Presenter explains benefits of “Open Educational Resources” to the Board of Trustees. Josh Mehay | Washtenaw Voice
By Nicholas Ketchum
Staff Writer
Some college faculty, administrators, and trustees are concerned over the steep cost of textbooks, and they’d like to do something about it.
During the Board of Trustees meeting on Oct. 30, Joyce Hommel, executive director of the learning resources division at the Bailey Library, showed the board how the college is working to offer free alternatives to students who are unable (or unwilling) to purchase textbooks due to cost.
“Open Educational Resources,” or OER, are openly-licensed textbooks (as well as other types of media) offered at no-cost to help make learning, teaching, and research more accessible.
“We wanted our students to be able to have free or lower-cost textbooks… so students would have higher success rates,” Hommel said at the meeting.
She said that standard textbook costs often range between $30 and $300 for a single book; and some of the more specialized books surpass $400.
According to Hommel, textbook costs can exceed tuition costs, and some students won’t purchase textbooks until later in the semester—or not at all—which lowers chances for academic success.
She offered an anecdote of how one student faced a choice between purchasing glasses or textbooks, and ended up purchasing the books and borrowing glasses from a friend.
Hommel explained steps the college has taken and pointed out WCC is “on the right road.” She said some early on-campus adopters already use OER materials, including courses in biology, communications, English, and mathematics, among several other disciplines.
Several professors have created peer-reviewed textbooks for the courses they teach, and work is underway to support faculty in producing more peer-reviewed open textbooks and media, said Hommel.
Efforts have included presenting concepts and materials to faculty at in-services, as well as hosting summits for students and faculty.
When available, OER course materials can be posted on Blackboard by faculty, where students can download texts and media in PDF format, either chapter-by-chapter or as a complete volume.
Apparently, the initiative is already boosting students’ bottom lines.
Hommel said students saved an estimated $1.79 million during the 2016-17 academic year, and almost another $2.18 million in 2017-18.
“It’s anticipated that this growth will continue this year as we expand the number of textbooks and sessions using OER materials,” Hommel said.
The Bailey Library’s website provides a list of OER textbooks and repositories, which is available at libguides.wccnet.edu/oer-repositories/textbooks.
