BGSU Librarian Assists with OhioLINK OER Course Redesign Grant

Tim Sandusky, open educational resources (OER) strategist at BGSU Libraries, is participating in the OhioLINK Course Redesign Grant program for Spring 2024. He is one of three OER specialist librarians who are making a significant difference by assisting faculty statewide with finding OERs for their courses and offering additional curriculum support. Dr. Sherri Horner, an associate professor in the BGSU School of Educational Foundations, Leadership, and Policy, is a participating faculty member working to redesign a course to include OERs. 

See the entire announcement from OhioLINK below.

OhioLINK awards grants to Ohio higher education faculty to help them learn about teaching with no-cost-to-student course materials

(June 4, 2024) OhioLINK has awarded funding to 30 faculty from Ohio colleges in its Open Educational Resources (OER) Course Redesign Grants. Since March 2022, 146 grants have been awarded to instructors from across the state. The grants help instructors learn about teaching with Open Educational Resources (OER), which could save students more than $1 million each year.

“OhioLINK Affordable Learning discovered that this targeted support is effective in helping faculty transition away from higher-cost commercial textbooks,” said OhioLINK Executive Director Amy Pawlowski. “If the faculty grantees convert their course to OER, Ohio students could save more than $1.5 million in a single academic year.”

The award compensates faculty for participation in a four-week online training course about OER and provides a consultation with an OER-specialist librarian to help them identify open resource alternatives to commercial texts in their syllabus. Instructors would be able to use open- and/or library-licensed resources as early as fall semester 2024.

Congratulations to the following faculty who will receive funding to explore using open and adaptable teaching materials across a wide range of curriculum:

• Lauren Copeland, Baldwin Wallace University
• Sherri Horner, Bowling Green State University
• Kalesha Scott, Central State University
• Sandi Sumerfield, Central State University
• Peggy Rolfsen, Cincinnati State Technical and Community College
• Karen Groh, Cincinnati State Technical and Community College
• Carla Rhoades, Cincinnati State Technical and Community College
• Alfredo Zuniga, College of Wooster
• Loleta Collins, Edison State Community College
• Karen Korn, Edison State Community College
• Molly Sergi, Kent State University - Geauga
• Jewon Woo, Lorain County Community College
• Caryn Neumann, Miami University - Middletown
• David Karsner, Mount Saint Joseph University
• Morgan Free, Muskingum University
• Ana Kehrberg, Muskingum University
• Richard Arnold, Muskingum University
• Chelsie Ebaugh, Northwest State Community College
• Anthony DeGenaro, Ohio Dominican University
• Denise Grupp-Verbon, Owens Community College
• Jacqueline Martz, Rhodes State College
• Kelly Stacy, University of Cincinnati
• Nicole Johnson, University of Mount Union
• Michael Callahan, University of Northwestern Ohio
• Kylie Evans, Ursuline College
• Layla Besson, Wittenberg University
• Basil Naah, Wright State University
• Megan Nieto, Xavier University
• Sheena Steckl, Xavier University
• Ashley Varol, Xavier University

Faculty grantees indicated that the OER-specialist librarian’s review of their syllabus was invaluable in helping them make the switch to OER. In an effort to expand this kind of faculty support, OhioLINK offered scholarships to a 7-month Open Education Network program for certification in open education librarianship. Ten new OhioLINK librarians will receive certification in September 2024.

Learn more by visiting OhioLINK’s Affordable Learning Ohio Initiative.