Examples of other Liberal Arts college initiatives: (not an exhaustive list)
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Williams is “the only college in the country that guarantees free textbooks and course materials to all students receiving financial aid.”
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Dartmouth, Lafayette, Wheaton offer faculty grants to use, adapt, or create OER.
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Textbook assistance programs: Colby, Oberlin, Swarthmore, Smith College, Wellesley
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Textbook exchange program (often run by students): Middlebury, Skidmore, Wellesley
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Library reserve programs. Bates, Vassar, and others.
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Many have LibGuide Resource guides on OER and seek to inform their campuses. (SPARC members in small colleges and their activities.)
General Information:
Rill, Josef. The Textbook Decision: Purchasing Options Affecting Students in the Classroom. University of South Florida: March, 2019.
Dissertation argues that “each textbook/course material can have an effect on a student’s academic success and course satisfaction.” https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=9107&context=etd
Senack, Ethan. Fixing the broken textbook market: How students respond to high textbook costs and demand alternatives. The Student PIRGS: January, 2014. https://uspirg.org/sites/pirg/files/reports/NATIONAL%20Fixing%20Broken%20Textbooks%20Report1.pdf
Important Initiatives:
Window of opportunity for OER (August 13, 2020)
Open Education Initiative grants for faculty are available at Dartmouth, Lafayette, Wheaton.
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Information sharing: SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) 240+ institutional members in US and Canada work to enable the open sharing of research outputs and educational materials in order to democratize access to knowledge, accelerate discovery, and increase the return on our investment in research and education.