Strategic plan funds extend impact of open educational resources • Inside Iowa State for faculty and staff • Iowa State University

"The use of open educational resources (OER) has expanded significantly across the university in the last five years, but the need remains for program- and course-specific options. University Library dean Hilary Seo and staff used a $300,000 initial strategic plan award to add to Iowa State's free and affordable instruction materials.

OER range from textbooks to lesson plans and videos. They are openly licensed, allowing instructors to adapt and edit them to their course needs. At Iowa State, the use of OER has saved students $2.5 million since 2018. 

Last spring, the library team issued two calls for strategic plan fund proposals, one to fund projects developing infrastructure to support the use of affordable course materials ($75,000), a second for course content ($225,000). The team awarded funds to four infrastructure projects and four content projects. Open access and scholarly communication librarian Abbey Elder said the content projects focus on undergraduate high-enrollment courses and courses in subject areas where OER options are minimal...."