Fisher Among Institutions to Receive Grant to Mark Courses Featuring Open Educational Resources

The New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) recently announced that St. John Fisher University is among four selected independent institutions in the Northeast participating in the Open Education Course Marking Grant, a new 15-month initiative to support institutions in the expansion of student awareness and use of no-cost learning materials.

Thanks to the generous support of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the NEBHE grant will fund this initiative for Fisher as well as Johnson & Wales University (Providence, RI), New England College (Henniker, NH), and Thomas College (Waterville, ME).

The selected institutions will implement a course designation visible during student registration in the Spring 2024 term that identifies courses using Open Educational Resources (OER) and other no-cost materials such as library-licensed content. Each will be provided step-by-step support to implement course marking, participate together in a yearlong virtual community of practice, and have access to topical OER consulting services. To participate, institutions must have at least 23% of undergraduates enrolled awarded Pell grants and have an institutional commitment to advancing OER.

The University is establishing a community of practice in summer 2023 for faculty interested in learning more about no-cost or low-cost course materials. Dr. Kaitlin Bonner, associate professor of biology, will serve as Fisher’s Open Education Faculty Fellow leading this work.

Interested faculty may now submit a Community of Practice application, which will remain open until Friday, May 19.