UCW OER Committee Annual Report April 1, 2021- March 31, 2022 Executive Summary OER Committee Mandate To increase and enhance access to course materials for UCW students. To support the adoption of open educational resource initiatives at University Canada West through the development of guidelines, support resources, services, and funded initiatives. Successes Zero Cost Textbook (ZCT) Initiative: Targeting the MBAF program the OER Committee yielded potential savings of up to $873,180 since February 2021. The pilot initiative took 4 months to design and implement and has since been expanded across the institution. Adoption of OER by new and updated courses: The Committee has also worked with the Academic Department and course developers to support new and redeveloped courses reviewed by the Academic Council (AC). Goals for the future 1. Increase ZCT applications 2. Increase persistence of OER materials adoption 3. Focused outreach to increase institutional presence 4. Build a data model to support outcomes reporting University Canada West | www.ucanwest.ca | info@ucanwest.ca 1461 Granville Street, Vancouver, BC UCW OER Committee Annual Report April 1, 2021- March 31, 2022 About the OER Committee: The OER (Open Educational Resources) Committee at UCW was formed in November 2019 to support the widespread adoption and use of Open Access resources across the institution. The Committee has worked with stakeholders to establish initiatives that educate faculty on the benefits of OER and incentivise its use. The focus has been on introductory courses with high enrollment and topics which have comprehensive OER covering. Committee members have also worked with course developers to highlight the benefits of these materials for faculty and find OER solutions which reduce the number of paid resources. This targeted approach helps the Committee focus its effort to reach as many students as possible. A Review of the Year: Across academia in BC and worldwide there has been a steadily growing push for OER adoption due to rising textbook costs, inequitable access to resources, and accessibility concerns. The Covid-19 pandemic and the shift to online education has created a greater push for OER and accessible learning resources. With many of our students studying remotely, and often internationally, access to traditionally published textbooks has been a challenge. The open nature of OER resources has ensured undisrupted worldwide access. The current OER Committee is made up of 7 members representing the Academic Affairs department, the Library, and faculty from the Undergraduate, MBAF, and MBA programs. Committee engagement has come in the form of bi-monthly meetings and participation in training opportunities and international conferences with Open Access resources and creators. Zero Cost Textbook (ZCT) Initiative The OER Committee developed and launched the Zero Cost Textbook (ZCT) Initiative in February 2021. The pilot was designed in consultation with UCW Community members including the VP Academics, Department Chairs and Academics Department as well as external Open Access providers and librarians. The pilot focused on the MBAF program, due to its size, high enrollment, and overall impact on students. Since moving to OER resources the foundations program has seen an overall savings of $873,180 for 2079 students. Following the success of the pilot, ZCT was opened to all eligible courses and 23 courses have worked with the Committee to explore the ZCT initiative and create resource lists. Of the 23 classes, 15 submitted applications and the committee currently has a 53% application approval rate (see image). For course applications that were not approved the Committee has worked alongside faculty to find University Canada West | www.ucanwest.ca | info@ucanwest.ca 1461 Granville Street, Vancouver, BC UCW OER Committee Annual Report April 1, 2021- March 31, 2022 alternative resources or address eligibility concerns. As of March 2022, the OER Committee has assisted 8 courses in becoming fully OER and an additional 5 courses are underway. The Committee has also worked directly with the Academics department and course developers to support new and redeveloped courses. 67 courses were presented to the Academic Council (AC) during this reporting year, of those 13 new courses and 7 existing courses have moved away from paid textbooks in favour of OERs. This means 29.8% of all courses presented to the AC are OER. A closer review of the 20 OER courses shows that over half are undergraduate courses and 12 are core courses. This shift to OER reduces barriers placed upon students by rising textbook costs and inaccessible access to resources. It has the added benefit of providing faculty control over resource creation and raises the institutions profile and reputation. The Committee hopes to expand its reach to faculty and find ways to encourage OER use and creation in the goals section outlined ahead. 29.8% of new or updated courses presented to the AC use OER materials. Goals for the future: Using the data gathered from this past reporting year and an environmental scan of other OER programs, the Committee has identified several goals moving forward to support our existence and continued use on campus. 1 marker to measure OER impact (Total enrolment in OER courses x Average textbook cost) % amount invested in OER grants = estimated $ saved by students/$ invested (Simon Fraser University, n.d.; Engel, 2021) University Canada West | www.ucanwest.ca | info@ucanwest.ca 1461 Granville Street, Vancouver, BC