Task Force Goals and Objectives

The goals and objectives of the Course Materials Affordability Task Force are as follows:

Goal 1: Reduce barriers to education and support student success by increasing the number of NIU courses that require only free or low-cost course materials. (aligns with university goals 2, 3 and 4)

Goal 2: Advocate among institutional and external stakeholders for course material affordability s an ongoing, shared responsibility that requires dedicated resources (aligns with university goals 1 and 6)

Objectives

  • Increase student access to courses requiring only free and low-cost course materials
  • Engage faculty as essential participants in course material affordability through their advocacy, adoption and creation of open educational resources
  • Partner with other institutional and external stakeholders to advocate for course material affordability

Logic Model of Task Force Activities

Objective 1: Increase student access to courses requiring only free and low-cost course materials

Activities

  • Identify 100 and 200 level courses as good candidates for OER
  • Create a course search for students to find free or low-cost course materials

Outputs

  • List potential free or low-cost courses
  • Outreach plan to work with instructor of record (IOR) on curriculum innovation
  • Tagged courses in MyNIU for easy search
  • Instructional support for schedulers

Outcomes

  • Increase courses/faculty ready for course material affordability innovation
  • Simplified process to find and register for courses with free or low-cost materials

Objective 2: Engage faculty as essential participants in course material affordability through their advocacy, adoption and creation of open educational resources

Activities

  • Recruit and train faculty from all 7 colleges to Course Material Affordability Taskforce to be course material affordability advocates
  • Provide and promote training and support for course material affordability curriculum innovation
  • Create faculty incentives to commit to using and/or producing OER

Outputs

  • Cross-functional task force membership
  • Slide deck for department meetings
  • LibGuides
  • Schedule of workshops / programs
  • Blog posts and NIU Today articles
  • Discretionary budgets allocated to OER initiatives
  • Grants and other funding sources available for OER initiatives

Outcomes

  • Broad and diverse faculty input and support for course material affordability initiatives
  • Increased advocacy for course material affordability
  • Increased awareness of how OER adoption can support curriculum innovation
  • Increased support for faculty adoption of OER use in their courses

Objective 3: Partner with other institutional and external stakeholders to advocate for course material affordability

Activities

  • Respond accurately to Illinois Board of Higher Education request to report number of free and low-cost material courses
  • Calculate OER savings year-over-year

Outputs

  • Dashboard and/or reports on # of free and low-cost material courses
  • Completion of IBHE inquiries
  • Dashboard and/or report on cost savings to students

Outcomes

  • Accurate reporting of courses with affordable materials
  • Increased combined efforts of OER initiatives across Illinois
  • Demonstrated value and commitment to reducing financial barriers for student

Contact Us

Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning

Phone: 815-753-0595
Email: citl@niu.edu

University Libraries

Phone: 815-753-1995
Email: lib-admin@niu.edu

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