UNM and Open Educational Resources
UNM’s Open Educational Resource (OER) initiative seeks to provide faculty members with the support they need to adopt low and no-cost textbook and class material solutions for their courses when it aligns with their instructional objectives and academic freedom. We are planning partnerships with other higher education institutions and the State of New Mexico to identify resources and support for faculty initiatives in this area.
NMOER Consortium's Introductory OER Workshops
The New Mexico Open Educational Resources Consortium, or the NMOER Consortium, is holding three workshops this fall to help NM educators find free, open, high-quality resources to use in their classes. These workshops are open to educators, students, staff, and administrators at New Mexico's post-secondary institutions.
The first workshop, titled Getting Started with OER, will cover basics for researching and identifying OERs in your disciplines. The second workshop, Finding and Evaluating High Quality OER, will cover evaluation criteria for OER and planning an OER project. We will also do a Creative Commons license deep dive. And the third workshop, Developing Inclusive OER, will cover a range of accessibility and inclusivity topics. These three workshops will happen on Fridays from 10-11 a.m.
New Mexico OER Consortium Book Platform
This summer, the New Mexico OER Consortium published its web presence using the platform Pressbooks. The NM OER Consortium website currently has two books in our catalog, and they have been published within the last month. The first book is the composition textbook for all English 1110, 1110X, 1110Y, and 1120 courses, and the second book is a guide for faculty interested in creating OER. Check back this fall for more titles.
Open Textbook Pilot Program
The library is gearing up for its second annual Open Textbook Pilot Program. This university-sponsored program was highlighted in the UNM Newsroom. Through this program, Proposals are eligible from UNM employees who hold the rank of Part-Time Faculty, Lecturer, Assistant Professor, Associate Processor, or Professor.Proposals from graduate students or graduate assistants are also eligible. The application will close on Oct. 1, 2024. Recipients will be notified by November 15.
You can find more about the Open Textbook Pilot Program on the OER Grant Program Libguide. There you will find:
- Details on the submission process
- Links to register for informational sessions
- The form to apply for the program
You can also learn more about OER at UNM by making an appointment with the OER Librarian, Jennifer Jordan.
Open Access Week 2024
Save the date! Open Access Week happens October 21st-27th. This year's theme is Community over Commercialization, which is a continuation of last year’s theme to prioritize open scholarship. The University Libraries, Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center, and the UNM Law Library are working together to create a slate of informative and engaging events for the UNM community and beyond. Check back closer to the fall semester for a more detailed rundown of this year's events, and you can also learn about past Open Access Week events here at UNM on our OA Week library guide.
Department of Education Grant Awarded to UNM
The University of New Mexico (UNM) has been selected as one of the recipients of the federal Open Textbook Grant for nearly $2.125 million dollars, recognizing its commitment to advancing education through Open Educational Resources (OER). With this grant funding, UNM will create the New Mexico Open Educational Resources (NMOER) Consortium to help faculty across the state to adopt open access materials.
About the grant, New Mexico Senator Martin Heinrich, who has helped to secure funding to support this federal program through his role on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said, “I am pleased to now welcome this major investment to help UNM provide more cost-effective course materials to more students.”
The NMOER Consortium will allocate funding and resources to faculty at the University of New Mexico, Central New Mexico Community College (CNM), and Santa Fe Community College (SFCC). Read more in UNM's Newsroom.
Saving Students Money
The estimated amount of money students spend on textbooks and supplies in the United States is over 14 billion dollars annually, and Bureau of Labor Statistics data indicates that these costs have risen by 4 times the rate of inflation over the last decade. Populations of students who cannot afford to buy or rent textbooks choose not to buy them at all, negatively impacting their education.
The following video explains the equitable and enduring effects of Open Educational Resources.
Legislative initiatives in many other states have shown significant return on investment in both dollar terms and student achievement.
For faculty ready to begin exploring, this linked OER Library Guide is a good starting point. From there, you can contact CULLS' OER Librarian for more details.
OER Initiative Highlighted on University Showcase
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
University Showcase hosted by KUNM News Director Megan Kamerick recently featured OER Librarian Jennifer Jordan to discuss OER how open educational resources can benefit students by slashing the costs of textbooks. Click the image above to listen to the archived broadcast. That also features UNM professors and OER Champions Therese Baca-Radler, Dave Dixon, Cash Clifton, and Zachary Sharp.
Explore OER Developments
Interested in keeping up with the latest developments in OER at UNM? Click the button at the bottom of this page to join the OER Initiative's mailing list. We will send information about upcoming OER-related opportunities, workshops, and events.
