UTSA DOERS Findings Mapped to OER Task Force Goals

The DOERS Collaborative awarded UTSA the Student Success Through OER Grant in 2023. This website aligns DOERS work with the OER Task Force.

Goal: Create a Prioritized Five-Year Plan to Integrate OER into Core Curriculum

DOERS Faculty Canvas Survey Findings for Core Curriculum Faculty: Integrate OER into UTSA Core Curriculum
Area	Finding	Significance	Future Work
Number of Core Curriculum Faculty Respondents	Of the 71 total faculty respondents, 39 (27%) teach Core Curriculum courses.	UTSA wants to grow OER in the Core Curriculum. In order to do this, we need to understand faculty textbook challenges.	Review faculty feedback and incorporate into implementation plans.
Core Curriculum Faculty Teaching Load	Fall and Spring are the busiest teaching times. Most faculty respondents teach only one or two courses in the summer.	Provides insight on when faculty have the most time to move to OER as well as the time of year when OER support is most needed.	Deliver OER training and support for new OER adoptions primarily in summer. Increase staffing to support the work.
Core Curriculum Faculty Textbook Decisions	Textbook decisions in the Core Curriculum are made primarily by individual instructors or course coordinators.	Individual faculty have autonomy with textbook decisions for some courses but not others.	Plan to present to and meet with individual instructors, Course Coordinators, and Textbook Committees depending on departmental structure.
Core Curriculum Faculty Familiarity with OER	Nearly four out of five Core Curriculum faculty respondents were familiar with OER.	Core Curriculum faculty are familiar with OER.	Focus on practical aspects of OER adoption and UTSA OER support when working with these faculty.
Core Curriculum Faculty Awareness of OER and OER Use Cases	Over 60% of Core Curriculum faculty respondents are either very aware (32%) or aware (29%) of OER and how they can be used in their courses.	The majority of Core Curriculum faculty respondents have moderate to strong OER awareness.	Focus on practical aspects of OER adoption and UTSA OER support when working with these faculty.
Core Curriculum Faculty OER Use	Usage of OER by Core Curriculum faculty is nearly evenly split, with slightly more faculty reporting they have not used OER in their courses.	While a good number of the Core Curriculum faculty respondents are adopting OER, more than half are not.	Focus on student affordability and faculty OER benefits in work with Core Curriculum faculty.
Core Curriculum Depth of OER Integration	Most faculty adopt OER in multiple courses: 41% using OER in three or more courses.	UTSA Core Curriculum faculty have a growing commitment to OER once adoption begins.	Expect return visits from Core Curriculum faculty that have adopted OER in one course. There may even be some faculty that want to adopt OER in other courses; devise a structure to support these champions.
Core Curriculum Faculty OER Adoption Type	47% of faculty that adopt OER adopt them as both required and supplemental materials. 41% use them as required resources only. 12% use OER as solely as supplemental.	Core Curriculum faculty are adopting OER as required materials rather than recommending only as supplemental readings.	Anticipate greater commitment to OER as required materials once faculty move to OER. Plan robust support to meet demand.
Core Curriculum Faculty Departmental OER Perceptions	59% of faculty report departmental OER attitudes are neutral or favorable. 14% view OER as unfavorable. 22% are unsure of their department’s stance.	The majority of Core Curriculum faculty are open to OER, but some may be hesitant.	Incorporate student affordability and faculty flexibility as selling points in discussions with faculty.
Core Curriculum Faculty OER Quality Perceptions	56% of faculty rate OER as good or acceptable quality. 31% are unsure. 12% consider OER to be poor or very poor quality. 3% rate OER as high quality.	The majority of Core Curriculum faculty are open to OER, but some may be hesitant.	Share examples of OER written by experts as a selling point.
Core Curriculum Faculty Most Valued Textbook Attributes	Core Curriculum faculty respondents value content accuracy and clarity the most followed by adaptability and appropriateness for level. Accessibility and supplementary materials are less critical but relevant.	Core Curriculum faculty respondents value accuracy, clarity, adaptability, and appropriateness for course level as important textbook attributes.	Prioritize accuracy, clarity, adaptability, and appropriateness for course level when finding and sharing OER with Core Curriculum faculty.
Core Curriculum Faculty Importance of UTSA Leadership Support	Support from UTSA leadership is a mid-level priority. Most respondents rank it 3rd or 6th. 11% see it as the top priority.	For Core Curriculum faculty respondents, recognition by UTSA leadership is a lower priority compared to other types of recognition.	Recognize Core Curriculum faculty in the Performance Evaluation first followed by Department Chair recognition and then recognition by UTSA Leadership.
Core Curriculum Faculty Most Valued Recognition	Faculty prefer recognition through Performance Evaluation followed by acknowledgment from UTSA Leadership and Department Chairs.	Core Curriculum faculty value recognition for OER work in the performance evaluation followed by Departmental recognition.	Recognize Core Curriculum faculty in the Performance Evaluation first followed by Department Chair recognition and then recognition by UTSA Leadership.
Core Curriculum Faculty Improve OER Support	Faculty most value Finding Support and Generous Funding.	Core Curriculum faculty respondents value help finding OER and generous funding support the most.	Target Core Curriculum faculty with OER finding support and provide generous funding for OER adoption.

DOERS Faculty Focus Group Findings: Integrate OER into Core Curriclum
Area	Finding	Significance	Future Work
Textbook Challenges	Faculty face a number of textbook challenges: Challenges of interdisciplinary subjects, fast-changing fields/subjects, lack of high quality visuals, expensive textbooks and textbook platforms, library challenges with multi-user access for commercial textbooks, adoption deadlines during busy times for faculty that are early and poorly communicated, difficulties with bookstore orders, students’ unfamiliarity with purchasing textbooks, frequency of new editions, technical problems with textbook platforms, and challenges with textbooks trying to cover too many tools	Core Curriculum faculty face many challenges when adopting textbooks.	Highlight the benefits of OER to help faculty overcome these challenges.

Create a prioritized five year plan to integrate OER into Core Curriculum
Task Force Goal	Subcommittee(s)	Implementation Committee(s)/Plan(s)
Create a prioritized five year plan to integrate OER into Core Curriculum	All	Prioritize high-impact and Core Curriculum courses for OER adoption

Respondents

Of the 71 faculty that responded to the survey, 39 (27%) of those faculty indicated that they teach Core Curriculum courses.

Teaching

Question: Select all types of courses that you teach at UTSA.

Courses Taught Fall, Spring and Summer

Question: How many total course sections do you teach Fall, Spring and Summer?

Teaching Load Core Curriculum Faculty
Teaching Load (Courses)	Fall	Spring	Summer
0	0	0	9
1	3	2	13
2	6	8	10
3	5	6	3
4	22	19	1
5	1	4	0
6	1	0	0

Textbook Decisions

Question:

Please indicate the primary decision-maker around textbooks for each type of course in your department, below.

Select "Do not know" if you do not know who the primary decision-maker around textbooks is for a course type.
Select "Not in my department" if a course type is not taught in your department.

OER: Familiarity, Awareness, Use, Adoption, and Adoption Type

Familiarity

Question:

Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or that have been released under an intellectual property license that allows for free use, reuse, modification, and sharing with others, including full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other tools, materials, or techniques used to support access to knowledge.

Prior to today, were you familiar with the above definition for open educational resources?

A strong majority of Core Curriculum faculty (nearly 4 out of 5) were already familiar with OER, indicating high awareness among the group.

OER Awareness and Use

Question: Select the option below that most closely aligns with your current awareness and use of OER as defined above.

Over 60% of respondents have moderate to strong awareness of OER, while only a small portion (19%) have little or no awareness.

OER Adoption

Question: Have you used OER in your courses?

Usage of OER is nearly evenly split, with slightly more respondents (just over half) reporting they have not used OER in their courses.

Number of Courses

Question: Complete this statement: I use OER in..."

Most respondents who use OER incorporate them into multiple courses, with 41% using OER in three or more courses. The remaining users are evenly split between using OER in one or two courses.

OER as Required and Supplemental

Question: Select the option below that most closely aligns with your use of OER in your courses.

Most faculty who use OER incorporate them as both required and supplemental materials (47%), while a slightly smaller group uses them only as required resources (41%). Very few use OER solely as supplemental (12%).

Course Marking Awareness and Use

Legislation

Question: In 2017, the Texas Governor signed SB 810, which requires Texas institutions of higher education to track courses that use open educational resources. That bill is part of the Texas Education Code: Sec.51.542. TEC 51.542 supports OER by requiring statutory changes related to course listings and textbooks and for colleges and universities to make reasonable efforts to disseminate information to students about which courses use OER.

Prior to today, were you aware of this legislation?

UTSA Filters

Question: In compliance with TEC 51.542, UTSA Libraries & Museums, the Office of the Registrar, and University Technology Solutions have added "Free Textbook" and "Low-Cost Textbook" filters that students can use when registering for UTSA courses.These filters support equitable textbook access for UTSA students at the time of registration.

Prior to today, were you aware of UTSA's Free Textbook and Low-Cost Textbook filters, shown below?

UTSA Reporting

Question: Also, in compliance with TEC 51.542, the UTSA Libraries & Museums, the Office of the Registrar, and University Technology Solutions have created a reporting process for faculty that use free textbooks (OER) and low-cost textbooks; low-cost is defined as any course with total learning materials cost of $40 or less.

This process is outlined at Report Affordable Textbooks: Transparency for UTSA Roadrunners.

Prior to today, were you aware of this reporting process?

OER Perceptions and Priorities

Departmental

Question: Overall, how would you describe faculty perceptions of OER in your academic department?

Quality Perceptions

Question: How would you describe the quality of OER that you have seen for your area?

Textbook Attributes

Question: Please rank the following attributes of educational resources on their importance to you (1-Most Important) when you are evaluating resources to adopt in your courses.

Support and Recognition

UTSA Leadership

Question: Please rank the following types of support on their level of influence (1-Most Influential) on your decision to adopt OER in your courses.

Recognition

Question: How would you like to be recognized for adopting OER? Rank the below levels of recognition how how meaningful they would be to you (1=Most Meaningful) in recognizing your work to adopt OER in your courses.

Improve Support

Question: What could UTSA do to better support you as you adopt OER?

Difficult to find one textbook that covers interdisciplinary subjects
- e.g., healthcare design combining architecture, psychology, public health, and policy
Faculty often pull content from multiple expensive books and rely on fair use to support student affordability.

Many textbooks feel outdated or fail to meet course needs.
Hard to find affordable textbooks that meet student reading levels and offer high-quality visuals
Textbooks and textbook platforms are expensive
UTSA library cannot provide multi-user access to most commercial textbooks
Evaluating new textbooks is difficult when adoption deadlines fall mid-semester.
- Deadlines are early (6–7 months in advance) and poorly communicated.
- Lack of reminder emails leads to missed submissions.
- Incorrect or missing bookstore orders and students’ unfamiliarity with purchasing textbooks create additional barriers.
New editions disrupt course continuity and require significant rework.
Problems with digital platforms (e.g., Vantage, Connect) include LMS integration failures and grade syncing issues, leading some faculty to abandon them.
Faculty prefer managing course materials independently to avoid reliance on external systems.
Introductory sociology textbooks lack differentiation
Quantitative courses face challenges with textbooks trying to cover too many tools
Faculty value textbooks that are clear, relevant, visually engaging, scholarly, affordable, and adaptable, with strong alignment to course goals and supplemental resources.
Faculty show cautious interest in OER, balancing enthusiasm for cost savings and adaptability with concerns about quality, availability, and technical support. There is optimism for future improvements, especially in specialized fields.
Faculty are interested in OER but face barriers related to time, technical integration, quality, and scalability. While affordability is appealing, logistical and pedagogical challenges slow adoption.
Faculty are open to OER but hesitate due to time demands, quality concerns, accessibility compliance, and lack of institutional support. Peer advocacy and structured support programs could significantly improve adoption.
Faculty want flexible funding, structured training, peer collaboration, strong library support, and formal recognition to make OER adoption practical and rewarding.
Faculty value recognition that is formal, meaningful, and tied to professional development, while emphasizing that the greatest reward is improving student access and success.

Faculty Survey: Ideas

Question: Please share other ideas you have for better supporting UTSA faculty when adopting OER.

Resource Accessibility & Organization
- Provide more OER resources accessible to students.
- Create a list or repository of OER materials tailored to departments and sorted/tagged for easy use.
- Improve librarians’ knowledge and guidance on OER resources.
Training & Guidance
- Offer online tutorials and guidance from colleagues.
- Provide support in finding high-quality, specialized OER for upper-division classes.
Course Release & Time
- Allow course release time for faculty to create or adapt OER.
- Address challenges for tenure-track faculty who lack time to develop OER.
Technical & Financial Support
- Fund software engineers to help integrate OER into LMS and maintain servers.
- Offer financial support for OER adoption and development.
Quality & Relevance
- Ensure OER materials are current and relevant, especially for fast-changing fields.
- Provide multiple sources for each topic to allow comparisons.
Communication & Awareness
- Share videos or updates on OER during summer.
- Help faculty know what resources exist for their area of instruction.
Student Involvement
- Encourage student involvement in OER creation or adaptation.

Faculty Focus Groups: Ideas

Faculty Perspectives on OER

Interest and Gaps: Faculty are interested in Open Educational Resources (OER) but note a lack of materials in certain disciplines. Some feel it may be up to experts like themselves to begin creating high-quality resources.
Affordability and Accessibility: There's strong support for textbook affordability, especially for working students. Faculty recognize the positive impact of free materials on student morale and engagement.
Quality and Voice: Any OER developed must meet the standards of traditional textbooks and be authored by subject matter experts. Faculty emphasized the importance of writing in their own voices to ensure clarity and alignment with their teaching styles.

Suggestions for Improvement

Centralized Resource Hub: A curated, subject-specific OER repository (like OpenStax) would help faculty find relevant materials more easily.
Canvas Integration: Faculty want seamless import of OER content (quizzes, exams, course packs) into Canvas, similar to commercial platforms.
Simplified Discovery: Searching for quality OER is time-consuming. A UTSA-hosted repository would streamline the process and encourage adoption.