Open Educational Resources Committee Meeting: January 20, 2022

Zoom / Conference Call

Members attending: Amber Burtis (Southern Illinois University Carbondale), Denise Cote (College of DuPage), Catherine Galarza-Espino (Morton College), Kim Hale (Columbia College Chicago), Dan Matthews, co-chair (Moraine Valley Community College), Christina Norton (Bradley University), Tineka Scalzo (City Colleges of Chicago), Janet Swatscheno (University of Illinois Chicago), Chris Sweet, co-chair (Illinois Wesleyan University), Tamara Townsend (City Colleges of Chicago)

Members absent: None

CARLI Staff attending: Elizabeth Clarage, Anne Craig, Michele Leigh, Nicole Swanson

Board Liaisons attending: Karen Janke (Erikson Institute), Jacob Jeremiah (Oakton Community College)

Decisions

  • December meeting minutes were corrected and approved.
  • The committee will prepare to make a longer presentation on CARLI’s OER Commons Hub: Open Illinois for the IACRL Spark event on April 1.
  • The committee is interested in learning more about how to advocate for OER. It will pursue finding someone who has experience in this area to share their expertise. The committee will create a one-off newsletter celebrating OER achievements throughout the state for Open Education Week.

Tasks Assigned

  • Minutes taken by Christina Norton.
  • Janet Swatscheno will facilitate the February OER Office Hours.
  • Dan Matthews will facilitate the March OER Office Hours.
  • Dan Matthews will send an email to finalize dates and roles for all spring OER Office Hours.
  • Dan Matthews will communicate to IACRL Continuing Ed committee about the possibility of our committee doing a longer presentation about the Open Illinois Hub at the April 1st Spark event.
  • Anne Craig will assist in locating a expert to present for us.
  • Chris Sweet, Dan Matthews, and Kim Hale will draft initial email/form for Open Education Week (March 7-11) email seeking input.

Announcements

  • Member Announcements:
    • Denise Cote (College of DuPage)
      • Denise has been assigned to the state’s College Course Materials Affordability and Equitable Access Task Force commission by the governor last month.
      • Denise is also leaving the College of DuPage in August, and her open position will focus on open education.
    • Chris Sweet (Illinois Wesleyan University)
      • Chris has a meeting with IWU’s Student Senate. Meeting with student stakeholders was part of the action plan he created as part the OEN Certificate in OER Librarianship prorgram.
    • Christina Norton (Bradley University)
      • Bradley’s Office of Sponsored Projects is going to assist Christina in proposing an OER-specific faculty award/stipend.
    • Tineka Scalzo (City Colleges of Chicago)
      • Her institution has $10k allotted for faculty OER stipends this semester.
  • CARLI Announcements:
    • Michele Leigh and Nicole Swanson were both accepted into this year’s OEN Certification in OER Librarianship, the only two people associated with CARLI accepted this year.
    • Elizabeth Clarage has become a member of the OEN Steering Committee.
    • Anne Craig has also been appointed to the College Course Materials Affordability and Equitable Access Task Force along with Denise Cote.
      • Will conduct a study on methods of improving students’ “first-day-of-class access to required course materials”
    • Upcoming Events

Discussion

  • Understanding and Promoting Open Educational Resources (OER Librarian Course)
    • February offering is full with fifteen registrants.
  • OER Faculty Workshops
    • January has 22 registrants.
    • Presentation slides have been revised and updated to be more interactive.
  • OER Office Hours
    • Facilitators still needed for February and March.
    • Janet will do February – topic will be OER funding.
    • Dan will do March – topic tbd.
    • Dates, topics, and note-takers will be determined after meeting via email.
  • ILA/IACRL Spark Program on OER/DEI
    • Original format was meant to feature lightning sessions (~10 minutes).
    • There have been no proposals.
    • Committee might do a longer presentation on the Open Illinois Hub if proposals continue to not appear.
    • Dan will communicate with the IACRL Continuing Ed Committee about this alternative option.
  • Illinois SCOERs Updates
    • Application information sessions continue, some schools have already submitted their intention to apply after attending a session.
    • A Slack Channel has been created for interested parties and Michele will “jumpstart” it soon.
    • A “Meet, Greet, and Collaborate” event is being prepared to help people find collaboration partners speed-dating style: February 4th, 1 PM.
    • Michele will also be available weekly on Friday afternoons on Zoom for Illinois SCOERs Office Hours, starting on February 4th .
    • An FAQ based on questions received at the workshops will be available soon on the project’s website.
    • Michele is also considering a bi-weekly podcast.
    • Answer to a question from Dan: yes, individuals can still seek to participate with a team based at another institution if their own institution is not encouraging/supporting participation.
  • CARLI’s OER Commons Hub: Open Illinois
    • The first OER submission from Bradley University is now available in the Open Illinois Hub.
  • OER Advocacy
    • Advocacy as a potential topic for future office hour meetings.
    • Other avenues to promote and explore this topic will be considered
    • Idea: having a CARLI lobbyist speak on the topic.
    • Idea: have a professional lobbyist serve as extra facilitator on an office hour.
    • Related: There are upcoming ILA legislative meet-ups although not focused on OER but resources could still be useful.
    • An OER grant for academic libraries has been proposed before in Illinois and exists in other states.
  • Creative Commons Certificate Program
    • No updates; more positive discussion of program in response to questions from Denise.
  • Open Education Week
    • Catherine has done some programming before, featuring different resources through the week.
    • Tineka has faculty interested in creation tools, so a colleague will be presenting on finding images, tools, etc.
    • Idea: committee might send an informative email spotlighting OER achievements across the state, just to CARLI, to help awareness during the week, maybe featuring an infographic, perhaps soliciting content from the CARLI OER email list first.
    • Final form of this offering will be determined by content we receive.

Next Meeting Dates and Deadlines

The next committee meeting is February 17, 2022 at 1-2:30pm.

Committee Meetings:
March 17, 2022
April 21, 2022
May 19, 2022
June 16, 2022

Deadlines: