OER grant details

Details

Eligibility

The program is open to academic faculty teaching a course in the 2025-2026 academic school year, including face-to-face, hybrid and online courses. Not sure if you qualify? Email us at oer@unr.edu to find out.

Although we do not expect faculty applying for the program to already know exactly which materials they will use, we prefer applicants who have explored OER options for their course to ensure there will be something that meets their needs. This can include searching various OER databases or, as we recommend, meeting with your subject librarian.

Selection criteria

Completed submissions will be evaluated by the committee. Awardees will be selected based on the narrative responses to the proposal questions, as well as the following criteria:

  • Impact; strong consideration will be given to those projects that offer the highest potential savings to students (based on enrollment numbers);
  • Quality and strength of the application and how well it meets requirements;
  • Sustainability of the resource beyond initial use (its potential for use in future courses);
  • Accessibility and usability of the resource for all students

Grant disbursement

Funding will be upon completion of the program. For awardees with more than one team member, grant funds can be split among multiple members.

The OER grant program is considered an over-load and must abide by UAM 2,695.

Grant conditions

Awardees are expected to comply with several provisions designed to ensure the openness and availability of the funded project, as well as provide feedback to inform assessment of the grant initiative.

Awardee expectations

Awardees agree to the following conditions:

  • Complete online asynchronous training
  • Work with the University Libraries and Office of Digital Learning to develop a timeline of deliverables 
  • Apply an open license (e.g. Creative Commons) to the final product (if adapting).
  • Use OER for at least two semesters of the course (regardless of instructor).
  • If remixing an OER, make the most appropriate version of the work available for deposit into an open online repository of OER.
  • Submit a short project evaluation reflecting on their experience implementing the OER and the outcomes upon use. Evaluations will be due approximately a month after the close of the semester of OER use, or a different previously agreed upon time.
  • Work with the grant team to determine, implement and report appropriate student and instructor assessment.
  • Take part in future promotion of the OER grant and general OER promotion at the university.

Institution's responsibilities

The University Libraries and Office of Digital Learning together will:

  • Support the administration of the fund,
  • accept and process the applications,
  • manage awards,
  • ensure data is collected about impact,
  • provide copyright and open license consultations, and
  • provide accessibility support

Material eligibility: the fund cannot be used to cover the purchase of commercial electronic versions of textbooks, coursepacks, or rentals of textbooks.