Maricopa Millions OER Development Project: Call for Proposals

Deadline:

A statement of interest is requested by 5pm on Wednesday, October 25th, 2017. If submitted, this information will be used to introduce faculty who may have interests in creating the same course in an effort to encourage collaboration. The statement of interest is not required but strongly encouraged. Submit statements of interest here.
Proposals are due by 5pm on Wednesday, November 8th, 2017. Group proposals will be accepted. Submit proposals here. It is encouraged that you use this document to develop your ideas for your proposal and then copy and paste your responses into the form.

Most math courses and the following courses (ENG091/100, ENG101, ENG102, RDG091, CHM130LL, GBS151, PSY101, BIO156, CHM130, ENG 091, HES100, SPA101, SWU292, AJS101, COM225, REL100, ESL010 and ARH100) are not eligible. For a list of courses that have been funded by the Maricopa Millions project, click here. Please contact l isa.young@scottsdalecc.edu, angela.christiano@paradisevalley.edu or alisa.cooper@gccaz.edu if you have questions.

Adjunct faculty: If you decide to be part of a proposal, you will need to partner with residential faculty and please contact Lisa, Angela or Alisa for additional information.

Project Objective: The Promise and Reality of OER

OER (Open Educational Resources) hold great promise for reducing costs and increasing access to required course materials. Community colleges around the country (Washington, California, Virginia) have joined in with national efforts to increase the production and use of OER materials. Washington’s OER project saved students over $1.25 million in just the 2011-12 academic year, and over $5.5 million since 2011. Our own Maricopa Millions project has saved students over $10 million in just 4 1/2 years.

The main goal of the Maricopa Millions Open Education Resources (OER) Project is to reduce educational costs for students. Spending less money on textbooks and materials will foster greater access to materials for students, which may enable them to stay on track with completing their courses.

The Maricopa Millions OER Project includes developing a strategic, sustainable OER infrastructure that would include: awareness, professional development, OER development and technical support, marketing and technical structure. In order for OER to be successful at MCCCD, we established an OER strategic planning and implementation team to establish and oversee specific OER outcomes over the last 4.5 years.

The driving objective for the project is to save MCCCD students $5 Million Dollars over the next five years through the use of OER materials. Even though we've surpassed that goal, we're not stopping any time soon.

Project Overview

This Maricopa Millions OER project, through an internal grant process, supports the adoption, adaptation, and development of complete OER course materials for high enrollment courses in the MCCCD. The final product will be OER course materials that can be easily adopted and modified by other faculty (including adjuncts) teaching that course. Course materials can include textbooks, images, videos, lecture materials, assessments, grading rubrics, etc. Open course materials must be digital in format, and made freely available over the web. The open course materials may be original content, or may be a compilation of openly licensed materials; MCCCD library subscriptions can also be used. All originally developed course materials funded through this initiative must be licensed with a creative commons attribution license (CC-BY) and shared within the District as well as externally through links from the MCCCD OER web site. Course material “development” funded through this project will be conducted by teams of faculty (ideally three, each from a different MCCCD college) with experience teaching the proposed course. During the development phase of this program, grantees will be meeting regularly with a team of people who will be able to answer questions, and provide training and support.

Project Funds

Faculty participating in this project will be funded 3 load hours of overload - $2589 for their time developing and piloting their materials. Each team will be funded up to a maximum of $7767. Teams comprised of more than three members will be considered, but the funding cap will remain at $7767.

Grant funds are to be used to compensate faculty for their work identifying, reviewing, customizing, and (if necessary) developing openly licensed resources. The final product will be OER course materials that can be easily adopted and modified by other faculty (including adjuncts) teaching that course.

Grantees (individuals in the team of three faculty) will receive $863 upon completion of training, $863 upon the submission of the OER course for review, and $863 upon the completion of the pilot instruction by the grantee. Grantees also agree to participate in a research study to evaluate the project.

Proposals will be selected based on their quality, level of college support, and course selection as well as extent of multi-college collaboration. Funding decisions will also be made to achieve a broad cross-section of high enrollment courses from the greatest number of MCCCD colleges.

Adjunct faculty: If you decide to be part of a proposal, you will need to partner with residential faculty and please contact Lisa.Young@scottsdalecc.edu or Alisa.Cooper@gccaz.edu or angela.christiano@paradisevalley.edu for additional information.

Fall 2017

Proposals submitted and reviewed
Participants selected

Spring 2018

Training of participants
Development of OER materials w/support and training
Monthly update reports due on 1st of each month

Summer 2018

Development of OER materials
June 15, 2016 - Course materials submitted for review

Fall 2018

Piloting of OER materials in live classes
Continued Development of OER materials w/support and training
Monthly update reports due on 1st of each month
Upload completed course to Canvas Commons

Project Parameters

Project Parameters set forth the administrative, programmatic, and financial requirements of the Maricopa Millions OER Development Project.

The OER Steering Committee oversees the project application and award process.
Only proposals received by the due date will be reviewed.
Participation in the Maricopa Millions OER Development Project is voluntary.
Project proposals may be submitted individually or as a team.
Teams of three or more will be formed for individual OER course development.
Those awarded funds will be required to license their newly developed materials as CC-BY and share them internally and externally.
Open course materials must be developed by June 15, 2016.
Open course materials must be piloted by each member of the OER adoption/development team during the Fall 2016 semester.
During the pilot, faculty will use the Maricopa Millions Project Student Survey to gather data from their students.

Support

Grantees will have access to technical and instructional design support for the duration of the grant period and during the pilot of the materials during the spring 2015 semester. Support will consist of regular informational webinars on locating high-quality OER, open licensing, and other topics, regional workshops, and as-needed telephone support.

Reporting

Grantees will submit brief monthly reports on the progress of their project, both to the grant manager and other grantees. This includes regular submission and informal review of the OER being developed for the course. The reporting deadlines can be found in the timeline above. Detailed reporting guidelines and support materials will be available to grantees once the grants have been awarded.

Deliverables

Grantees will adopt and/or develop open educational resources to incorporate as the only required material in their high-enrollment course. The one exception is that MCCCD library subscriptions can also be used.

Adopted materials must be of satisfactory quality and scope to meet all course objectives.
The OER adopted for the course must be the only required course materials.
All materials developed and adopted must be free or “low cost” (<$40) and openly licensed or utilize content from a MCCCD library database.
Any original materials created with grant funds must be licensed with a CC-BY license.
Any openly licensed materials adopted for this project should be licensed appropriately (i.e. no copyright violations).
Materials with the exception of quizzes and tests will be made available through the Maricopa Millions OER website.
Materials should be able to utilize assistive technologies, and should contain options for visually and hearing impaired students for ADA compliance.
When appropriate, faculty should provide students with the option of purchasing a low cost print version of their OER materials.
Total supplementary course costs for “low cost” course materials (i.e online homework programs, suggested texts) should not exceed the “low cost” price point (<$40) determined by the OER Steering Committee.
Grantees agree to pilot the grant deliverables in a minimum of one (1) section of the course (3 sections per 3 person team) during the spring 2015 semester.
Grantees are encouraged to demonstrate their OER courses at District events to facilitate adoption of the materials.

Project Criteria

In Phase 9, we are accepting proposals for ALL courses except:

Most math courses and the following courses are not eligible.

Courses developed through the Maricopa Millions project:
- ENG 101,
- ENG 102,
- RDG 091,
- CPD 150,
- CHM130LL,
- GBS151,
- PSY101
- ENG091,
- PSY230,
- BIO156,
- CHM130,
- CHM150/151/152,
- HES100, and
- SWU292
- SPA101
- AJS101
- COM225
- REL100
- ESL010
- ARH100

We will consider funding and supporting all courses; however, the rubric is weighted towards the high enrollment and developmental education courses.

Proposal Evaluation Criteria

Proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

Experience teaching the course
Proven record of using OER (entire course or components)
Proven record of developing OER (entire course or components)
Proven record of developing course materials
Cross-college collaborative team
High enrollment course
Comprehensive plan for use of diverse learning materials
Multiple course modes (in-person, hybrid and online) for developed course?
Reflect current pedagogical approaches within the discipline (add to form)
Alignment with course competencies
Plan for completion
Supports broad variety of teaching approaches

References:

http://edtech.vccs.edu/educational-technology-resources/chancellors-oer-adoption-grant/
http://uwmltc.org/?p=5554
http://studentpirgs.org/news/gao-report-finds-textbook-prices-continue-skyrocket