OER Faculty Grant

The Affordable Instructional Resources (AIR) initiative invites faculty to apply for grant funding to adopt, adapt, or develop open educational resources (OER) for undergraduate courses.

OER are teaching materials that are free, distributed online, and allow anyone to copy, use, adapt, and remix the materials for free. OER are commonly used as alternatives to expensive textbooks by providing students with high quality course readings at no cost.

Funded by the Office of the Provost and University Libraries, these grants are intended to fund the work involved in finding, creating, using, and sharing OER as replacements for required commercial textbooks. No experience with OER is necessary to apply.

Award Levels

Grant levels and corresponding expectations
Level	Award Amount	Expectation
Level 1	$1,000	Locate, evaluate, and adopt an existing OER for use in your course Use our Find Existing OER page to begin browsing options. Recipients at this level who are using a book that is indexed in the Open Textbook Library (OTL) must write and submit a review of the book using the OTL Review Criteria.
Level 2	$2,500	Adapt, update, or combine existing OER into a new resource. Recipients at this level will need to identify existing OER to adapt or combine. Use our Find Existing OER page to begin browsing options. This level is also appropriate for former recipients who want to make additions or updates to their previously published OER.
Level 3	$5,000	Create an original OER for your course. This should be a substantial original creation, such as a textbook, video series, or supplementary and homework materials to be used for a quarter or semester-length course.

All grant recipients receive individualized support from librarians on finding, using, and publishing OER. See below for a detailed list of the type of support offered. Grant funds can be taken as a stipend, or used to pay for aspects of OER development, such as student assistants, recording equipment, or travel. Standard taxes and benefit deductions apply.

Grant requirements

Selected grantees will be required to complete the following:

Attend a launch meeting in late spring 2025 to connect with fellow grantees, learn the basics of OER, and discuss project ideas.
Meet with the Open Education Librarian for an individualized OER consultation to discuss a timeline and work plan.
Check in with the Open Education Librarian quarterly or as needed during the grant period to report progress and request support.
Share a standard assessment form with students following the first quarter in which the new course materials are used; responses will be shared with the AIR team and the faculty recipients.
Complete a feedback form regarding your experience with the OER Faculty Grant Program.
Participate in at least one speaking engagement or interview to share your experience of creating an open resource with the Northwestern community.

For recipients of OER adaptation/creation grants:

Publish any new or derivative OER under a Creative Commons license that allows modifications
Publish OER created through the grant in an open, editable format

Completed projects are expected to be implemented in a course offered by Spring 2027.

Prior to submitting a proposal, faculty can contact Lauren McKeen McDonald, Open Education Librarian, at lauren.mckeen@northwestern.edu to discuss project ideas.

OER Support Available

Consultations to discuss publishing platform options
Finding existing OER to adapt and build upon
Copyright guidance on the use of third-party materials
Formatting support, training, and hosting on Northwestern's publishing platform Open Books (powered by Pressbooks)
Working with AccessibleNU to ensure accessibility
Assigning a Creative Commons license, DOI, and/or ISBN
Creating exports of the OER in multiple formats (html web book, PDF, and EPUB)
Sharing your OER and making it discoverable via OER repositories
Maintaining persistent access and storage via Arch, Northwestern’s institutional repository

Eligibility

Full-time, benefits-eligible faculty, tenure-line or instructional, with continuing appointment through the grant period. Postdocs or adjunct faculty (including SPS faculty) who are interested in participating in the program may apply with an eligible sponsor, such as a department chair, faculty colleague, or administrator.

Application materials

Levels 1 and 2: Use or Adapt OER

We will consider one application per course. Up to two faculty members may submit a combined application for an OER creation project that covers multiple courses, in which case each faculty member may be eligible for the full grant amount ($1,000 or $2,500). Applications include submission of an online form, along with a brief project narrative (300 word limit), where we ask you to address the following:

Project summary: Briefly describe your project, why you’re pursuing OER use, and what you hope to accomplish
Impact: Describe the intended impact of your project on course affordability (including current material costs, usual student enrollment, and the frequency of course offering), student learning, and/or your teaching
Timeline: Provide a work plan with an estimated timeline for implementation in a course (no later than spring 2027)

Level 3: Create Original OER

We will consider one application per course. Up to two faculty members may submit a combined application for an OER creation project that covers multiple courses, in which case each faculty member may be eligible for a $5,000 grant. Applications include submission of an online form, along with a brief project narrative (500 word limit), where we ask you to address the following:

Project summary: Briefly describe your project, why you’re pursuing OER use, and what you hope to accomplish
Impact: Describe the intended impact of your project on course affordability (including current material costs, usual student enrollment, and the frequency of course offering), student learning, filling disciplinary gaps, and/or your teaching
Timeline: Provide a work plan with an estimated timeline for implementation in a course (no later than spring 2027)
Budget: Describe how the grant funds will help you accomplish your goals

Project narratives will be accepted in PDF format via the application form. This year (2024) is the first year to offer multiple levels of grants. To see a list of grant recipients and OER-creation projects from past years, visit our grant recipients page.

Evaluation Criteria

Project proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

Potential cost savings: The proposal includes information on current material costs, usual or expected student enrollment, and the frequency of the course offering
Objectives: The proposal’s objectives are clearly articulated and well-planned. The rationale for approaching the project is clear, and the applicants have reflected on the work necessary to make it a success
Impact: The proposal articulates how the OER will make a pedagogical impact in the course and/or how it will fill a disciplinary gap in open content
Feasibility: The proposal’s timeline is feasible and aligns with the work required to complete the project in a timely manner. Priority will be given to projects expected to be used in a course by the 2026-2027 academic year.

Selection process

The application period for the 2025 grants is closed. Applications will be evaluated by a selection committee comprised of members from the AIR team, a former grant recipient, and a learning engineer. Applicants will be notified in January 2025 if their proposal has been selected for funding. Project work is expected to begin in summer 2025.

Grant criteria and application requirements were adapted from Iowa State University's Miller OER Grant Program.