Open Educational Resources

OER Grant

OER Grant for Faculty and Staff

OER Grant Funded Activities  

Faculty and staff must provide evidence of each level completed, must publish all work to the CCCS Learning Object Repository (LOR), and must obtain approval by the OER committee prior to compensation being awarded.  

Specific Details: 

Assessment, SLOs, and course outcomes assessment must be incorporated within each of the Tiers except the textbook review.  Compensation for each Tier is cumulative.  For example, before adopting a textbook, you need to review it.  Therefore, your total compensation for completing Tiers 1 and 2 will be $1200.  If you have already done OER work for your course and want to be compensated for further work, remember the 5 R’s of using OER: Reuse, Retain, Revise, Remix, Redistribute.  If you are revising a course that was using OER materials prior to this grant being awarded to NJC, you will need to provide an explanation of the materials that were completed after this grant is adopted to compare with your previous OER work.  The OER committee will be responsible for determining if your “new” OER work meets the minimum criteria necessary for compensation. All work must be published in the CCCS LOR prior to request for payment. 

  1. Best Practice Suggestions to Work With OER Material: 
  1. Pick a course to work on throughout this matrix; the same course could be used throughout the adoption process. This is how the Tier System was designed. 
  1. Carefully choose a quality text to review, but make sure that the SLOs and the topical outline for your course is in the forefront of your textbook choice and review because this is what drives your course.  
  1. Consider supplemental materials and the time required to acquire and/or create/remix them. 

Funds are limited, so make sure to apply early. 

Tier 1 Read the Book and Write a Review:  

Each person can be paid for a review of a text; reviewers can review more than one text, but the compensation amount is set at $500 per review.

Requirements: Locate an OER textbook, analyze and write a review, and ensure that the textbook aligns with the course objectives and SLOs for your specific course.  

Evidence: Faculty must write a review and evaluation of the OER textbook using the rubric provided by the OER Committee.  Additional qualifications for compensation are as follows: 

  • The book must be connected to course-level assessment and match the course outcomes and student skills (SLOs) required in the course.  The course outcomes and SLOs must be clearly written out and attached with the review of the textbook. 
  • Review should be no more than 1-2 pages. 
  • Publish your review on CCCS LOR. 
  • Payment: $500 

Tier 2 Textbook Adoption and OER Course Implemented with Existing Support Material  

If you have reviewed one textbook or two for the same course, then you need to pick the best textbook choice for the course and use it for this tier (Tier 2). 

Requirements: Teach course with adapted materials and OER textbook. Tier 2 is meant for textbook adoption and includes moving from a non-OER course to an OER course.  New course development must be organized in D2L in a module format, according to CCNS guidelines. The OER course design must include course level assessment tools. 

Evidence: 

  • Course must have support material: 
    • Assignments which connect to the SLOs for the course 
    • Assessments and Activities: Formative and Summative connected to the SLOs for the course 
  • All materials used are fully accessible to all learners. 
  • All materials must be published to the CCCS LOR. 

Payment: $700