University of Wyoming Libraries recently awarded alt-textbook grants to five faculty members and four graduate students to implement open educational resources (OER) in their classes this spring.
The open textbooks resulting from the grants are projected to save UW students more than $40,000 each semester in addition to the $141,233 already saved by UW students since the program launched in spring 2018.
“With the Alt-Textbook Grant Program, University of Wyoming Libraries hopes to continue to encourage the creativity and innovation we have seen from past applicants,” says Hilary Baribeau, digital scholarship librarian. “What was interesting for this cycle of grant applications was to see how many applicants are already committed to teaching low- or no-cost textbook courses. The OER grant program will help these recipients not only continue to support UW students, but potentially create OERs that will be used in classrooms around the country.”
Grants are awarded to instructors who adopt, adapt or create new open textbooks or other materials for their courses. Grant awards range from $1,500 to $3,000.