“This fall UI 100 became an A&OER course. As a result, 1,463 students saved over $51,000,”
said Stephanie Hallam, education information librarian with Southeast’s Kent Library.

The A&OER program focuses on shifting textbooks from physical copies that must be purchased
or rented to editions available either online or housed within Kent Library. It’s not just textbooks
that the initiative is attempting to make affordable though, as a multitude of other resources are
covered as well.

“These are things students don’t have to pay for. They can be anything from written texts,
images, modules, videos. The sky is the limit. It’s something licensed in a way that can be
shared,” said Hallam.

The cost reduction represents a significant impact to students but isn’t the only benefit students
will see. Courses that make the switch will offer an added level of convenience as their course
materials would be readily available within the course itself.

“You can imbed materials directly into Canvas (the learning management system for courses), so
there can be a URL to the resource instead of having students purchase the textbook, so day one,
the first moment they get into that class they have access to the materials,” said Hallam. 

The initiative was started by Kent Library in 2014 but put the focus on faculty to develop new
materials.

“The first iteration didn’t work because we wound up asking instructors to write textbooks and
that’s not a good use of their time. Now we are moving toward finding and adapting materials, so
it’s much more about curation than it is about writing which is where the library comes in,” said
Kris Baranovic, instructional designer with the university’s Center for Teaching and Learning.

The savings within UI100 are impressive, but the program isn’t limited to UI100 courses. Rather,
any course can make the switch to A&OER if the move is agreed upon by the professors
teaching those courses and their sections.

Southeast’s Textbook Rental Service has long provided a significant cost savings when it comes
to books. Hallam says the A&OER move is beneficial as more publishers are limiting the
mediums available for materials.

“Some textbook publishers have shifted their modules of textbooks, so you can’t actually rent
them because you have to have the individual code specific to that book. So, you have to buy it,
and now it’s pulled out the option of rental in some instances,” said Hallam.

The A&OER initiative, while cutting costs, helps ensure students have the best materials
available to them and are equipped for the coursework and what lies ahead.

“The focus is strong instruction, getting students what’s most helpful for them to learn the
concepts and master the materials,” said Hallam