What is OER?
Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching and learning materials that are published under an open copyright license, frequently a Creative Commons license, that permits others to freely use, adapt, and share the material. These resources can exist in numerous formats including books, articles, websites, videos, images, and other types of digital or print materials.
Why OER?
The University of Wyoming Libraries seeks to support and encourage the adoption, adaptation, and creation of alternatives to traditional textbooks as an equitable means of increasing our students' access to high-quality learning materials. To be a part of this initiative, please consider applying for an Alt-Textbook Grant.OER has the power to enhance flexibility for faculty and students, increase innovative pedagogy, and lower the cost of education.
OER Resources:
- Our Creative Commons (CC) Guide provides an introduction to Creative Commons (CC), basic copyright, and considerations for open licenses.
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Adoption Award Range: Up to $2,500
Expectations:
- Locate existing OER material(s) to adopt for your course that replace the main textbook.
- Integrate the OER material(s) into a credit-bearing course.
Adaptation Award Range: Up to $5,000
Expectations:
- Adapt, update, or remix pre-existing OER into a new OER.
- Publish completed OER under a Creative Commons license that allows modification.
- Archive OER materials in WyoScholar, the University's institutional repository managed by UW Libraries.
Creation Award Range: Up to $5,000
Expectations:
- Create and publish new OER from faculty-authored content for a course.
- Publish completed OER under a Creative Commons license that allows modification.
- Archive OER materials in WyoScholar, the University's institutional repository managed by UW Libraries.
Pre-Grant Application Workshop
There is a required pre-grant workshop, "OER 101," that all applicants must have attended prior to submitting an application. The "OER 101" workshop will be on Wednesday, October 1st at noon in person and on Zoom.
Register for the OER 101 Workshop
*If you cannot make the workshop, you can schedule an OER grant consultation with Sammy Peter prior to applying.
Supplemental Salary
Please note that Alt-Textbook Grant awards are considered supplemental pay. Per University Regulation 2-3.III.B.1 (PDF), “A maximum of an additional 3/9ths of the base faculty salary may be earned in supplemental pay.” Faculty are responsible for ensuring their Alt-Textbook Grant awards are in alignment with this policy.
Grant Application
- Grant proposals for implementation in Spring 2026 are due by October 31st, 2025.
- Priority will be given to proposals that relate to high-enrollment courses that currently require students to purchase a high-cost textbook.
- UW Libraries will consider grant applications from previous Alt-Textbook Grant recipients. Repeat applicants are considered for awards only if previous grant project expectations are fully met.
- There will be another call in Spring 2026 for proposals for Fall 2026.
UW Libraries' OER Committee:
Sammy Peter, Chair of Research and Outreach Services (Program Coordinator), Shannon Smith, Chair of Collections, Kathryn Senn, Innovative and Immersive Technologies Librarian, Amanda Bugbee, Discovery Librarian, and Susan Schulz (Library Specialist).
Alt-textbook grant FAQ
When you apply for an Alt-Textbook grant, you will be asked to provide details about
the course you teach, the current costs of materials for students, and whether you
plan on either adoption, adaptation, or creation of OER.
Please note that there is a required pre-grant workshop, "OER 101," that all applicants
must have attended prior to submitting an application. See above to register for the
workshop If you cannot make the workshop, you can schedule an OER grant consultation
with Sammy Peter or Shannon Smith prior to applying.
Licensed (and copyrighted) library resources, websites, and other non-openly licensed materials are not considered OER.
To maintain clarity in our application process, please fill out one grant application per course.
All grant proposals should reflect a new project. We will not consider commercial e-book versions of an existing textbook, existing textbook alternatives used by faculty, or textbook rentals.
Adaptation involves identifying existing OER and modifying and/or remixing them to reflect local needs or updated information.
Proposals will be reviewed by the Libraries' OER Committee. Their reviews are based upon the categories in the Alt-Textbook Grant Program Rubric. The categories include cost savings, feasibility, pedagogical innovation, cultural competency, assessment, and impact to open education.
Alt-Textbook Grant awards are considered supplemental pay. Please note, per University Regulation 2-3.III.B.1 (PDF), “A maximum of an additional 3/9ths of the base faculty salary may be earned in supplemental pay.” You are responsible for ensuring Alt-Textbook Grant awards are in alignment with this policy.
It is important that the materials created for the OER project do not violate copyright.
For more about OER and Copyright, please see the Creative Commons Research Guide.
Materials that you create as part of UW's Alternative Textbook grants must be deposited
in WyoScholar, the University's institutional repository, and assigned a Creative Commons License.
For specific questions related to depositing materials in WyoScholar, contact Digital Collections.
You can view our previously deposited OER in WyoScholar.
For any questions, please contact Sammy Peter, the Alt-Textbook Grant Coordinator.
