How can institutions leverage OER adopters to promote wider adoption across programs? At a two-year community college, instructors, deans, and librarians collaborated to create an OER Champion model to promote awareness and adoption of OER across the college. The presenters share openly licensed resources, success stories, and challenges for institutions who want to create dynamic communities of practice to promote open pedagogy across departments. We include the resources and processes we developed for promoting Z-degrees, providing internal marketing for faculty, and assisting faculty in our OER adoption process. We also note the positive effects of institutional and legislative supports that have funded and supported our initiatives and discuss ongoing advocacy for these initiatives. Our goal is to help similarly situated institutions save time and adopt best practices as they cultivate the next generation of open education leaders and advocates.
Attendees of this session will be able to:- Appreciate a diverse community model in promoting open education resources.
- Recognize the unique contributions of librarians, academic deans, and instructors in OER adoption.
- Discuss common challenges: faculty buy-in, resource curation/hosting, course marking, and sustainability.
- Share practical tips for overcoming obstacles and celebrating victories.
- Showcase the OER Champions Learning Community
- Discover ways to engage faculty, librarians, and administrators to advance OER adoption.
- Inspire attendees to become OER advocates within their institutions.
- Leave with actionable steps to champion OER adoption.
