Due to a recent $163,000 grant from the Colorado Commission on Higher Education, several CCCS colleges will begin expanding and implementing OER projects that aim to foster educational equity, improve student retention, completion and success and make students’ education affordable. CCCS’ grant from the commission is part of a wider $550,000 investment in OER throughout the state.
“Here at Pikes Peak, we’re very mindful about what is happening with our students. They’re having to bear the brunt of paying these outrageous textbook prices from publishers,” said Marc Nash, Open Educational Resource specialist/coordinator at Pikes Peak Community College (PPCC). “The students very much want us to explore these options, so it’s really great to be able to help them out with this.”
Schools received OER funding in the form of institutional, “small group” or travel grants. PPCC joins Arapahoe Community College, the Community College of Denver, Red Rocks Community College and others as recipients of an institutional award to support large-scale OER initiatives.
Other institutions such as Northeastern Junior College and Trinidad State Junior College will use their designated travel grant funding to attend the inaugural OER Convening and Open Textbook Network (OTN) Training in May this year.
In a news release, CCCS Chancellor Joe Garcia said the system is committed to improving college access and affordability for all Coloradans.
“The growing use of OER for both online and face-to-face learning improves our ability to reduce one of the greatest financial barriers to higher education,” Garcia said.
