HOUSTON — (Sept. 20, 2023) – Rice University’s OpenStax is welcoming 16 colleges and universities into its Institutional Partner Program for the 2023-24 school year. Participants receive support from experts in institutional change management and strategic initiatives aimed at increasing campus use of free, openly licensed OpenStax textbooks.
This year the program welcomes the following institutions: Adrian College, Barry University, Chattahoochee Technical College, Clinton College, Coker University, Collin College, University of Arkansas-Cossatot Community College, Georgia State University, Meredith College, Motlow State Community College, Pace University-Pleasantville, Southwest Texas Junior College, Texas A&M University-Commerce, University of San Diego, University of South Carolina-Beaufort and West Virginia Wesleyan College.
Since launching in 2015, the OpenStax Institutional Partner Program has supported more than 80 colleges and universities in their efforts to expand open educational resources (OER) use. OpenStax has saved students $2.9 billion dollars in education costs while putting customizable, high-quality, peer-reviewed and openly licensed materials into the hands of instructors and learners. There are currently more than 60 titles in its library with 15 additional titles underway for 2024.
“This year’s cohort is our largest ever — it’s inspiring to see so many different types of institutions coming together to nurture OER initiatives and make learning easier and more affordable for their students,” said Anthony Palmiotto, director of higher education for OpenStax. “I want to give a very warm welcome to this amazing group of colleges and universities, and I’m looking forward to seeing the creative strategies that these OER advocates develop throughout the year.”
Regina Gong, longtime OER advocate, will be joining this year’s cohort in her role as associate dean for student success and diversity at the University of San Diego Copley Library. “We are thrilled to be part of this year’s cohort of institutional partners to raise awareness and advance our OER and affordable learning materials program here at the University of San Diego,” Gong said. “OpenStax has been instrumental in helping institutions accelerate OER adoptions with their suite of quality, interactive and accessible learning materials. We hope to jumpstart our program with this partnership.”
“OpenStax has made great progress towards improving educational access by providing free, high-quality textbooks and resources. I look forward to supporting our partner institutions as they work to increase the adoption of OpenStax textbooks and open educational resources more broadly to the benefit of both students and instructors,” said Tanya Spilovoy, a higher education strategist who leads the institutional partner program at OpenStax.
More information on the Institutional Partner Program is located here.