Grant Requirements

CT OER Grant Requirements

Requirements of Grantees

All final grant reports and associated work are due no later than December 31st of the grant year and will be shared publicly via GoOpen CT, the State of Connecticut’s public digital library of open educational resources.

Completion Checklist:

By October 1st, complete the Grant Check-In Form for each grant award.
Three weeks prior to the end of the semester, ensure student survey delivered/captured (except Review grants)
Three weeks or more prior to the end of the semester, secure colleague review (except Review & Adoption grants)
By December 1st, secure institutional invoice
By December 14th, submit work to Go Open CT OER repository
By December 31st, submit grant report, invoice, and colleague review (if applicable)

As you complete your OER grant work, please review the requirements below for your specific category.

Review Grants (not offered in 2024 grant cycle)

Complete the Grant Check-In Form for each grant, no later than October 1st.
Submit a grant report (links to the reporting form and GoOpen CT will be provided), due no later than December 31st that includes (but is not limited to):
- A review of the selected OER.
  - Your evaluation of the resource should focus on teaching appropriateness and feasibility of adoption.
    - The Open Textbook Library Rubric provides excellent criteria to cover in
    - your evaluation and written review. The review will be copy-ready and accessible for posting on the CT OER Council website.
A brief narrative on whether you have or plan to adopt the OER resource. If yes, please include the projected student impact on cost savings, persistence, and performance.

Adoption Grants

Implement proposed OER within the specified course section(s) no later than the Fall semester/term of the grant year.
Teach the OER-enabled section(s) of the course no later than the Fall semester/term of the grant year.
Ensure that selected OER content meets WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards.
Report the OER adoption to local bookstore in accordance with the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) reporting requirements.
If your institution participates in an Inclusive Access program (e.g., the Husky Bundle program) through which students are automatically billed for textbook costs, you must provide documentation that the program provides a clear and broadly communicated process through students may opt-out of participation in the program.
Implement a student survey within the specified OER course section(s) to gain student perspective (see Qualitative Analysis section for recommendations). (See Appendix A for Sample Student Survey Questions)
Complete the Grant Check-In Form for each grant, no later than October 1st.
Submit a grant report (links to the reporting form and GoOpen CT will be provided), due no later than December 31st that includes (but is not limited to):
- Summary Information
  - Institution, Department, Course Title and Number, Number of Sections, OER Resources utilized, Legacy Commercial Textbook replaced, whether your institution participates in an Inclusive Access program
- Quantitative Analysis
  - Student Persistence – beginning and ending enrollment numbers with drops and withdrawals if known
  - Student Performance – number/percentage of students receiving C or better (or more granular if possible)
  - Student Savings – projected cost savings/avoidance based on the net savings using OER vs. the legacy textbook/materials cost
    - If your institution participates in an Inclusive Access program, your analysis of savings should indicate both actual savings that was achieved by students who had opted out of the program and potential savings that students would have achieved had they opted out. To determine how many students opted out, include a question about this on your student survey.
    - Please distinguish between savings realized during term implemented vs. long-term projected savings.

If historical/comparison data is available for sections that have utilized higher cost commercial materials, it would help our analysis on the impact/benefit of OER.

Qualitative Analysis
- Student Perspective (obtained via survey of all students enrolled in OER section(s))
  - Narrative of the student experience with the OER materials, including, but not limited to:
    - Did the student purposefully choose the course based on cost? Were they aware of the textbook costs?
    - Did the student opt for digital or print versions?
    - How did the student perceive the quality of the materials?
    - Any other feedback from the students
  - (See Appendix A for Sample Student Survey Questions)
- Faculty Perspective
  - Narrative of the faculty utilizing the OER materials, including, but not limited to:
    - What changes in student preparation or engagement did you observe?
    - What benefits did you realize from adopting OER? (Ability to revise the materials for example)
    - What challenges did you encounter when converting to or using the OER materials? Were you able to overcome them?
    - Do you plan to continue or expand use of the OER in your course? Why or why not? If you plan to continue use of this OER, will you revise or supplement it?
    - What lessons did you learn that you want to convey to other colleagues considering OER?
- If activities proposed in the grant application were not completed, please provide suitable justification.
- Reports and OER materials will be publicly viewable therefore should be in copy-ready format.

Supplemental Grants

Implement proposed supplement within the specified course section(s) no later than the Fall semester/term of the grant year.
Teach the OER-enabled course section(s) no later than the Fall semester/term of the grant year.
Openly license any new or derivative works, preferably “CC BY” if allowed.
Ensure that Supplemental content meets WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards.
Report the OER adoption to local bookstore in accordance with the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) reporting requirements.
If your institution participates in an Inclusive Access program (e.g., the Husky Bundle program) through which students are automatically billed for textbook costs, you must provide documentation that the program provides a clear and broadly communicated process through students may opt-out of participation in the program.
Implement a student survey within the specified OER course section(s) to gain student perspective (see Qualitative Analysis section for recommendations)
Complete the Grant Check-In Form for each grant, no later than October 1st.
Submit a grant report (links to the reporting form and GoOpen CT will be provided), due no later than December 31st that includes (but is not limited to):
- Summary Information
  - Institution, Department, Course Title and Number, Number of Sections, OER Resources utilized, Legacy Commercial Textbook replaced (if applicable), whether your institution participates in an Inclusive Access program
  - Summary of all supplemental resources created that briefly describes the resource(s), how they can be used, and any other information that can be used by faculty who wish to adopt the resources.
  - Address steps taken to ensure accessibility
- Quantitative Analysis
  - Student Persistence – beginning and ending enrollment numbers with drops and withdrawals if known
  - Student Performance – number/percentage of students receiving C or better (or more granular if possible)
  - Student Savings – projected cost savings/avoidance based on the net savings using OER vs. the legacy textbook/materials cost
    - Please distinguish between savings realized during term implemented vs. long-term projected savings.
    - If your institution participates in an Inclusive Access program, your analysis of savings should indicate both actual savings that was achieved by students who had opted out of the program and potential savings that students would have achieved had they opted out. To determine how many students opted out, include a question about this on your student survey.
    - Please distinguish between savings realized from the adoption of the selected OER versus saving realized from the creation of the supplemental materials.

If historical/comparison data is available for sections that have utilized higher cost commercial materials, it would help our analysis on the impact/benefit of OER.

Qualitative Analysis
- Student Perspective (Student Perspective (obtained via survey of all students enrolled in OER section(s))
  - Narrative of the student experience with the OER materials
    - Did the student purposefully choose the course based on cost? Were they aware of the textbook costs?
    - Did the student opt for digital or print versions?
    - How did the student perceive the quality of the materials?
    - If students contributed towards the development of the supplemental materials, did they view the experience positively?
    - Any other feedback from the students
  - (See Appendix A for Sample Student Survey Questions)
- Faculty Perspective
  - Narrative of the faculty utilizing the OER materials
    - What changes in student preparation or engagement did you observe?
    - If students contributed to the development of the supplemental materials, did you observe any positive impacts on their learning?
    - What benefits did you realize from adopting OER? (Ability to revise the materials for example)
    - What challenges did you encounter when converting to or using the OER materials? Were you able to overcome them?
    - What lessons did you learn that you want to convey to other colleagues considering OER?
- Discuss how your supplemental OER resources will be sustained (maintained, housed, etc.)
- If activities proposed in the grant application were not completed, please provide suitable justification
- Review: a review conducted by a peer or colleague is required for the OER supplemental materials developed as part of this award (a review template will be provided).
- Reports and OER materials will be publicly viewable therefore should be in copy- ready format.

Impact Grants (not offered in 2024 grant cycle)

Implement proposed work within the specified course section(s) no later than the Fall semester/term of the grant year.
Teach the OER-enabled section(s) of course(s) no later than Fall semester/term of the grant year.
Openly license any new or derivative works, preferably “CC BY” if allowed.
Ensure that OER content meets WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards.
Report the OER adoption to local bookstore in accordance with the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) reporting requirements.
Implement a student survey within the specified OER course section(s) to gain student perspective (see Qualitative Analysis section for recommendations).
Complete the Grant Check-In Form for each grant, no later than October 1st.
Submit a grant report (links to the reporting form and GoOpen CT will be provided), due no later than December 31st that includes (but is not limited to):
- Description of the Impact Grant Project
- Summary Information
  - Institution, Department, Course Title and Number, Number of Sections, OER Resources utilized, Legacy Commercial Textbook replaced (if applicable), OER resources created
- Summary of any supplemental resources created that briefly describes the resource(s), how they can be used, and any other information that can be used by faculty who wish to adopt the resources.
- Quantitative Analysis
  - Student Persistence – beginning and ending enrollment numbers with drops and withdrawals if known
  - Student Performance – number/percentage of students receiving C or better (or more granular if possible)
  - Student Savings – projected cost savings/avoidance based on the net savings using OER vs. the legacy textbook/materials cost (if applicable)
    - Please distinguish between savings realized during term implemented vs. long-term projected savings.
    - Please distinguish between savings realized from the adoption of the selected OER versus saving realized from the creation of any supplemental materials.

If historical/comparison data is available for sections that have utilized higher cost commercial materials, it would help our analysis on the impact/benefit of OER.

- - Qualitative Analysis
    - Student Perspective (obtained via survey of all students enrolled in OER section(s))
      - Narrative of the student experience with the OER materials, including, but not limited to:
        Did the student purposefully choose the course based on cost? Were they aware of the textbook costs?
        Did the student opt for digital or print versions?
        How did the student perceive the quality of the materials?
        If students contributed towards the development of the supplemental materials, did they view the experience positively?
        Any other feedback from the students
    - Faculty Perspective
      - Narrative of the faculty utilizing the OER materials, including, but not limited to:
        What changes in student preparation or engagement did you observe?
        If students contributed to the development of any supplemental materials, did you observe any positive impacts on their learning?
        What benefits did you realize from adopting OER? (Ability to revise the materials for example)
        What challenges did you encounter when converting to or using the OER materials? Were you able to overcome them?
        Do you plan to continue or expand use of the OER in your course? Why or why not? If you plan to continue use of this OER, will you revise or supplement it?
        What lessons did you learn that you want to convey to other colleagues considering OER?
  - Discussion of how the proposal goals were met and how they will be sustained in the future. Discuss the projected longer-term impacts of your project.
  - Review: a review conducted by a peer or colleague will be required for the OER materials developed as part of this award (a review template will be provided).
  - If activities proposed in the grant application were not completed, please provide suitable justification
  - Reports and OER materials will be publicly viewable therefore should be in copy- ready format.

Grant awards will be to the applicant(s) and payments are contingent upon completion of the proposed activities and the submission of the complete grant report and OER materials (if applicable).

Appendix A: Sample Student Survey Questions

1. Was the cost of textbooks/course materials a factor in your decision to take this course? Please explain.

2. Did using OER impact you financially? Please explain.

3. Have you benefited from using OER? If so, how?

4. Do you feel that you are less or more motivated to study when using OER?

5. Has the use of OER made a difference to your learning? If so, how? Why?

6. Are you satisfied with the quality of OER materials you have encountered? Was the OER comparable in quality to materials you have used in other courses?

7. Have you encountered any challenges in using OER? If so, please explain.

8. Would you recommend the OER used in this course be used in future sections of this course? Please explain.

9. Do you think we should have more, or less, OER? Why?

10. Please share any other comments you have about the OER used in this class.

Additional sample question if your institution participates in an Inclusive Access program:

Did you opt-out of [institution name's] program for automatic billing of textbook costs? If so, why?

“Sample Student Survey Questions” is adapted from the OER Research Hub Interview Question Bank contained within OER Hub Researcher Pack by OER Hub and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.