Open Education 2017

Reducing textbook costs and adopting OER became one of the strategic objectives for the 2015-2021 University of Hawaii System Strategic Plan. The System is comprised of 7 community colleges and 3 universities. Librarians were instrumental in bringing the OER conversation to the grassroots level. Librarians leveraged contacts throughout the University of Hawaii System to create a system-wide volunteer UH OER Team that includes librarians, instructional designers, and instructors. The team serves as an advocacy and information-sharing group for all campuses. The tradition of collaboration and information-sharing inherent in the library profession provided a foundation from which OER could take hold in the university system.

Librarians and instructional designers at the two largest community college campuses, Kapiolani and Leeward, established independent OER initiatives on their respective campuses. In summer 2015, these two campuses together received a joint sum of $100K in innovation funding to develop OER on their respective campuses. The two-campus team of three librarians and one instructional designer focused on professional development as the key strategy for increasing faculty awareness of OER and for encouraging adoption. Differences in campus infrastructure and culture resulted in differences in how OER adoption took place. We will highlight the unique challenges that community college librarians experience in their effort to promote OER on their individual campuses. We will also discuss the role of the librarians across this system to make OER a priority across all campuses.