Zero Textbook Cost Degree Toolkit

Ann Ludbrook

Ryerson University

Toronto, ONT

Zero Textbook Cost Degree Toolkit by Ann Ludbrook, Ryerson University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

Cover image: Image by Greg Contreras from Pixabay

This work also contains excerpts from other works: “BCcampus Zed Cred Program: Z for zero” is closely adapted from “Zed Cred and Z-Degrees: Z is for Zero” https://bccampus.ca/projects/zed-cred-z-degrees/ This material is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence.; Material in “Why Create a Zero Textbook Cost Degree or Certificate?” is closely adapted from “Why OER: Benefits for Students” https://www.cccoer.org/learn/ licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Contents

- Acknowledgements

- 1. Why Create a Zero Textbook Cost Degree or Certificate?

- 2. Zero Textbook Cost Degree: The Canadian Perspective

- 3. Who are Your Stakeholders?

- 4. Grant Programs to Create OER

- 5. Leveraging Library Resources and Expertise

- 6. Working With the Campus Bookstore

- 7. Zero Textbook Cost Degree Workplan

- 8. Considerations and Potential Challenges

- Read More about Zero Textbook Cost Degrees

1

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

This resource was created as a Capstone project for the SPARC Open Education Leadership Program 2018-2019 cohort. I would like to thank the course leaders Nicole Allen from SPARC and Tanya Spilovoy, and give particular thanks to my SPARC Open Education Leader mentor Caroline Daniels, Systems,Web & Interlibrary Loan Librarian, Kwantlen Polytechnic University – you have been infinitely kind and supportive. I would also like to thank the other SPARC Open Education Leadership cohort participants, I learned a lot from you.

2017-2018 SPARC Open Education Leadership Cohort (pilot)

2018-2019 SPARC Open Education Leadership Capstone Projects and Participants

I would also like to give particular thanks to Ryerson colleagues who have supported me on my Open Education  journey.

Thank you to Carol Shepstone, Chief Librarian, Ryerson University Library for your leadership and continuing support of Open Educational initiatives, and in particular I want to thank the amazing Ryerson librarians Sally Wilson, Fangmin Wang and Kelly Dermody for your advice and your expertise in the area of open education. Thank you to Jenna Charlton and Lee Chapman for branding advice and design. Thank you to E-Reserve staff, your hard work is very appreciated, and in particular Aleksandra Rybak for your licensing expertise.

I would like to thank the Chang School of Continuing Education for supporting a vision of working towards a Zero Textbook Cost Certificate/Degree and your continuing support of Open Education at Ryerson. In particular I would like to thank Naza Djafarova, Director, Digital Educational Strategies, and Leonora Zefi for your support, Reg Noble, Courtney Trott, Sushila Parikh, and The Chang School Open Education Committee.

From the E-Learning and Learning and Teaching Office I would like to thank Wendy Freeman, Director E-Learning and the Learning and Teaching Office, Lauren Wilson, Nada Savicevic and Michelle Schwartz for your continuing support and work in Open Education at Ryerson.

1

Why Create a Zero Textbook Cost Degree or Certificate?

Just as using Open Educational Resources (OER) can provide tremendous cost savings for students as well as impact student success and completion rates, so can a Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) Degree. The cost of textbooks can be a financial burden on students, which not only affects student success but can also delay graduation for students who are taking fewer classes per term because of that cost, further increasing financial costs for students over time. OER and ZTC Degrees allow students to have learning materials right from the start of their courses. This is not a negligible point, as the results of the Florida Virtual Campus’ 2016 Student Textbook and Course Materials Survey show: 66.6 percent of surveyed students did not purchase a required textbook because of the cost, which these students felt resulted in them earning a poor grade (37.6 percent) or earning a failing grade (19.8 percent). 47.6 percent of students surveyed also indicated that they have taken fewer courses occasionally or frequently, 45.5 percent did not register for a course, 26.1 percent dropped a course, and 20.7 percent withdrew from a course because of the cost of required textbooks.[1]

What is a Zero Textbook Cost Degree or Certificate?

In a Z Degree (in the United States) or Zed Cred degree (in Canada) a student is able to complete a degree or certificate without having to pay for or purchase a textbook or course pack. Course materials are usually digitally delivered which also eliminates the printer cost for resources, although a paid for print option may be available. Ideally all material in a ZTC Degree will be Open Educational Resources (OER) licenced under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 licence. For example, Tidewater Community College established their pilot ZTC Degree using entirely OER.[2]  However, one common misconception is that all material in a ZTC Degree needs to be an Open Educational Resource (OER). ZTC course material can also include licenced electronic library resources, delivered to students in a password protected E-Reserve system or Learning Management System (LMS), public domain or OER materials, and links to public material on the web that is not behind a paywall. For example Kwantlen Polytechnic University in British Columbia uses OER and library licenced material in their Zero Textbook Cost courses.[3] Your institution may even assess that they want to include materials that are made available via the copyright exceptions fair use (in the United States) or fair dealing (in Canada) and delivered in a password protected LMS.

This video talks about the benefits of a planned Zero Textbook Cost “Z-Degree” relying solely on OER being launched in an Associate in Arts Degree at Central Lakes College, Minnesota.[4]Transcript for the video.

A YouTube element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here: https://opentextbooks.uregina.ca/erotextbookcost/?p=19

Material in “Why Create a Zero Textbook Cost Degree or Certificate?” is closely adapted from “Why OER: Benefits for Students” licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

1. Florida Virtual Campus. (2016). 2016 Student Textbook and Course Materials Survey Results and Findings. Draft. Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=forums&srcid=MTQyNzIxNTYzNjQ5MjAxMzU4NjcBMTUwNDQwNDYyMDgzMDcyMDg5NTYBV2JaTGJMclBBQUFKATAuMgEBdjI ↵

2. DeMarte, D., and L. Williams. (2015). The “Z-degree”: Removing textbook costs as a barrier to student success through an OER-based curriculum. Retrieved from: https://www.scribd.com/document/256155220/Z-Degree-Report-2015-Tidewater-Community-College ↵

3. Kwantlen Polytechnic University. (n.d.). KPU classes - with $0 for textbooks! Retrieved from http://www.kpu.ca/open/zedcred ↵

4. Lakeland PBS. (2017, Oct 19). New Zero Textbook Cost Degree Offered At CLC. Youtube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YZ_ogf4eZc Licenced under a Creative Commons CC BY licence ↵

2

Zero Textbook Cost Degree: The Canadian Perspective

BCcampus Zed Cred Program: Z for zero

BCcampus is a provincially funded organization located in British Columbia whose mandate is to provide teaching, learning, educational technology, and open education support to the post-secondary institutions in British Columbia. They felt that to reduce the cost of learning for students in British Columbia it was necessary to address the high price of textbooks – over half of students surveyed in a recent B.C. research project shared that they chose not to purchase textbooks for at least one course in their program.[1]

As part of their strategy they felt creating and providing open educational resources (OER) was just the first step towards reducing the financial impact on students, and as a result of the substantial success of BCcampus Open Education the next logical progression was to go beyond open textbooks for individual courses and target programs that enable students to earn a credential such as a certificate program or associate degree with zero textbook costs. In the spring of 2017, they asked B.C. institutions to apply for a grant program to develop pathways to credentials through the adoption and adaptation of existing OER or the creation of new OER. Three B.C. institutions were awarded grants in 2017.

Kwantlen Polytechnic University launches the First Canadian Zed Cred Degree

Kwantlen Polytechnic University was one of the first recipients of the BCcampus “Zed Cred” branded grant program. They received $35, 000 in grants to create a Zero Cost Textbook (ZTC) Degree.[2] Led by their on campus Associate Vice Provost, Open Education and open textbook author Dr. Rajiv Jhangiani, as of 2019 they have launched three Zero Textbook Cost programs with over 300 courses that are commercial textbook-free.[3] They created and launched the first Zero Textbook Cost Degree/Certificate in Canada. All materials created through the ZTC program are under Creative Commons Licence CC BY 4.0. However, not all course materials used in their ZTC courses are OER – they also use licensed library resources delivered to students in their LMS.

Cost Savings for Students at Kwantlen Polytechnic University

As of Spring 2019 – 16015 Kwantlen students have saved in total an estimated $1802488 in ZTC Degree programs, and two hundred instructors are now involved in teaching ZTC courses at Kwantlen.[4]

E-Reserves Services in Canadian Libraries

Many higher educational institution libraries in Canada offer E-Reserves services that already deliver course readings to students at no cost, mainly by linking to licenced library e-resources.[5] E-Reserve courses often have no required textbooks. Many of these courses could potentially be switched to Zero Textbook Cost courses with some planning, and be combined with courses that rely on the adoption or the creation of new OER to form a ZTC Degree. Longer-term E-Reserve courses can gradually transition to more OER content.

“BCcampus Zed Cred Program: Z for zero” is closely adapted from “Zed Cred and Z-Degrees: Z is for Zero” This material is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence.

1. Jhangiani, R. S., & Jhangiani, S. (2017). Investigating the perceptions, use, and impact of open textbooks: A survey of post-secondary students in British Columbia. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 18(4). Retrieved from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/3012/4214 ↵

2. Beattie. E. (2017, November 2). "KPU unveils sweet suite of courses with no-cost textbooks." BCcampus. Retrieved from https://bccampus.ca/2017/11/02/kpu-unveils-sweet-suite-of-courses-with-no-cost-textbooks ↵

3. Mays, E. (2019, February 15). Supercharged OER at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. Pressbooks News. Retrieved from https://pressbooks.com/2019/02/15/supercharged-oer-at-kwantlen-polytechnic-university/ ↵

4. Kwantlen Polytechnic University. (n.d.). KPU classes - with $0 for textbooks! Retrieved from http://www.kpu.ca/open/zedcred ↵

5. Swartz, M., Martin H., Ludbrook A., (2014). Blurred Lines: How Electronic Reserves Services are Breaking Down the Barriers Between Content and the Classroom. QSpace. Retrieved from https://qspace.library.queensu.ca/handle/1974/22966↵

3

Who are Your Stakeholders?

This is a list of some potential stakeholders that can help you on your journey to establish a Zero Textbook Cost Degree.

Students

Students are at the centre of any Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) Degree plan. Students interested in Open Educational Resources (OER) and affordable course readings can also be helpful advocates with administrators and instructors. Student Unions can be a key to advocating for OER and affordable course readings. The University of Regina student union webpage on Open Education gives acknowledgement and thanks to professors that use OER in their classroom.[1] Student statewide, provincial or national organizations can also be advocates for open education. For example OUSA, an Ontario-based student organization advocates as part of the world-wide #textbookbroke campaign. [2]

Instructors

Grassroots interest from instructors who want to help their students succeed and notice that some students do without textbooks often drives initial interest in OER adoption, and will probably do so as well for ZTC Degrees.[3]

Senior Administrators

Buy-in from Senior Administrators will be important in the establishment and maintenance of a ZTC Degree at an institution. Making education affordable, accessible and equitable for students is key to many institutions mission statements or academic plans. For example at Kwantlen Polytechnic University the Academic Goals and Strategies part of their Academic Plan embeds “open learning options,” which include both open educational resources and open pedagogy.[4]

Academic Coordinators

The subject and program expertise of the Academic Coordinator of a program can be very helpful in the establishment and maintenance of a ZTC Degree.

Instructional Designers

When creating new OER or redesigning a course, instructional design help, if available, can improve the instructional design of a ZTC course, and may even include innovative open pedagogy strategies. Mesa Community College see instructional designer and subject expert teams as important to creating ZTC degrees. [5]

Library

Your library may have an E-Reserve or syllabus checking service in which library links can be placed into an E-Reserve database, a Learning Management System (LMS) or into a syllabus so students can access Library e-resources at no additional cost. For example University of Guelph has an E-Reserve service that can help create affordable course readings.[6] You can find more about how libraries can support ZTC Degrees and open education in the chapter Leveraging Library Resources and Expertise.

Subject Librarians

Subject Librarians can help search for already existing OER and licensed library e-resources that can replace commercial textbooks. Mesa Community College love their librarians who help finding new OER and library resources for ZTC degrees.[7] They can also potentially order library licensed e-books that can be used by an entire class in some cases.

Campus Bookstore

If you are creating a ZTC Degree at some point you should communicate this to the Bookstore. If you have Open Textbooks in your ZTC Degree, you may want to work with your Bookstore to create a Print on Demand service, so students have the choice to order the material in print format at a reasonable cost. For example Kirkwood Community College’s Bookstore provides print on demand services for Open Textbooks.[8] You can find out more about ways to work with the Campus Store in the chapter Working With the Campus Bookstore.

Registrar’s Office

At some point in the development of a Zero Textbook Cost Degree, you will ideally want to mark the courses in your institution’s course registration system. To do so you will need to work closely with the Registrar’s Office or Department. Michelle Reed at the University of Texas created a helpful guide to working towards marking OER courses in registration systems.[9]

1. University of Regina Student Union. (n.d.) Open Educational Resources. Retrieved from https://ursu.ca/services/textbooks-for-all/open-education-resources/ ↵

2. Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA). (n.d.) #textbookbroke OUSA. Retrieved from https://www.ousa.ca/textbookbroke ↵

3. Griffiths, R., Gardner, S., Lundh, P., Shear, L., Ball, A., Mislevy, J., Wang, S., Desrochers, D., Staisloff, R. (2018). Participant Experiences and Financial Impacts: Findings from Year 2 of Achieving the Dream’s OER Degree Initiative. Menlo Park, CA: SRI International. Retrieved from https://www.achievingthedream.org/sites/default/files/resources/participant_experiences_and_financial_impacts_oer_2018.pdf ↵

4. Kwantlen Polytechnic University. (2018). KPU Academic Plan 2018. Retrieved from https://www.kpu.ca/sites/default/files/Provost%20and%20VP%20Academic/AcademicPlan-Vision2018_booklet_spreads_web.pdf ↵

5. Mesa Community College. (n.d.). Z Degree. Retrieved from https://ctl.mesacc.edu/teaching/z-degree/ ↵

6. University of Guelph Library. (n.d.). Open and Affordable Course Content. Retrieved from https://www.lib.uoguelph.ca/find/find-type-resource/open-and-affordable-course-content ↵

7. Mesa Community College. (n.d.). Z Degree. Retrieved from https://ctl.mesacc.edu/teaching/z-degree/ ↵

8. Kirkwood Community College Library. (n.d.). Open Textbooks, OER & Other Open or Free Resources for Faculty: OER Basics. Libguide. Retrieved from http://guides.kirkwood.edu/opentextbooks ↵

9. Reed. M. (2018). Texas Toolkit for OER Course Markings (a living guide): Examples. Libguide. The University of Texas at Arlington. Retrieved from https://libguides.uta.edu/TXtoolkit/examples ↵

4

Grant Programs to Create OER

Grant programs and OER creation

Sometimes Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) Degrees need content creation grants to be successful. If you need to create new open teaching materials then you want to add to your ZTC Degree plan a grant that can help fund the creation of OER. For example at Mesa Community College they offer ZTC degree grants over two terms to a Content Developer/Instructor ($1500 the first term and $750 the second term), and $750 to Content Reviewers.[1]. As well your state or province may have a grant program or funding model for a ZTC Degree, like the state of California.[2] There may also be other sources of funds, for example the Flora and William Hewlett Foundation Program offered funding for ZTC degrees to Virginia Community Colleges.[3] Any new material created under these grants should ideally be licensed under a Creative Commons licence CC BY 4.0 to allow for flexible remixing and reuse. Grants can also support transitions to ZTC Degrees, by supporting instructors to look for alternative resources and redesign courses.

1. Mesa Community College. (n.d.). Z Degree. Retrieved from https://ctl.mesacc.edu/teaching/z-degree/ ↵

2. Santa Ana College. (n.d.).. Santa Ana College Awarded the Zero Textbook Cost Degree Grant by the California Community College Chancellor's Office. Retrieved from https://sac.edu/AcademicAffairs/DistanceEd/OER/Pages/Zero-Textbook-Cost-Degree-Pathways.aspx ↵

3. Virginia Community Colleges. (2015, 11 May). Virginia’s Community Colleges Receive Grant to Cut Textbook Costs. News. Retrieved from http://www.vccs.edu/newsroom-articles/virginias-community-colleges-receive-grant-to-cut-textbook-costs/ ↵

5

Leveraging Library Resources and Expertise

Affordable Course Reading Discovery and Librarians

Subject Librarians specialists can be a great help in discovering open educational materials (OER) and open textbooks to be used in a zero-cost course. If your library has specific OER support often a librarian is trained to help advise you on materials that might work for your course, and have work plans available on how to support focused OER searching.[1] A librarian may be able to find a textbook or other resource that maps well to the current commercial textbook you are using. You may even have an OER Librarian! The library may also already have created an online resource that lists top places to find OER. Many libraries have created LibGuides that give background on OER and highlight the best places to find it. An example of a guide like this is Northwestern Michigan College: Open Educational Resources.

Library E-Reserve Services and Linking Services

If your library already supports an E-Reserve program, often course curriculum that is made available through such a service are already zero-cost course ready. An E-Reserves course usually consists of links placed in a database or directly into the Learning Management System (LMS) to already licensed library e-resources, web links to material on the public web, and or web links to OER or public domain resources.

E-book and Scholarly Articles

In recent years, if your institution’s library supports such purchasing, a library licensed e-book may be available to purchase with a licence that allows access by multiple students in a course. Ask your subject librarian to check if an e-book you want to use is available with an unlimited access licence for your institution. They just might be! Please note that commercial textbooks are not available to be purchased in this model. Librarians can help you find high quality peer-reviewed articles for courses as well. Often scholarly e-articles can be used in teaching as links or in PDF format in a password protected LMS – depending on the licence. Your librarian can help you with information about the Terms of Use of these resources.

Training

Librarians can help with spreading the word about ZTC Degrees, though workshops and on boarding training for instructors. Librarians can also help train instructors in various open pedagogy tools, for example Pressbooks and Hypothes.is.

Library Publishing Services

Some libraries even have services to assist with publishing OERs and grant programs available. Check to see if that service is available at your institution. For example SUNY Open Textbooks is a library initiative that supports publishing OER and has had more than 250000 textbook downloads worldwide.[2] Ryerson University Library in 2018 launched a pilot OER Grant program for $30000 that is continuing into Fall 2019.[3]

1. West, Q. (n.d.). Searching for Open Materials. Libraries as Leaders. Retrieved from https://libraryasleader.org/searching-for-open-materials/ ↵

2. SUNY Geneseo. (n.d.). Publishing, Digital Projects, & Scholarship. Retrieved from https://www.geneseo.edu/library/publishing ↵

3. Ryerson University Library (2018, 23 July). 2018/19 Ryerson University Library and Archives OER Grants. Retrieved from https://library.ryerson.ca/blog/2018/07/2018-19-ryerson-university-library-and-archives-oer-grants/ l↵

6

Working With the Campus Bookstore

Textbook Lists

If you are working on Zero Textbook Cost Degree (ZTC) planning you may be able to get a list of textbooks used in a program from the Campus Bookstore. These lists can help you know what is being ordered and used in a program and what needs to be replaced. You can also usually look up titles being used by course number on Bookstore websites.

Managing Communication

Having buy-in from Senior Administrators can be helpful in smoothing communication with the Campus Bookstore. Sometimes campus-wide OER committees also have Campus Bookstore membership, so the Bookstore can be included in decision-making and be included in campus-wide OER and ZTC Degree planning and communication about institutional priorities. For example University of Calgary has bookstore representation on their OER Committee.[1]

Print on Demand Services for OER Textbooks

Most OER textbooks come in electronic format, and can be made freely available via a web link or in PDF format to students for example. However, sometimes a student prefers to have a print copy of a textbook for various reasons, even if they have to pay printing costs for the paper version. One way for Campus Bookstores to be involved in an OER program is to assist with offering print-on-demand services for students. Students then pay for the print costs of producing the textbook but this is a fraction of the cost of a traditional commercial textbook. Kwantlen Polytechnic University has worked with the Bookstore to provide OER print on demand services for instructors and has set up a handy guide to show faculty how to order print on demand copies. [2]

Copyright Considerations for Printing Zero Textbook Cost Degree Materials

If the course material that is being used in a ZTC Course is from Library licensed e-resources or offered through a web link you usually cannot offer students a printed version through the Bookstore because of licensing considerations. Most Library electronic resources allow for web linking or digital access when making them available to students but not printing. Check with your Library to see what the Terms of Use are whenever printing material that is not licensed under a Creative Commons licence.

Independent Bookstores

Sometimes the Bookstore that serves your Campus is an independent Bookstore. In that case you still may want to build and investigate relationships with the store, but they may not be possible depending on the stores governance.

1. Zach. R. (n.d.). How to Get (Printed) Open Textbooks to Your Students http://openlogicproject.org/2016/09/12/how-to-get-printed-open-textbooks-to-your-students/ ↵

2. Jhangiani, R. (n.d.) Print on demand setup tutorial. Kwantlan Polytechnic University Retrieved from https://media.kpu.ca/media/Print+on+demand+setup+tutorial/0_izv6teqn Licenced CC BY 4.0 ↵

7

Zero Textbook Cost Degree Workplan

What Type of Zero Textbook Cost Degree are you Creating?

Will your Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) Degree consist of all OER materials? Do you have grant money if already existing OER is not available to create new resources if you can’t find suitable existing OER? If you are including library material do you have an existing E-Reserve system at your institution you can draw on, or staff in the Library that can help create links to library e-resources? Do you have a relationship with instructional designers on campus? Having funds to start a ZTC Degree and having relationships in place with the library and/or a Learning and Teaching office can help with a establishing a program.

Grants & OER Creation

ZTC Degree Grants can be an important way to attract instructor/subject expert interest in transitioning their course to a ZTC Course. Grants can be smaller for zero-cost course transitions if already existing OER materials are suitable, and larger if new OER needs to be created or adapted. Multimedia resources may be more expensive to create so if you are transitioning online courses and plan to produce streaming content for example, your grant amounts may need to be higher.

Identify a Program

Most often a program will be identified by a cluster of instructors who are interested in using OER. Sometimes identification can be based on a high enrolment program/or specialized program that is identified as an institutional priority. If you have access to bookstore records you can also start identifying a program by looking at the number of textbooks you might need to replace. Communicating with departmental stakeholders is key in the identification of a good department to start with.

Identify the Zero Cost Textbook Courses to Transition

Putting a grant call out for interested instructors/subject experts can be a great way to identify courses to transition to zero-cost. That way you attract instructors that are already interested in the idea of transitioning their courses. All required courses will need to be transitioned to zero-cost in a ZTC Degree, so for these courses you may want to start with specifically targeted grants for these courses or course sections.

Discovering already existing OERs

Librarians can be great allies in the implementation of a ZTC Degree. They start by helping with the discovery of existing OERs. If you plan to use library resources they understand the licensing of e-resources and what can be used in teaching, they can help with providing E-Reserve or course reading list linking, and they can help with the discovery of scholarly e-resources and e-books.

Creation and Publishing Support for OER

One great way to start with new OER creation is a meeting with an instructional designer and the subject expert. That way the pedagogy of the new course is front and centre of the project. Your campus may already have some publishing support for OER projects, or you may need to create a service. Your library may already have some publishing supports in place, or OER publishing may be supported by a Learning and Teaching office for example, or Distance Education. If you are creating multimedia resources, you may need to collaborate with your e-learning or digital media department.

Branding and Promotion

You may want to create a branding strategy for your ZTC Degree that works well for your institution if the terms “Zed Cred” or “Z-Degree” don’t resonate on your campus. As well you may want to work with your institutions marketing department to create web pages and social media marketing strategies to promote your initiative.

Print Copies

Collaborating with the bookstore should be part of your work plan if you are adopting OER textbooks, as some students prefer print.

Zero Textbook Degree Marking in Course Calendars

While some institutions publish a website of ZTC Courses, ideally you may want to mark the ZTC Course and/or course sections in the online registration of your institution so students can find ZTC courses more easily. In some cases marking of OER courses may already be in place because of state mandates so adding zero-cost courses may follow a similar workflow. A Texas Toolkit for OER Course Markings was created last year for a SPARC OER Leadership capstone and gives advice about to set up marking of OER courses in registration systems.[1]

Onboarding Teaching Staff

You need to have a communication strategy in place for on boarding any new instructors and staff each term. This could be automated, or sent out by academic or program coordinators. If you have a wide-spread institutional program you may want to place information about ZTC Degree programs in any instructor handbooks or other larger on boarding documents.

More Resources:

An excellent overview of one institutions grant and collaboration plan for a Zero Textbook Cost Degree is outlined on the Mesa Community College website.[2]

1. Reed. M. (2018). Texas Toolkit for OER Course Markings (a living guide): Examples. Libguide. The University of Texas at Arlington. Retrieved from https://libguides.uta.edu/TXtoolkit/examples ↵

2. Mesa Community College. (n.d.). Z Degree. Retrieved from https://ctl.mesacc.edu/teaching/z-degree/ ↵

8

Considerations and Potential Challenges

Maintaining a Zero Textbook Cost Degree

You may need to have a review process in place to maintain your Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) Degree year-to-year. You may want to set up a process on how instructors can add new content (using a syllabus checking service or E-Reserve) to make sure the material stays zero-cost. On boarding sessions with instructors at the beginning of a program and at the beginning of each term can be an important way to  maintain a program. If the expectation is that the curriculum remain static setting up a syllabus or readings list deposit system for the zero-cost courses might be helpful so you can easily pass on materials to a new instructor. Just like regular courses, ZTC programs can set up a course refreshment schedule so the course materials get updated and reviewed every few years if the course has a set curriculum, as Mesa Community College plans to do in a revision cycle of every 18-24 months.[1] Another exciting possibility in the course refreshment cycle is to apply open pedagogy practises that involve students in the updating and refreshment of a ZTC course, as Rajiv Jhanghiani recommends.[2]

Communication with Part-time or Adjunct Instructors

Sometimes part-time and adjunct instructors are hired only a week or two before a course starts and they may be new to the institution or your to your ZTC Degree program. They may be teaching at multiple institutions including ones where they may be using a commercial textbook. Creating some kind of on boarding program for new instructors coming into a program to let them know of zero-cost expectations is key to the success and maintenance of the ZTC program. As well a ready to go zero-cost reading list needs to be available to share with them.

Academic Freedom and Collective Agreements

At some institutions your full-time instructors may be covered under a collective agreement that protects academic freedom when it come to choosing what is taught in class, within certain parameters. If you are at such an institution then you may need to do prior advocacy work to build agreement and buy-in of enough faculty in a program to establish your ZTC Degree. OER initiatives for example work best because faculty care for their students and want them to succeed not because of mandates. Nicole Allen, SPARC notes  “It’s really important to recognize that mandates are not the pathway to OER.”[3] Remember in a ZTC Degree you just need to find a degree pathway through a program that is zero-cost, you don’t have to transition every course or course section to be zero-cost course in the degree, although you will need to find a course section pathway in all of your required courses.

As well, full-time instructors may also be covered under a collective agreement that protects the governance of their own intellectual property. Some instructors are happy to licence materials under Creative Commons licences but such licensing can’t be mandated by the institution.

1. Mesa Community College. (n.d.). Z Degree. Retrieved from https://ctl.mesacc.edu/teaching/z-degree/ ↵

2. Mays, E. (2018, 15 February). Supercharged OER at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. Pressbooks News. Retrieved from https://pressbooks.com/2019/02/15/supercharged-oer-at-kwantlen-polytechnic-university/ ↵

3. McKenzie, L. (2018, 27 February). Hawaii Legislators Abandon Plan for Faculty Mandate on OER. Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/02/27/oer-mandate-overturned-hawaii-amid-concern-about-infringement-academic-freedom ↵

1

Zero Cost Course Reading List

Beattie. E. (2017, November 2). “KPU unveils sweet suite of courses with no-cost textbooks.” BCcampus. Retrieved from https://bccampus.ca/2017/11/02/kpu-unveils-sweet-suite-of-courses-with-no-cost-textbooks

Bliss, T.J. (2015, 6 January). Z as in zero: Increasing college access and success through zero-textbook-cost degrees. William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Retrieved from https://hewlett.org/z-as-in-zero-increasing-college-access-and-success-through-zero-textbook-cost-degrees/

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