What is OER?

image of the state of Kansas with "OER" in the middle.Open educational resources (OER) “are teaching, learning and research materials in any medium – digital or otherwise – that reside in the public domain or have been released under an open license that permits no-cost access, use, adaptation and redistribution by others with no or limited restrictions.”1 OER includes built in permission to retain, reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute the material.

In an effort to exhibit the need for OER at institutions across the state of Kansas, the Kansas Board of Regents Student Advisory Committee conducted a survey in 2019 to demonstrate the burden of textbook costs on students at Regent Institutions. They found that 48 percent of 6,474 regent institutions’ students indicated they did not purchase or rent a required textbook in the spring semester. Seventeen percent said they did not purchase or rent three or more required textbooks.2 By not purchasing textbooks, students could be at a disadvantage, which could hinder their success in a course. With open/alternative educational resources, all students get equal and immediate access to educational materials.3

Mission

Our mission is to increase access and equity in education by scaling the awareness and support of open education, including open educational resources and associated practices and pedagogies across the Kansas Board of Regents (KBOR) system.

Vision

Our vision is to improve student outcomes and access through increasing the thoughtful integration of high quality, open educational resources into teaching and learning across the Kansas Board of Regents system.

Link to Kansas LibreTexts Commons.

 
 

Why OER?

Hear Fort Hays State University Student Body President, Mark Faber give an address to the February 2022 Kansas OER Summit attendees about how OER impacts students. Click here to listen to his speech

Newsletters

Issue 1: January 2024

Issue 2: March 2024

Issue 3: May 2024

Statewide OER Steering Committee

To encourage OER use across public institutions in the state of Kansas, the OER Steering Committee was developed and is made up of representatives across Kansas public institutions who are interested in OER on their campuses. The group convenes once a month to discuss statewide initiatives, including collaborative events, grant applications, system participation in regional and national OER organizations, OER platforms, and best practices. If your institution does not have a representative on the OER Steering Committee and you would like to add someone, email Mistie Knox, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Why 100

OER & Estimating Student Savings

Developed in January 2022, the OER Steering Committee recommendation outlines a formula for estimating savings resulting from OER use in KBOR System institutions.  While it's difficult, if not impossible to accurately capture savings due to a variety of factors, the Steering Committee members believe that Kansas System institutions benefit from a common method to estimate savings, when appropriate and possible.  This paper outlines our recommendations, sites other research and policies around estimating cost savings, and explains the rationale behind developing this formula.

  OER report

2022 Open Education Initiatives in Kansas Higher Education Report (pdf)

January 2021, the OER Steering Committee sent out the first survey to gather information on how Open Education Resources (OER) are currently being implemented across the public higher education institutions in Kansas.  The survey was repeated in the spring of 2022. This is the second report summarizing the OER initiatives across our system.  For more information about this survey, report or KBOR system initiatives click here

OER action plan document front page The Kansas Board of Regents Open Educational (OER) Steering Committee Action Plan (pdf) was developed as a result of the 2019 student-focused survey conducted by the Kansas Board of Regents Student Advisory Committee and collaborative discussion among members of the OER Steering Committee. The plan explains what OER are as well as the statewide priorities.
Textbook Affordability Survey cover page The Textbook Affordability Survey 2019 Results & Report (pdf) was conducted by the 2018-2019 Student Advisory Committee to provide concrete data behind the burden of textbook costs that students attending our universities are facing.

2024-25 Members of the Open Educational Resources Steering Committee

Universities Name Title Email  
Emporia State University Melissa Emo Digital Scholarship & OER Librarian This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  
Fort Hays State University Claire Nickerson Learning Technologies & OER Librarian This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  
Kansas State University Colby Moorberg Professor This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.   
Pittsburg State University Susan Dellasega Director, Center for Teaching, Learning & Technology This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.   
University of Kansas Heather Mac Bean Open Education Librarian This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 24-25 Co-chair
University of Kansas Medical Center Kristin Sederstrom Electronic Resources Librarian This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
 
Wichita State University Doug English Associate Professor & Chair, Dept. of Chemistry This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.   
Washburn University Scott Brackey Instructional Librarian This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  
Community Colleges Name Title Email  
Allen Community College Virginia Shaffer Library Director This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  
Barton Community College Lee Miller Director of Innovation & Compliance for the Center for Academic Innovation & Excellence This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.   
Butler Community College Mindy Trenary Assistant Professor of English This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  
Cloud County Community College Brandon Galm Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.   
Cowley Community College David Hays Faculty, Computer Science & Math This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  
Dodge City Community College Mike Webster Director of Instructional/Informational Technology This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  
Dodge City Community College Nick Clohecy Instructor of English This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.   
Fort Scott Community College Susie Arvidson Director of Library Services This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  
Garden City Community College Veronica Goosey Assistant Professor of English This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  24-25 Co-chair
Highland Community College Hannah Owen Instructional Support & Design This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  
Highland Community College Cindy Davis Director of the Library This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  
Hutchinson Community College Emily Hemmerling Coordinator of Library Services This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  
Independence Community College Nathan Chaplin Biology Professor This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.   
Johnson County Community College Barry Bailey Digital Projects Librarian and Chair of OER Taskforce This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  
Kansas City Kansas Community College Susan Stuart Director of Online Education This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  
Labette Community College Tim Miller Professor of History This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  
Pratt Community College Frank Stahl Director, Learning Resource Center This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  
Seward County Community College Deedee Flax Director of Distance Learning This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.   
Technical Colleges Name Title Email  
Flint Hills Technical College Leann Garcia Division Chair of General Education This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  
Manhattan Area Technical College Darren Ortega Teaching & Learning Resource Coordinator This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  
WSU Campus of Applied Sciences & Technology Rob Gibson Dean, ITAS & Director, Instructional Design This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.   

 

System Memberships & Partnerships

Midwestern Higher Education Compact (MHEC)

Home 

The Midwestern Higher Education Compact (MHEC) has promoted and facilitated the implementation of Open Educational Resources (OER) at a regional level since 2018 when twelve OER state action teams were created. From these initiatives, the Kansas OER Steering Committee began, and they continue to support our work through grant funding, research, regional raining and sponsorship of our Kansas OER Summit.

Open Education Network (OEN)

OEN Badge Member

In 2020, the Kansas Board of Regents joined the Open Education Network (OEN) as a consortial member. 

A diverse community of higher education institutions, the Open Education Network promotes access, affordability, and student success through the use of open textbooks.

 

Driving OER Sustainability for Student Success (DOERS3)

The Kansas Board of Regents is part of the Driving OER Sustainability for Student Success (DOERS3) Collaborative. Open to public higher education systems and statewide/provincewide organizations, DOERS3 and its members support large-scale OER initiatives and are committed to advancing innovation in OER. Member organizations aim to achieve equity and student success at scale by realizing the promise of high-quality, accessible, and sustainable OER implementations.

 

References

1 Kansas Board of Regents Student Advisory Committee Textbook Affordability Survey: 2019 Results & Report
2 UNESCO
3 https://opencontent.org/definition/

OER logo credit: Barton Community College