Announcements
Annual AL$ RFP Meeting, Feb. 5th and Joint CSU/CCC Affordability Conference, Feb. 6, 2019
Choosing Affordable Textbooks. Supporting Student Equity and Achievement. LAX Hyatt.
LibreTexts receives Open Textbooks Pilot Program Award
Congratulations to LibreTexts.org for leading a coalition of institutions to receive the first federal OER funding award, the Open Textbooks Pilot Program Award.
Single Project Earns Federal OER Pilot Grant. The federal government will award the entire $4.9 million of the first round of it's OER funding pilot to a STEM-focused open textbook project out of the University of California, Davis, the Department of Education confirmed with "Inside Digital Learning."
The terms of the grant required applicants to submit on behalf of a consortium. Aside from UC Davis, the winning project includes 11 institutions: three four-year institutions in the Midwest, one community college in Maryland and seven community colleges in California.
According to the abstract submitted by the applicant, UC Davis's project will expand the institution's existing LibreTexts project "into an expansive library of content that can be customized to faculty needs." The team will build over time a collection of publications on STEM and career and technical topics, with an early focus on chemistry textbooks that will add up to a zero-cost textbook option for a bachelor's degree curriculum certified by the American Chemical Society. Read Full Article
FALL 2018 CSU AL$ & MERLOT e-NEWSLETTER
$45 Million+ in Potential CSU Student Savings in 2017/2018
SDSU's Immediate Access Projected to Save Students $4 Million
The Immediate Access program at SDSU helps ensure students have access to important course materials. Through its Immediate Access program, San Diego State University estimates it will save students $4 million in textbook costs during the current academic year. Full Article
CSU Channel Islands Offering Two Textbook Free Majors with Plans for More
CSUCI now has an alternative for some students worried about being able to afford textbooks. CSUCI educators working together have developed two "Z-Majors" which are majors that use quality, free and readily available educational resources as opposed to textbooks, which can be costly. CSUCI is the first in the CSU system to develop undergraduate "Z-Majors."
Ventura County Star article on CSUI's Z-Majors
How Fresno State Helped Students Save 1 Million on Books
This is a great story about how Fresno State's Kennel Bookstore's course materials coordinator has worked to support textbook savings with their Immediate Access Program. This is when the bookstore cultivates interested faculty for their courses where there is little or no OER available and negotiates with publishers to provide discounts of 60-80% off the price of a new print textbook for digital textbook options. Full Article
New AL$ Featured Partners'
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TAC Textbook Affordability Conference, Save the Dates: April 14-16, 2019
The 2019 Textbook Affordability Conference will be held on the campus of the University of Minnesota. Registration Now Open
Creating new avenues to affordable textbooks and other course materials is critical to the success of today's students and future generations who wish to complete their educational goals.
TAC's mission is to: Nurture the dialogue and a collaborative approach to creating a course content model which campuses and partners can implement to create more affordable, accessible, and effective options for students - in print or digital formats, using both open and commercial content - that support student learning, retention, and completion.
CSU Affordable Learning Solutions is a 2019 TAC Program Partner
SB 1359 — CSUs and CCCs Identifying Courses with Free Course Materials
California Senate Bill 1359 requires California State University campuses “to clearly highlight, by means that may include a symbol or logo in a conspicuous place on the online campus course schedule, the courses that exclusively use digital course materials that are free of charge to students and may have a low-cost option for print versions.” The deadline to implement this designation in course schedules is January 1, 2018. Memo to CSU Presidents from Gerry Hanley, Assistant Vice Chancellor, Academic Technology Services.
Events
Upcoming AL$/AB798 Webinars
- Thursday, December 13, 2018 - 12:00 pm - 1 pm
- To join the AL$/AB798 webinars https://calstate.edu.zoom.us/j/7332019400, All times PDT. For additional information, contact Theresa Dykes(tdykes@calstate.edu).
