Elizabeth Clarage, Daniel Matthews, and Dee Anna Phares, “Out in the Open: Inclusivity, Access, and Open Educational Resources in Illinois,” ILA Reporter 39, no. 1 (2021): 56-59. https://www.ila.org/publications/ila-reporter/article/146/out-in-the-open-inclusivity-access-and-open-educational-resources-in-illinois.
3. Illinois Board of Higher Education and the Illinois Community College Board, “OER in Illinois Higher Education Survey Results—All Institutions {Preliminary Summary),” March 29, 2021.
4. Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI), “Illinois SCOERs,” n.d. https://www.carli.illinois.edu/products-services/collections-management/IllinoisSCOERs.
5. Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI), “Illinois SCOERs Round One Awardees,” May 25, 2022. https://www.carli.illinois.edu/sites/files/coll_man/ILSCOERSRound1Awardees.pdf.
6. Ibid.
7. Daniel Matthews, “OER Campus Kickstart: Award for Growing Illinois OER Programs,” January 30, 2023. https://www.ila.org/news/3544/oer-campus-kickstart-award-forgrowing-illinois-oer-programs.
8. “IACRL Awards $500 to Illinois Colleges to Kickstart Work on Open Educational Resources,” May 4, 2023. https://www.ila.org/news/3581/iacrl-awards-500-to-illinoiscolleges-to-kickstart-work-with-open-educational-re.
9. Denise Cote, “[College of DuPage] OER Steering Committee 2019-2022 Open Educational Resources Pilot Program: Report and Recommendations,” August 9, 2022. https://opencod.files.wordpress.com/2022/08/oer_2019-2022_finalreport.pdf.
10. James Baldwin, “As Much Truth as One Can Bear,” New York Times, January 14, 1962. ProQuest Historical Newspapers.
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