UW Libraries Names Alternative Textbook Grant Recipients for 2023-24 Academic Year

University of Wyoming Libraries recently awarded alternative textbook grants to six faculty members to implement open educational resources (OER) in their classes for the 2023-24 academic year.

The open course materials and textbooks resulting from the grants are projected to save UW students more than $30,400 per semester. Grants are awarded to instructors who adopt, adapt or create new open textbooks or other learning materials for their courses.

“This round, we saw applications from two previous grant recipients who have completed and implemented their previous projects,” says Sammy Peter, chair of research and instruction at UW Libraries. “It’s a demonstration of the impact OER can have on student engagement to see faculty thoughtfully transition additional courses to OER.”

The grant recipients are:

College of Arts and Sciences 

-- Tiger Robison, an assistant professor in the Department of Music. Robison teaches “Aural Theory III.” He will create an open text for this course, which will complete his work transitioning this course series to open texts. 

College of Engineering and Physical Sciences 

-- Cedar Wiseman, an assistant lecturer in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. He will adopt an existing OER textbook for his high-enrollment “Calculus I” course. 

College of Health Sciences

 -- Margaret Holland, an assistant professor, and Greta Maxfield, an assistant lecturer, both in the Division of Social Work. They will collaborate to design two new textbooks for “Human Rights, Social Justice and Social Policy” and “Social Welfare Policy: Human Rights and Social Justice.” Their project will focus on these topics -- both in the West and in Wyoming -- and replace three traditional textbooks.

-- Katelyn Kotlarek, an assistant professor in the Division of Communication Disorders. Kotlarek teaches “Anatomy and Physiology of Speech, Swallowing and Hearing.” She will design a new open lab manual for this course that will include a user guide, assignments and other supplementary materials.

-- Sandra Leotti, an assistant professor in the Division of Social Work. Leotti teaches “Human Behavior and the Social Environment.” She will adopt an existing OER book for her course, which is a required foundational course for all Master of Social Work students.

UW Libraries will award another round of grants for the spring semester. Additionally, UW has increased funding amounts. Grant awards will now range from $2,500 to $5,000. Interested applicants are required to attend the “OER 101” workshop Wednesday, Oct. 4, before submitting grant applications. Proposals will be evaluated on a number of categories outlined in the scoring rubric developed by members of UW Libraries’ OER Committee. Proposals are due Tuesday, Oct. 31.

For more information, visit https://uwyo.edu/oer or email Peter at scook13@uwyo.edu.