# data[].attributes.body
Staff turnover and loss of knowledge, experience, and inertia.

# data[].attributes.body
While I can say "hey, you should update this," or "this link is broken," because I am staff, faculty think I should do work on their OER for them or that I don't have any say over what they do/how often.

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Despite knowing what I should be doing and how to do it, I don't have the time or staff to support the sustainability of our work.

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With changing budgets, the possibility of inclusive access, and other potential changes within the university there are a lot of unknowns that make it hard to plan for the future

# data[].attributes.body
There's an implicit assumption that you crank out an OER and then you're done. End result: lots of really old, outdated OER w/ broken links, inapplicable information, etc.

# data[].attributes.body
OER grant projects have leads who often blaze the trail and advocate for OER later! When they leave, it isn't easy for grant programs to step in and find someone else. It's possible that it's not even our role to do so... so faculty turnover becomes a huge issue.

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Program has grown wonderfully. We have hit a point where choices need to be made about growth, directions, capacity. Lots of options, but having problems getting direction from library administration about which directions they would like the program to take and what resources they want to make available/flip side saying 'we have no additional resources keep going as is' which is also okay, just can't get any of it said. :-)

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We have a lot of programs in the Health Sciences, and there is interest from faculty in writing their own OERs; we just need funding and time.

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Some faculty abandoned (or never even attempted) to implement OER for ZTC classes, particularly now with all the inclusive access options.

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Worried about possibility of CSU entering Automatic Textbook Billing contract

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Worried about possibility of CSU entering Automatic Textbook Billing contract

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Our CFO and higher admin are currently negotiating entering an automatic textbook billing contract with Follett, our bookstore. There's the concern that OER faculty will go back to using traditional, expensive publisher content. Concern that funding for development of OER will dwindle. Also concern for budget deficit with decreased enrollment.

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My position is an interim that has been renewed twice and every year I have to push for funding for the grant program. It's difficult to make plans when you have no idea with if the service will still exist.

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When we are facing serious budget issues and other big priorities, it's hard to focus on open education efforts.

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Statewide infrastructure (or lack thereof) 

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Statewide infrastructure (or lack thereof) 

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Some OER creation work would be easier to support statewide, but this is not currently a possibility in certain states.

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It seems like no one wants to talk about that yet here.

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AI! Retention in a world with a demographic cliff! AI! AI! Also, AI! Affordability is losing its grasp in the dialogue.

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It seems to vary between zero administrative support, and then over-zealous administrative attention that still comes with no monetary support, but unrealistic expectations and deadlines for OER programs when admins don't understand what OER is about.

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There is a lack of consistent funding streams. Because we don't have stable funding, we have to be agile and constantly on our toes, thinking through the next steps for funding and changing our program structure when needed. We are now trying to diversify our funding, including grants, fees (small dollars), institutional funding, and fundraising.

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Despite one very successful grant cycle in 2019-2020 and enthusiastic lip service for OER from admin, I have been unable to secure additional funds for additional grant cycles. Most faculty like the idea of OER but don't feel they can delve into it without financial support.

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I was able to advocate for my position to transition to support Open Ed as its main focus and remove my subject liaison duties from my plate, which has absolutely affected my ability to step up support, outreach, and programming for OER.

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We try to involve lots of folks across campus in our open education efforts. That way if we lose someone because of turnover, others have the knowledge and connection to the work so it can continue.

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we added in tiers for our OER program for faculty to return and fill in gaps that they found when they were creating their zero cost course or to edit/update existing OER with licenses that allow that

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Allows for revisions, ancillaries, new editions as faculty see fit. It's not as much as the bigger grants, which can be an issue because this is intense work.

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I'm trying to focus on what is most important for my campus/students (Course Reserves & eBooks).

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Most institutions have resources that may be tangential to the OER program but can help support it: student government, accessibility resource centers, liaisons, IT/systems, etc.

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We have a regular process in our Press now for removing authors from Pressbooks and asking them to work with us to create new editions, which both keeps older texts consistent and helps us make it clearer when updates are made and making those edits more intentional.

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We're going nowhere if we don't evaluate how OER is working in the classroom. We're funding research grants that our often very experienced OER folks are taking on to explore the bigger questions.

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We use a definition of sustainability as 'a program's ability to meet its goals' (don't remember the citation, those are not my words though). That drives us to be intentional about what goals we set, ensure they are achievable, measurable, but also include stretch goals.

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Not in place yet, but I am working with my department hear to pitch two new OE-focused positions which will be a game changer, if it goes through.

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As an OER Librarian I was inititally alone but was recently able to hire a direct report to help. This will help with outreach but will also help look at what needs to be updated with old initiatives and what new initiatives we could realistically take on.

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Created an official OER committee on campus that met once a month and tried to include someone from every dept. & created goals for the next x amount of years.

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Each year we try to work toward adding more and more pizzazz to our OER conference!

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In 2022 we completed a full program review for our OER program. This consisted of the standard academic program review which includes a self-study, external review and action plan. This helped us better elevate our program's visibility at our institution and helped us highlight our alignment with the intuition's strategic goals. When we ask for resources during the budget cycle we can now have documentation to back us up in our ask. It's been successfully in helping us specifically name and dedicate OER positions. We are also now redrafting our IP and copyright policy to include OER within it. I don't believe any of this would have happened without our program review.

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Like Assessment, we've had a lot of success getting more buy-in by writing a vision and mission for our OER program

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We have to be really careful when talking about our program with admin, because it looks like we're doing less, but it's much more sustainable now and I am happier (which I think is a win)

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There is a lot to celebrate about how our folks have pulled together on this here. Doing a five year review, trying to determine next steps (or continue current steps). But also some anxiety, opportunities to practice mindfulness, definitely learning to celebrate every small step and embrace projects which turn out differently than anticipated as opportunities to re-vision and/or learn.

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Changes to our publishing process have helped us make better textbooks and look more professional to our authors, which in turn makes the OER program itself look better and get a better reputation on campus

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We've gotten a lot of positive feedback on our conference, which gains notoriety each consecutive year. The issue we've noticed with this is that our campus LOVES using this as a selling point, but is hesitant to help execute it, fund it, or manage it, but is VERY happy to tell us HOW to operate it. We've lost a bit of the autonomy in that tradeoff, and it's been difficult to see the positive changes on our own campus, because we've not necessarily increased OER usage, but at least awareness has increased a bit.

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We started out just getting the word out and hoping for the best with our grants. Now there's a lot more why and what's next. It's odd that running an OER program might involve learning data science and programming, or law, or design, but here we are.

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Still doing general outreach and workshops but not chasing faculty as much since we are starting to grow a strong group of champions. This has helped me focus on what works or doesn't for our program. It's also given me time to think about what issues still exist in Open Ed and how our institution can help to address those issues.

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With our move from Blackboard Learn Original LMS to Ultra courses, the IDs are looking at how to improve the existing courses. Some faculty have outdated course materials. There is also more OER being published all the time. It doesn't hurt to check for new OER and suggest use.

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I didn't get much back yet in terms of capacity to do more, but I can sleep soundly on the weekends now.

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Finding partnerships that grow capacity AND interest

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Finding partnerships that grow capacity AND interest

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We're looking at a faculty learning community right now that would be managed in partnership with our IDs; since I have their support, we can build awareness/interest on campus without taking over my day-to-day work

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The future of open education is the future of education. We've gotta keep up, all the while ignoring buzzword-laden vendor detour dreck. If that makes any sense... theoretical foundations behind what's next.

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I would love to devote 100% of my time to instructional design (not a part of my current job at all right now), OER, research, and higher level operations. In reality, we really need at least one more full time person just to help with day to day tasks, just to give us more time to focus on keeping up with trends in OER, let alone get ahead of the game a bit. With two more full time people (current department has two full time staff, and two temporary staff, plus seven very part time student staff), I think we could do a lot more and really make some positive headway. We lack the budget for that, and realistically might get one person. We hope to be able to fund at least one platform in the next year, but ideally we'd like to be able to give faculty more options than just one.

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I have about 1/3 of my time I can devote to OER, and am trying to figure out how I can expand

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We did an environmental scan of other OER programs and are using that as a means to pitch new support on campus, showcasing best practices, peers doing more than us, and where we want to develop further. By making this a quick 2-page pitch, we're more likely to get our "ask" answered

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Not an answer - I think a lot of the previous answers to other questions are good for this one!

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Not an answer - I think a lot of the previous answers to other questions are good for this one!

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Change perceptions about the "need" for incentives for OER

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Change perceptions about the "need" for incentives for OER

# data[].attributes.body
One big thing we've encountered is this "need" for incentivizing faculty to write, adopt or adapt OER for their classes. Some of the tasks involved in course reevaluation are just part of faculty job descriptions, so perhaps need not necessarily be incentivized. What if we change the conversation to incentivizing training for technologists to be trained in instructional design, so those designers could assist faculty in revising courses and helping with those adoptions to make it happen? It not only upskills an entirely different group of people, but also saves time for faculty, and still gets OER into classrooms without incurring tons of extra cost that isn't sustainable in the long run without apply for grant after grant after grant.

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I'm working on a pre-publication/peer review process so that faculty can do both OER and move forward in P&T. (We're hearing most disciplines won't count an OER as scholarly publishing)

# data[].attributes.body
we are trying to keep OER on the table even as the campus debates inclusive access by talking about student success and other parts of our strategic plan that OER can help with beyond affordability

# data[].attributes.headline
National and International Communications and Benchmarking

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National and International Communications and Benchmarking

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We can't make open a priority for executives on our own. Check out tomorrow's NCOER meeting on a national open education strategy! Check out DOERS in North America, UNESCO / OE Global worldwide.

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Currently discussing how we might integrate OER promotion/development/maintenance into current and ongoing course development processes/funding. Making OER part of our mainstream development processes versus an add-on.

# data[].attributes.body
Finding a way for instructors/professors to have lighter loads so they can develop OER materials without overworking themselves. It is an issue of funding AND time, because it is not sustainable to expect people to teach +4 classes and develop OER effectively.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
OER Tools: Documentation for Instructors

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https://oer.suny.edu/oer-sustainability/

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The Impact of Open Educational Resources on Various Student Success Metrics

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The Impact of Open Educational Resources on Various Student Success Metrics

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https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1184998

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There are multiple indicators which suggest that completion, quality, and affordability are the three greatest challenges for higher education today in terms of students, student learning, and student success. Many colleges, universities, and state systems are seeking to adopt a portfolio of solutions that address these challenges. This article reports the results of a large-scale study (21,822 students) regarding the impact of course-level faculty adoption of Open Educational Resources (OER). Results indicate that OER adoption does much more than simply save students money and address student debt concerns. OER improve end-of-course grades and decrease DFW (D, F, and Withdrawal letter grades) rates for all students. They also improve course grades at greater rates and decrease DFW rates at greater rates for Pell recipient students, part-time students, and populations historically underserved by higher education. OER address affordability, completion, attainment gap concerns, and learning. These findings contribute to a broadening perception of the value of OERs and their relevance to the great challenges facing higher education today.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
ERIC - EJ1184998 - The Impact of Open Educational Resources on Various Student Success Metrics, International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 2018

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
There are multiple indicators which suggest that completion, quality, and affordability are the three greatest challenges for higher education today in terms of students, student learning, and student success. Many colleges, universities, and state systems are seeking to adopt a portfolio of solutions that address these challenges.

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https://ung.edu/university-press/affordable-learning-georgia-partnership.php

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Skip to Main Content Skip to Main Navigation Skip to Footer

Our primary function is to promote education and research with a special emphasis on innovative scholarship and pedagogy. Through our partnership with the USG, eCore, and particularly (mainly) Affordable Learning Georgia, we are the leading university press in the state for OER and Open Textbooks.

View our catalog of Affordable Learning Georgia Texts.

Have Questions?

If you have question or need a free advance consultation, contact the Press at 706-864-1556 or ungpress@ung.edu.

Services We Offer

As ALG's Partner University Press, we offer grantees various services and assistance such as scholarly peer reviews, project management, developing production milestones such as chapter outline, dates for completing drafts/revisions, and other tasks required to produce quality OER.

We are a peer-reviewed, academic press with a mission to produce scholarly work that contributes to the fields of innovative teaching, textbooks, and OER. Affordable Learning Georgia Textbook Affordable Materials Grant may be used for services provided by the Press.

Our open textbooks-done with ALG and eCore-include American Literature II, Introduction to Geosciences I, World History I, World Literature I, Art Appreciation and Music Appreciation.

We've also leased some of our titles to ALG, making them open access via Galileo Open; these titles include The Basics of American Government, Principles of Macroeconomic Literacy, and Composition I and Composition II.

Currently, we're working with ALG, eCore, and eCampus on developing nine Organizational Leadership textbooks towards USG's first zero degree major. A zero degree major is designed to use open access materials in every course requirement, creating a degree program with no textbook cost to students.

One example of our assistance is with the Compact Anthology of World Literature, Parts 4, 5, and 6 edited by Anita Turlington (who was Editor-in-Chief), Matthew Horton, Laura Ng, Kyounghhye Kwon, and Karen Dodson.

Double Blind Peer Review

The editors wanted our assistance with peer review, so we processed the manuscript through double blind peer review, which for us is the gold standard. This allows for objectivity (through anonymity). After the authors respond to peer review reports, we check with the reviewers to determine whether or not the authors' responses sufficiently address their critique. Authors, of course, can argue against aspects of the critiques, in which case, we check with third party specialists on the validity of the authors' arguments.

Because the anthology underwent peer review, we use our contract with Ingram to provide print copies at cost. We offer these fee-based services to all ALG grantees who may use them if and as they choose. For example, we could be part of the grant team for both full textbook transformation grant or mini-grant proposals.

Author Revisions

When necessary, we ask authors for additional revisions. It's not the peer review alone that vets a manuscript; it's also the implementation of that review, so that's part of our service. We keep peer review reports in our permanent records as well as the implementation revisions. We can share this evidence with promotion and review committees and can affirm the textbook's being professionally peer reviewed. This process has successfully supported instructors' tenure and promotion process.

Copyright Clearance and Licenses

Since this anthology includes works that in themselves might be in the public domain but whose translations may not be, they wanted assistance with copyright clearance. Our managing editor, Corey Parson has copyright certification, and she can assist with copyright clearance, assigning Creative Commons SA for OER, and clearing or getting permissions for all differently copyrighted sources, including content and images (an often-overlooked requirement).

Copyedits

We offer general editorial assistance, including substantive, line, and copy edits. Considering the time constraints and work pressures authors face, we view this process as a way to offer support to the authors, helping them ensure they're fulfilling their purpose, keeping their structure and development clear, and maintaining throughout clarity, conciseness, correctness, and - among numerous authors - coherence.

Production & Design

We can do the production, layout, & design, giving the textbook consistent style and making it easy to read/navigate. We also can make sure it is ADA compliant.

Print Copies

We can assist with providing print copies, making them available for purchase at cost. Since an ISBN is required for Print on Demand distribution, and the ISBNs are registered to the UNG Press, we can offer the POD distribution for those grants and mini-grants that have opted for the Peer Review service and Layout and Design service. Which means we will issue the book an ISBN and it will be distributed by Ingram. They will make it available for purchase on Amazon and B&N.

Note: If the grantee wants to make print copies of their work available for purchase, the work cannot be licensed under a NC, or non-commercial, Creative Commons license.

Instructor Resources

We can help create instructor resources (like quiz banks, exam questions, multimedia weblinks, study guides, and chapter outlines), particularly with editing & production & design for pdf or print. We have helped keep them password protected so students will not have access to them, thereby compromising their usefulness to instructors.

Fee Schedule for Services

A page equates to 500 words single spaced or 250 words double spaced. These services are fee based, according to the following schedule:

Press Service

Cost

Developmental Editing

$9.00/page

Line Editing

$5.00/page

Copyediting

$2.00/page

Peer Review

$9.00/page + $400

Layout and Design

$2,000 flat fee

Proofing

$2.00/page

Copyright Clearance

$2,000/flat fee

Manifold Conversion

$1,000 flat fee

Please contact the Press at 706-864-1556 or ungpress@ung.edu for a free advance consultation.

Establishing Connection...

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Skip to Main Content Skip to Main Navigation Skip to Footer Our primary function is to promote education and research with a special emphasis on innovative scholarship and pedagogy. Through our partnership with the USG, eCore, and particularly (mainly) Affordable Learning Georgia, we are the leading university press in the state for OER and Open Textbooks.