Open Textbook Faculty Incentive Program 2020-2021

Dear Colleagues,

UIC is pleased to announce a third year of funding for a program that encourages faculty to use open educational resources (OER) as alternatives to traditional text books for undergraduate courses. This incentive program is part of UIC’s Student Success Initiative and was developed in response to student concerns about the high cost of course materials.

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 OER materials readily available can help mitigate these problems.

UIC’s Open Textbook Faculty Incentive Program provides funds to teaching faculty or their respective departments as an incentive to provide electronic OER materials for use in courses. OER electronic materials are free and carry legal permission for open use. They can be shared and adapted freely.

An annual fund of $20,000 for the program will be available to UIC faculty who teach undergraduates. To qualify to participate in the program, faculty must adopt or adapt existing OER materials. Faculty may apply for a portion of this fund by submitting a proposal outlining how they plan to adopt or adapt existing OER resources in courses. Small funds are also available to faculty to review existing Open Educational Resources.  The 2020-2021 deadline to submit a proposal is Jan. 31, 2020. Awards will be announced by Feb. 28, 2020.

The program is sponsored by the Office of the Provost and the University Library with support from the UIC Bookstore.

More information about open textbooks and the program can be found here.

For questions, please contact Janet Swatscheno at jswatsc2@uic.edu.

Sincerely,

Susan Poser
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs