Utah State University Partners with OpenStax to Promote Free Textbooks
The promotional campaign for Open Education Resource materials invite faculty to "set education free."
Utah State University is one of 11 schools chosen to participate in a strategic partnership with OpenStax to encourage use of free, peer-reviewed textbooks on campus. The schools were chosen to participate in the strategic partnership program after a rigorous application process that included demonstrating a willingness to drive adoption of open educational resources (OER) on their campuses. Strategic partners will receive individualized consulting and support from OpenStax to implement widespread use of OER at their school.
“We are thrilled and honored to have been chosen as one of eleven universities to receive a one year partnership with OpenStax,” said Brad Cole, dean of USU’s University Libraries. “The timing is perfect as the provost recently created a university wide committee to promote the use of OER at USU. Being able to partner with OpenStax gives faculty access to consulting and support about creating, adopting and implementing OER from one of the most reputable academic OER programs.”
According to the College Board, students should budget between $1,200 and $1,400 per year for textbooks and supplies. This additional cost not only impacts students’ ability to attend college but also the ability to continue and complete coursework. For example, a report by the United States Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG) found that 48 percent of students surveyed said textbook costs impacted how many or which classes they took each semester.
Open educational resources, including the free, peer-reviewed textbooks offered by OpenStax, eliminate cost barriers for students and allow every student immediate access to learning materials. OpenStax texts also meet standard scope and sequence requirements and are peer-reviewed by educators to ensure accuracy and ease of use.
“OER is another arm of the Open Access movement taking place in academic publishing,” Cole said. “We are excited to have university librarians help faculty to find and adopt OER materials. Our partnership with OpenStax will further our ability to help in this endeavor.”
USU is committed to student success by reducing barriers such as high textbook costs for students while still protecting academic freedom and ensuring quality instruction. One of the many reasons why USU partnered with OpenStax is the ease of use and implementation. OpenStax textbooks are comparable to textbooks that cost $200 or more and are available free online and in PDF and are available at very low cost in print.
The details of how the program works are simple according to Erin Davis, regional campuses and e-learning librarian with USU’s University Libraries. Faculty members will evaluate their current textbook requirements for a class. They then review what options are available through OpenStax and replace or supplement their commercial textbook requirements with an open educational resource. The students then have immediate and unlimited access to the book starting the first day of the class.
OpenStax is committed to improving access to quality learning materials. An initiative of Rice University and supported by philanthropic foundations, OpenStax provides free textbooks that are developed and peer-reviewed by educators to ensure readability, accuracy and adherence to scope and sequence requirements of most introductory college courses. More information can be found on the OpenStax website.
USU Contact: Erin Davis, 435-797-2075, erin.davis@usu.edu
OpenStax Contact: Dani Nicholson, (682) 556-1050, dani@openstax.org
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