Open Textbook Faculty Incentive Program 2021-2022: Call for Proposals

Dear Colleagues,

UIC is pleased to announce a fourth 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.

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 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 OER resources in courses. Small funds are also available to faculty to review existing Open Educational Resources. The 2021-2022 deadline to submit a proposal is January 29, 2021. Awards will be announced by February 27, 2021.

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.

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, contact Janet Swatscheno at jswatsc2@uic.edu.

Sincerely,

Susan Poser
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs