Emory Open Education Initiative

According to UNESCO, OER are “teaching, learning or research materials that are in the public domain or released with intellectual property licenses that facilitate the free use, adaptation and distribution of resources." Any type of teaching resource can be an OER: textbooks, syllabi, quizzes, assignments, etc. However, for the purposes of this initiative, faculty should propose the use of OER textbooks or resources that would otherwise be costly for students. 

Apply by March 28, 2025 here: EOEI OER Adoption Mini-Grant Application

Sign up to receive more details here: EOEI Adoption Mini-Grant Information List 

Apply for an EOEI Mini-Grant if:

• You want to maintain a flexible reading list that can be updated in future semesters.  
• Existing open or low-cost resources meet the needs of your courses with little or no modification to the resources.
• You want to be free from the costs and constraints of a mainstream publisher’s commercial textbook.
• You want to enrich your syllabus and/or course materials with a variety of resources unavailable from commercial publishers.

The grants are open to all full-time faculty, both lecture- and tenure-track, at any Emory campus. Both individual faculty members and faculty working as teams may apply, but only one application per faculty member/team will be considered. A maximum of 10 mini-grants will be awarded for fall 2025 or spring 2026 classes. 50% of funding will be distributed upon attending an Open Education Network Textbook workshop and completing a review (see details below) of an existing OER of your choice, and the remaining 50% of funding will be distributed upon submission of a revised syllabus.

Librarians are available to offer support with regard to finding and adopting materials, assessment, and accessibility review. 

Application deadline is March 28, 2025, and awardees will be notified April 7. Initial librarian consultation (virtual or in person, at participants’ discretion) will take place in early May. Ongoing support will be provided throughout summer 2025.

Guidelines

• The grant program is open to all full-time faculty, both lecture- and tenure-track, at any Emory campus. Both individual faculty members and faculty working as teams may apply, but only one application per faculty member/team will be considered.
• This program funds the development of a revised syllabus that reflects a transition from commercial materials to open materials. Courses that currently use zero/low-cost materials OR open educational materials are not eligible.  
• All materials for the resulting courses must be available at no cost to students. Library-licensed resources are acceptable, so long as the resources used are not part of the Textbook Lending Program or previous course reserves. Awardees agree to use a free resource for at least the next two times the course is offered.
• Faculty chosen will be required to complete all obligations below.  
• The OER can be adopted as is, or remixed (rearranged, edited, or combined with other materials) to better fit class topics and presentation order. The OER must be the required textbook or resource for the course.  
• At the close of the grant project, the total cost for required course materials in the specified course must be $0-$40 total per student. Note: required course supplies (e.g., a graphing calculator or art supplies) are not counted toward this total.

Requirements/Obligations

After being awarded a mini-grant, grantees must meet the following requirements and obligations:

• Meet with an Emory librarian to discuss their project and ensure the course complies with Emory’s definition of OER (see above)
• Commit to using OER materials for at least the next two times the course is offered
• Attend an Open Textbook Workshop
• Write a review of an OER textbook and publish it on the Open Textbook Library website
• Have the course listed as OER-based in Atlas
• Report their adoption of an OER to the bookstore
• Submit their former syllabus and their revised syllabus reflecting the adoption of OER, to grant administrators  
• Submit a mid-semester and end-of-semester project update to grant administrators during each semester the course is offered
• Be willing to explore the possibility of sharing their work with a wider audience (for example, by making their syllabus for the course openly available), and to receive information informing them about how to do so

Award criteria

The Libraries’ Open Education Task Force will review applications and select awardees. When making decisions concerning the allocation of funds, the Open Education Task Force takes numerous factors into consideration, including, but not limited to, the following:

• Student impact (enrollment, savings, multicampus courses)
• Commitment to using OER for additional course offerings
• Cost of materials being replaced
• Barriers to access for the proposed adoption, such as log-ins, paywalls, language, etc.
• Preparedness to fulfill the goals of the project

Application Process

Apply by March 28, 2025 here: EOEI OER Adoption Mini-Grant Application

Would you like to know more before you apply?

Attend an overview (offered both in-person and virtually) of EOEI to ask questions:

• Tuesday, February 25, 2025 from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. (Oxford Library Conference Room 110b) 
• Thursday, February 27, 2025 from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. (Woodruff Library Room 21) 

Sign up to receive more details here: EOEI Adoption Mini-Grant Information List 

Contact any Open Education Task Force Member with questions.  

Jennifer Townes, Open Access Librarian – jtownes@emory.edu

Jennifer Elder, Science and Social Science Team Leader – jennifer.j.elder@emory.edu

Amber Prentiss, Sociology and Development Studies Librarian – amber.prentiss@emory.edu

Alexandrea Kord, Teaching and Learning Librarian – alexandrea.kord@emory.edu

Derek Harootune Otis, Student Flourishing Librarian – derek.harootune.otis@emory.edu