Call for Open Educational Resource Proposals

Idaho State University is concerned about the affordability and accessibility of course materials for ISU students, including first-generation students in southeast Idaho. Accordingly, the Office of Academic Affairs and ISU’s Open Educational Resource (OER) Committee are looking to support faculty who create or modify, and then adopt Open Educational Resources--or Very-Low-Cost Resources (VLCR)--for their course(s).   

The OER stipend process is intended to provide faculty with support for discontinuing the use of expensive textbooks and for developing alternatives that are course aligned, openly licensed/licensed for use by ISU students, accessible to students, and that are intended to be utilized with via the LMS for courses they will teach in the coming academic year in either Fall of 2025 or Spring of 2026. The process is designed to be supportive of ISU Quality Plus standards.

Up to 10 stipends of $1,200 will be available for qualifying proposals.  Awards will be announced at the end of March 2025 and will be released during the semester in which the course is taught.  

Proposals will be evaluated in accordance with the following: 

• suitability: fitness toward course
• license for use: resource is openly licensed—and thus no cost--or is licensed for use by ISU students—and thus, is low cost.  An example of the latter would be the use of one or more journal articles from ISU Library subscriptions) 
• access: resource is such that it can be linked to from within a Canvas course (or is equally accessible if hard copy)
• cost: cost to student is zero or is between $ 1.00 and $ 30.00
• course delivery: course will be taught in Fall 2025 or Spring 2026 by proposal submitter

Please note: proposals that include a use of course materials that would constitute a violation of U.S. copyright law cannot be considered.

Stipend awardees will be expected to:

• Teach the course during the semester intended, or during an alternate semester if course assignment changes.
• Develop a 20 minute presentation to be delivered to peers during Open Education Week of the following academic year. Presentation should include a discussion of the adoption process, as well as student outcomes and student reactions. 
• By the time of the exit interview, the OER’s/VLCR’s integration into the course should exhibit these features:
• instructions make clear how to access the OER/VLCR used in the course.  (Adapted portion of QM SRS 1.1)
• OER/VLCR used in the course contribute(s) to the achievement of the stated learning objectives. (Adaptation of QM SRS 4.1)
• course instructions articulate or link to a clear description of the technical support offered for accessing the OER/VLCR and how to obtain it.  If the OER/VLCR is expected to be accessed in physical form, the course should include instructions on how to obtain or produce a copy. (Adaptation of QM SRS 7.1)

Prospective applicants are encouraged to refer to the resources below for guidance and information on OER creation/adoption.  To be considered for one of these awards please complete and submit this brief proposal form by the end of the day on March 7, 2025. ISU’s OER Committee subcommittee will evaluate the proposals based on student impact, feasibility, fit and clarity. Awardees will be notified by March 31, 2025. Please contact Ryan Randall (ryanrandall@isu.edu or 789-0793) or Cindy Hill (hillcynt@isu.edu or x4945) with questions.

This is the first call for proposals; the proposal deadline has been moved from January to March in order to allow additional time for proposal development.  Reminders will be sent monthly. Applicants are encouraged to consult the resources below in preparing their proposals.