Explore, Create & Collaborate
How the OER’s Values Inspired a Cross-Department Collaboration
Academic Innovation & UTSA Libraries
Advancing OER Adoption, Design & Course Integration
Claudia Arcolin
Executive Director�Teaching, Learning & Digital Transformation Academic Innovation
DeeAnn Ivie
OER Coordinator
Political Science Librarian
UTSA Libraries
Mayra Collins
Instructional Design Manager
Teaching, Learning & Digital Transformation Academic Innovation
UTSA
Our Institution
UTSA Students
DO YOU HAVE A SUBHEADING?
UTSA Faculty
Our Institution
UTSA
Academic Innovation: Teaching & Learning Reimagined Grants
UTSA Libraries: Adopt a Free Textbook Grants
UTSA Strategic Plan: Model for Student Success
Prioritizing OER
2016
Adopt a Free Textbook
Awarded 5 adoption grants through UTSA libraries grant program.
2015
Joined OpenStax
Became an Institutional Partner School, connecting with wider OER community.
Fall 2020
Pressbooks
Began cultivating deeper partnership in support of faculty.
2017-2021
Grant Program Growth
UTSA Libraries Awarded ~30 OER adoption grants to faculty.
Summer 2021
THECB Grants
Academic Innovation & UTSA Libraries provide cost-share.
OER Timeline
Advancing OER at UTSA
Fall 2021
Pressbooks Webinars
First Co-Sponsored Webinars for faculty on OER design.
Fall 2022
Certificate Courses
Certificate Courses added as grant deliverables. Courses launch in November.
Spring 2022
Teaching & Learning Reimagined Grants
26 grants awarded to faculty.
Spring 2022
OER Design Grants
4 grants awarded to faculty to create or remix OER.
Academic Innovation
OER Support
Academic Innovation
Course Design
UTSA Libraries
OER Support
UTSA Libraries
Adopt a Free Textbook Grant Program
UTSA Libraries
2022 Adopt a Free Textbook Grants: 2022 Design Grants
Jude Okpala
David Han
Mimi Yu
Morgan Grace, Kathleen Laborde, Judith Dones & Alyssa Vikesland
Academic Innovation
The Teaching and Learning Reimagined Program
Academic Innovation
The Teaching and Learning Reimagined Program
Signature Projects
“Having a free or low-cost textbook means students would have their materials on day one. This will make a significant impact on student readiness. My vision is that OER in my discipline can be incorporated into the course without the students having to hunt for them or look for lower-priced alternatives and possibly risk not having the materials.” Janet Vote
OER & Course Design – Our Faculty
The Geology of North American National Parks is an adaptation of Science, Geology, and National Parks licensed CC-BY-NC-SA by Dr. Richard Alley, Evan Pugh, and Sridhar Anandakrishnan at Pennsylvania State University. UTSA Geology professor Janet Vote and UTSA student Izzy Heathman added the content to UTSA Pressbooks & imported into Blackboard to better align it with the UTSA course GEO 1033, taught for the first time in Fall 2022. There are plans for continued enhancements and additional chapters.
Signature Projects
"This project builds on all the great things we can do with OER. We have an opportunity to make a small difference in the cost of education by creating a free textbook for students at our university or in the community college system. At the same time, we are creating a text that can specifically address the challenges and academic strengths at our institutions.” -Darren Meritz
OER & Course Design – Our Faculty
Darren Meritz,
Senior Lecturer
Christina Frazier
Assistant Professor in Practice
"Projects like ours have the potential to positively impact thousands of first-year students at all levels of higher education. Developing learning materials tailored to the needs of our students is one way faculty can objectively make a difference beginning on the first day of class. Making these quality books free and available for students’ reference throughout their college careers and beyond is our goal. Students should not have to pay high prices at the outset or hit a paywall at the end of the semester to access material they will need to use throughout their college careers." -Christina Frazier
Collaborative Panel on OER & Engagement
Future Plans