Open Educational Resources and Zero-Cost Course Materials

While many faculty are familiar with the benefits of OER, it can be difficult to know where to begin when deciding to switch from a publisher textbook to open resources. This grant offers an incentive to take the next step in the commitment to open education. 

The Pollak Library's Open Fullerton Fellowship is a university-wide program that provides compensation and one-to-one support to help faculty to reduce course material costs to zero for a selected course. Between 5-8 fellows are selected for each cycle. 

Funding is made possible by an Affordable Learning Solutions grant provided by the CSU Chancellor's Office. 

All instructors of record at CSUF are eligible for the fellowship, and must commit to the following: 

• The course selected for the fellowship must run within three semesters from the time of acceptance. 
• Fellows will replace existing traditional textbooks with open and zero-cost materials. This can include adopting or adapting open textbooks, creating open resources, or utilizing library resources. Often, fellows use a combination of all three. 
• Faculty must complete a final report (template provided) that describes their experience with adopting open or zero-cost materials. 

Student impact: The most important consideration is student impact. This is determined by calculating the potential savings based on the number of students enrolled each semester and the cost of the current textbook. Courses with multiple sections and high textbook costs will be given first consideration.

Sustainability: The ability to maintain the course as zero-cost through multiple semesters

Open education commitment: Demonstrating a willingness to apply open education principles like sharing materials used with other instructors, or using a creative commons license for any materials adapted or created. 

Contribution to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Projects that seek to diversify their course materials to better represent CSUF students and the surrounding community, and amplify the voices of marginalized groups.