Open Educational Resources Faculty Incentive Program – applications due April 5

Dear colleagues,

UIC is pleased to announce the continuation of the Open Educational Resources Faculty Incentive Program. The funding for this program encourages faculty to use open educational textbooks and other open educational resources as alternatives to traditional textbooks for undergraduate courses. This incentive program is part of UIC’s student success initiatives and was developed in response to student concerns about the high cost of course materials.

This cycle, up to $40,000 will be available to UIC faculty who teach undergraduates. To qualify to participate in the program, faculty must adopt or adapt existing open educational resources or create new openly licensed material. Faculty may apply for a portion of this fund by submitting a proposal outlining how they plan to adopt, adapt or create open educational resources in courses. The 2024-25 deadline to submit a proposal is April 5. Awards will be announced by the end of April.

Many UIC students face financial challenges that impact their ability to achieve their educational goals. Studies suggest that the high cost of textbooks is one factor that affects learning outcomes and student success. Making free electronic open educational resources materials readily available can help mitigate these problems.

UIC’s Open Educational Resources Faculty Incentive Program provides funds to teaching faculty or their respective departments as an incentive to provide electronic open educational resources, which are free and carry legal permission for open use. They can be shared and adapted freely.

More information about open textbooks and the incentive program can be found on the program webpage.

The program is sponsored by the Office of the Provost and the University Library. For questions, contact Sandy De Groote, head of assessment and scholarly communications, at sgroote@uic.edu.

Please note that the Undergraduate Student Government is calling for nominations for the USG Faculty OER Leadership Award Program for faculty who already are using open educational material in their courses.

Sincerely,

Karen Colley
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs

Rhea Ballard-Thrower
University Librarian and Dean of the Libraries

For more information, please contact:
Office of the Provost
provost@uic.edu