WMU Haworth faculty adopt Open Educational Resources to save students money
KALAMAZOO, Mich.—Once upon a time, it was a rite of passage for college students to shell out hard-earned dollars on a semester’s worth of textbooks. Now, with increased education costs, universities and faculty members are looking for ways to make sure students have access to the materials they need to be successful in the classroom. Enter the creation of Open Educational Resources (OER).
Open Educational Resources are textbooks and other academic materials that are in the public domain or have been released under an open license that allows access to anyone with no cost.
At the Haworth College of Business, several faculty members applied for and received grants to adopt or create OER course materials, incorporating these free resources into their classes. When faculty include OER as part of their courses, students can use the textbooks materials for free. This has a tremendous effect on students’ success since the high cost of textbooks can mean students are unable to purchase required materials.
Implementing OER into existing courses requires a commitment of time and creativity on the part of the instructor. However, faculty at the Haworth College of Business see this extra effort as a valuable contribution to their students’ success.
Dr. Jennifer Bott, professor of management, applied for an OER adoption grant because she is deeply concerned about the cost of education. “Students would talk to me about the choices they had to make about which books to buy. Few students—if any—bought all the required books for their courses. Because of this, I was driven to provide a resource that could assist in their learning and take away the access barrier.”
Bott is now using OER materials for her Organizational Behavior class with great success. “For students, the e-book is exceptionally helpful, and many more students reported using the book to support their learning because it was downloadable and free!”
Junior Emily Yacapraro, recently took Bott’s class and saw how the easy access to materials enhanced student learning. “I greatly appreciated the OER textbook because, as a college student, tuition and other expenses are already extreme. It eliminates some of the stress for students by offering a free version of the OER. It was also easier to collaborate with other students because a lot of the time students don’t pay for the book or aren’t willing to look at it. However, these resources made students more willing and excited to learn.”
Students also appreciate the convenience of digital resources. “There’s no longer a need to carry around a physical book when you can access everything digitally,” says senior Edward Lewis. “Being able to search for terms electronically saved me time and made studying more efficient since I was able to quickly find subjects within the text and transpose them into study guides.”
Another faculty member at WMU Haworth, Amy Zufelt, faculty specialist I of business communication, applied for and received a creation grant, which allows her to start fresh in designing OER materials to use in her class. Her strong commitment to providing equitable access to resources for all students led her to pursue the grant. “As a first-generation college student myself, I understand the financial struggles students face. I’m passionate about keeping costs for students down. Textbooks are very expensive and can place an additional burden on students. While I can’t eliminate all the stress that students face, offering a free textbook option is one way that I can help.”
Zufelt is creating a job search workbook that she will publish as an OER for use in her Professional Business Communication class. “I think that as faculty, we seek to reduce the obstacles that our students face and want to encourage students to do the reading. Writing an OER can help instructors with both issues. Not only will it save students money, but since it’s digital it’s easy to have on hand for shorter and more direct reading assignments—making it easier for students to engage with the material.”
While transitioning to the use of OER may take a bit of time and effort, both Bott and Zufelt see it as a winning prospect. “For faculty, using an OER textbook may require time spent in sourcing supplemental materials or adding in images or associated video content," says Bott. "But the outcome for students is so very worth it as it results in free resources that are up to date, engaging and tailored to your course.”
About OER at WMU
Western Michigan University offers grants to faculty for the creation and adoption of OER materials in their courses. Since the grants launched in 2019, Western students in courses funded by the OER grants have saved an estimated $1.3 million in textbook costs. WMU Libraries expanded the grant program in 2022 to help faculty create open textbooks for Western students and learners worldwide and published four grant-funded open textbooks in 2024.