Adopt-a-Free-Textbook Grants: Deliverables and Spending

This grant tier is for adoption of Open Educational Resources (OER) as course learning materials that are:

• Completely free for students
• Creative Commons licensed 

Replace Textbooks

• Replace current textbooks with open educational resources (OER) that are Creative Commons-licensed
  • Target is first semester teaching with the OER after awarded
  • This can be flexed if grant recipient needs more time or is not assigned to teach the course

Adopt for Specified Period

• Adopt OER for at least 4 semesters

Adopt Individually or as a Group Per Application Type

• Individual: Adopt OER in one more sections of the course 

• Group: Work with three or more other instructors to adopt OER by doing one of the following:

  • Adopting OER in all applicants' sections of the course

  • Adopting OER in all applicants’ courses department-wide

  • Adopting OER in all course sections taught department-wide

Provide Transparency

• Report all courses as Free Textbook courses in the UTSA Class Schedules in advance of each semester of the 4-semester implementation period so that students can see awarded course(s) when filtering for free textbook courses during registration.
• Report textbooks as soon as you have selected them.  It is not possible to report too far in advance.

• Reporting textbooks is required in advance of each semester that you teach with OER in the Adopt a Free Textbook grant program.

Update Textbook Information on Syllabi

• Add logo and text, below, to textbook section of all syllabi of awarded courses: 

  • This course is part of UTSA Libraries' Adopt a Free Textbook program, a collaboration between your professor and the library to encourage faculty adoption of free textbooks into UTSA courses. Open educational resources (OER) are textbooks and learning materials that are available at no cost to students, accessible from mobile devices, and available from class day one. Research has shown that OER can improve student engagement and course outcomes.   

Demonstrate Impact

• Submit a course impact report that includes: final syllabus; assessment; anonymous data on grades, including drop, fail, and withdraw rates; analysis and future textbook plans; student evaluations of the free textbook(s)

• Ideal target is first semester teaching with the OER once the student have had enough exposure to the textbook to provide feedback. Most grant recipients distribute within the last month of each semester: total of 4 semesters.

• Samples of the Qualtrics faculty and student surveys are below. Surveys are subject to slight modifications by UTSA Libraries.

• OER Coordinator will:

  • Share Qualtrics links at the beginning of the implementation semester and each semester of the grant.

  • Send reminder emails each semester approximately mid-semester.

  • Provide a list of students that have completed, upon request.  Faculty applicants must provide course roster.

Serve as an Advocate

• Collaborate with UTSA Libraries to publish a Textbook Hero Profile

• Participate in an Adopt A Free Textbook webinar as panelist

Comply with Spending Guidelines

• Spend funds in accordance with guidelines and university policy and maintain appropriate records of expenditures.

Adhere to Timeline

• Complete planned activities and deliverables according to the timeline presented in the application

• Check in via Teams/email with OER Coordinator on at least a monthly basis for the duration of the project to report on progress.

Commit to Learning: Complete OER Certification Course (2 hours)

• Completion of an OER asynchronous OER Certification course (2 hours)
• OER Coordinator will enroll applicant(s)
• Expected completion is one year from course enrollment

• Direct grant recipients to additional resources that may assist in resolving challenges encountered during the project period. (DeeAnn Ivie).

• Promptly respond to questions and concerns. (DeeAnn Ivie, Kimberly McMahon, Chayla De La Garza)

• Offer consultations regarding intellectual property and reuse of third-party content. (DeeAnn Ivie, Emily Johnson)

• Provide guidance on and facilitate access to grant funds. (Kimberly McMahon, DeeAnn Ivie, Chayla De La Garza)

• Provide Qualtrics survey links to be distributed to students each semester in every course in which the OER is used. (DeeAnn Ivie)

• Publicize the progress of grant recipients and maintain a public record of funded projects. (DeeAnn Ivie, Chayla De La Garza, and Germaine Williams)