Open Educational Resources Grants
Open Educational Resources (OER)
In partnership with the UD Library, Museums and Press, funding is available to support up to two proposals that seek to address the rising cost of course materials through use of open textbooks and open educational resources. Individual faculty members or groups who wish to transition a course from a commercial textbook to an OER textbook that maintains high quality education and is more affordable (or free) to students are encouraged to apply. Successful proposals will emphasize the link between effective teaching practices and the use of open or affordable resources, describe anticipated savings for students, and will provide evidence of departmental support.
Proposals that aim to remix an existing open textbook in order to improve the text’s suitability to a UD course are likewise welcome to apply.
Those interested reviewing open textbooks for possible adoption are encouraged to view the library’s Open Textbook Guide.
If you would like additional guidance, please request a consultation. We welcome the opportunity to hear your ideas!
Deadline for OER grant submissions: Monday April 6, 2020
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Want to talk to someone about making this a reality in your courses?
The OER Grant application requires the following information:
- Contact information: Name, e-mail, phone number, department, college, department finance/budget contact name, and Department finance/budget contact e-mail
- Title of proposal
- Abstract. What is your proposed project?
- Proposal rationale. What is the problem that your proposal addresses and why is it significant to UD? Who will be impacted (faculty, students) and how many? If your proposal involves a course, how often is the course taught and will it be continue to be offered after this grant has ended? Can colleagues in other departments or colleges adopt your solution, too?
- Description. How will you solve the problem? What are the different components of your proposal and how will they work together to achieve the project’s outcomes?
- Context. Why do you believe that your solution will solve the problem? What evidence and theories are informing your proposal? On what foundation are you building your proposal e.g., related scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL), discipline-based education research (DBER)?
- Transformation. How is your idea transformative and deserving of extraordinary support? In what way does it go “above and beyond” the normal expectations that faculty routinely develop and modify curriculum and pedagogy? If your proposal is focused on one or more courses, how many students would be impacted i.e., what is the typical enrollment for that course(s)?
- Outcomes and Assessment Plan. At the end of the project what gains do you intend to make or what deliverables will you produce? How will you know how well you have met each outcome (e.g., evaluation/assessment plans)?
- Project implementation. What do you plan to do to accomplish your project goals? How will those activities produce the outcomes previously described? On what specific timeline will the project activities be undertaken and who will be responsible? What resources, people, equipment, time, etc. will be in place or provided by this grant to overcome potential roadblocks?
- Sustainability. How will the project be or its outcomes be sustained beyond the life of this grant? How will the project be or its outcomes be sustained beyond the life of this grant? Imagine five years from now: If you are remixing an existing open textbook, how will others be able to engage with your material? If you are adopting an open textbook, is there a likelihood that the adopted text may be used in the course beyond the life of the grant?
- Budget. Please ensure that there is a clear connection between the funds requested below and the proposed activities described above. If you are requesting funds for summer salary support, you must indicate the activities that will be completed during the summer. Note that there is no fringe associated with faculty summer salaries. The total amount of the award will be determined by the merits of the proposal and the appropriateness of the budget request in relation to the scope of the project. Allowable expenses include, but are not necessarily limited to, faculty summer salaries, undergraduate/graduate student assistance, faculty professional development, and course materials. If material expenses integral to course implementation are part of the budget, indicate in the appropriate section above how these costs will be sustained after this funding period. All funds must be expended no later than June 15, 2020.
- Personnel. For all personnel, please include a brief description of their role in the project. Include the amount of effort in person months and the amount of salary being requested. For undergraduate students, include a brief description of their role, provide an hourly rate between $8.25 and $13.00, and include the number of hours anticipated along with the months. If the student is enrolled only part-time, please state that here. For graduate students, include a brief description of their role, the amount of time they are committing, and the salary rate. Example: Dr. Pat will serve as the project director and will oversee the entire project. Additionally, s/he will do XYZ for the project. S/he will devote one month over the summer and is requesting $5,000. On UD Transformation Grants, faculty and staff may not charge fringe benefits.
- PIs (max $5000 or one-ninth of academic salary, whichever is less).
- Graduate students.
- Other personnel.
- Equipment, materials, and supplies. List and describe what you will need. If a proposal includes a request for equipment, it should describe the plan for securely storing and maintaining that equipment; this is particularly important when requesting a large number of devices or equipment that requires maintenance such as laptops and devices, especially servers or other equipment that require long-term specialized support.)
- Other. For other costs not specifically listed above. Identify and provide details of the costs involved.
- Total cost.
- Personnel. For all personnel, please include a brief description of their role in the project. Include the amount of effort in person months and the amount of salary being requested. For undergraduate students, include a brief description of their role, provide an hourly rate between $8.25 and $13.00, and include the number of hours anticipated along with the months. If the student is enrolled only part-time, please state that here. For graduate students, include a brief description of their role, the amount of time they are committing, and the salary rate. Example: Dr. Pat will serve as the project director and will oversee the entire project. Additionally, s/he will do XYZ for the project. S/he will devote one month over the summer and is requesting $5,000. On UD Transformation Grants, faculty and staff may not charge fringe benefits.
- Letter of support from department chair.