U Wisconsin Stout Gets Grant for Open Textbook Pilot -- Campus Technology

"While the College Board estimated that the average amount paid for books and supplies by undergraduates in the United States exceeded $1,200 in the 2014-2015 school year, at the University of Wisconsin-Stout campus, the average amount paid was $165.36. Currently, the university manages to accomplish the savings through segregated fees that support a textbook rental system. But the university has found maintaining that level of affordability to be an on-going 'challenge.' So the school is undertaking a new project to embed open textbooks and other resources into courses. The Instructional Resources Services (IRS) office, which runs that rental program, received a $14,200 grant from the U Wisconsin System specifically to start training faculty in how to work with open educational resources. The funding came from the system's Innovation Fund ..."