Yavapai Community College has begun developing similar program
It was reported December 23 that a free textbook program at the University of Hawaii’s community colleges has saved students more than $3.4 million since it began in 2015. To do this, the Hawaii Community Colleges are using what is called “Open Educational Resources” materials. Up to 40% of classes at on some Hawaii Community Colleges use these resources.
Dr. Diane Ryan, Yavapai Community College’s new Vice President of Strategic Initiatives, is heading up a similar program that will lead to many faculty using open educational resources (OER) course materials. The initiative is a part of President Dr. Lisa Rhine’s effort to make post-secondary education available to everyone in the County at the lowest possible cost. It is estimated the OER program will take three or four years to fully implement at Yavapai Community College.
Before coming to Yavapai in September of 2019, Dr. Ryan was at Tidewater Community College in Virginia. There, as an academic dean, she advocated for the use of open educational resources. She recruited 38 faculty members at Tidewater to teach with OER course materials. As a consequence, students at Tidewater have saved hundreds of thousands of dollars in book purchases since 2014 when the program began.