The 2022 U.S. open textbook pilot application period will close on July 25. If you and your colleagues are still pondering whether to apply, below is a review of the most recent information from the Department of Education and our friends and colleagues at SPARC and OpenOregon.
Please reply to this topic with questions If you still need help getting started and take a look at the wide variety of CCCOER members’ Open Textbook Pilot projects.
The Notice Inviting Applications is available in the Federal Register has 3 important points:
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Institutions of higher education (as defined) and state higher education agencies are eligible to apply. Applicants must form a consortium consisting of at least three institutions of higher education and meet additional requirements specified in the Notice.
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Applicants may request a budget of up to $2 million for a period of up to 36 months. With approximately $2.6 million available, the Department expects to award 1-5 grants between $500,000 and $2,000,000. Awards will be made by end of the year.
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Grants are awarded on a competitive basis according to their score. The evaluation criteria is outlined in the Notice, along with priorities and requirements.
More information is available at the Dept of Education site including a list of free pre-application webinars on June 8, 23, 29, and July 13 where you can receive live technical assistance on the grant application process.
SPARC has an open textbook pilot resources web page continuously updated with information including the excellent blog postings from OpenOregon on how they successfully applied and received an open textbook pilot grant in 2021.
OER & Beyond
Improvements in Student Achievement Resulting from Equity Lens
Our Oct 2021 OER Funding and Impact Measurement webinar featured a discussion with Kelsey Smith, Director of the CC ECHO Open Textbook Pilot program on their application development process (see slides 16-24)
Finally, applications submitted this year may be considered for future rounds of funding if not awarded this year. This was done with 2018, 2020 applications so the recommendation is to apply this year rather than waiting until next year.
Good Luck Everyone!