Apply for a Course Redesign Grant and transition to affordable and open course materials

Posted December 11, 2018 in JMU Libraries News, Open Education News

JMU Faculty and Instructors,

Do you want to redesign your course to swap out an expensive textbook for an open, no cost, or library option? Are you looking for funding to create or adapt open educational resource materials for your course?

VIVA, Virginia’s academic library consortium, is now offering Course Redesign Grants to provide support to faculty embarking on these efforts. This new program will award grants from $1,000-$30,000 to assist faculty members in transitioning to course materials available at no cost to students, such as open educational textbooks and/or library resources.

Full or part-time faculty from public and private, non-profit institutions may apply. Proposals may involve one person or teams that include: teaching faculty, librarians, instructional designers, subject matter experts, editors, graphic designers, or others as needed. Applications that include multi-institutional partnerships are encouraged.

More information, including the Request for Proposals, application, and evaluation rubric are available at http://vivalib.org/courseredesign.

Applications are due January 31, 2019, and award notification will take place on March 1, 2019.

Webinars will be held at the following times, and will include a general introduction to the grants, the application process, and a Q&A:

• December 12, 2018, 10:00 am: Register at https://vivalib.libcal.com/event/4834657.
• January 9, 2019, 2:00 pm: Register at https://vivalib.libcal.com/event/4835260.
• January 23, 2019, 11:00 am: Register at https://vivalib.libcal.com/event/4835305.

Successful applications will be selected on the basis of:

• Potential for student savings, including class enrollment and existing resource costs
• Use of Open Educational Resources (freely available and free to be modified)
• Frequency of course offering, with a preference for high-enrollment, required courses, and/or courses that are part of the SCHEV Passport Program
• Impact of the project on open education, such as the development of high quality resources in areas for which no other open content is currently available
• Preference for statewide reach through multi-institutional efforts
• Commitment to continue offering the course for future years
• Agreement to the terms of the grant and required activities

Questions may be submitted to thomp3ea@jmu.edu or viva@gmu.edu.

*VIVA is funded by the Virginia General Assembly and VIVA member institutions, and is sponsored by the State Council of Higher Education (SCHEV).