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