Overview of the Program

Northern Kentucky University (NKU) launched its own OER program initiative in 2021 after joining the Institute on Open Educational Resources hosted by the Association of American Colleges and Universities. During the one-year commitment, a cross-unit team led by library representatives developed an action plan to grow a campus culture of open education aligned with the University’s strategic plan. To meet this goal, in 2022 the Library hired its first full-time OER Librarian and piloted an OER Instructor Grant program supporting instructors through the process of adoption or adaptation of OER materials to use in NKU courses. Currently in its second cycle, the grant program has supported 33 courses, impacting nearly 1000 NKU students who have saved approximately $95,000 in one semester of implementation. The OER program also offers one-on-one consultative support and supplies faculty curated lists of promising OER for adoption. The infrastructure for the OER program continues to grow in 2024 with plans to support more instructors with the adoption, adaptation, and creation of OER.

Common Questions

Q: I want to create a new Pressbooks book, can I do that on my own?

A: You must request a new book be created by your Pressbooks institution admin. We will need your email address, book title, and book URL.

Q: I already have a Pressbooks account and a book on a different network, can it be transferred to the SAALCK network?

A: We need to create a new account for you. We can clone your old book into the SAALCK network as long as your original is openly licensed and public. The clone process migrates all the book information into the SAALCK network with the exception of the media library. Images still appear but are not connected to the library. After the cloning process we can remove the ribbon on the new book that states its a clone of the original book.

OER Instructor Grant Information

The OER Instructor Grant offers financial assistance and professional support to NKU educators who adopt or adapt open educational resources (OER) for an NKU course. This grant is meant to support NKU instructors achieve pedagogical innovation while increasing student access to course materials. Learn more about the grant at the OER Instructor Grant guide.

Eligibility

All Northern Kentucky University employees with teaching responsibilities are eligible and encouraged to apply. Applications must be focused on adopting or adapting existing OER for a credit bearing NKU course to be taught in fall 2023, spring 2024, or summer 2024.

Awards

Adopt Award: $500

• Locate, evaluate, and adopt an OER for an NKU course.
• Locate and evaluate potential OER and choose at least one to replace a significant amount of your traditional course materials.
  OER must be published under a Creative Commons license (derivatives authorized).

Adapt Award: $1,000

• Locate, evaluate, and adapt (through localization, revision, or remixing) OER for an NKU course.
• Locate and evaluate potential OER and choose at least one to revise or several to remix together. The resulting resource must replace a significant amount of your traditional course material.
• Original OERs must be published under an open license that allows for adaptation.
• Your adapted OER must be published under a Creative Commons license (derivatives authorized).
• Adapted resource must be made available in the NKU Digital Repository.

Professional Development

In April, 2024 Colleen Deel, OER Librarian and Kayla Weiglein, Instructional Designer, presented the hour-long session Open Educational Resources: A Pathway to Success to interested NKU faculty.

You can view the video at the NKU video repository. “Open Educational Resources: A Pathway to Success” @video.nku