Open Educational Resource Development Grant Application 2019-20
(Round 2)

Instructions

Thank you for your interest in the 2019-2020 Open Educational Resource Development Grant. Please carefully read the instructions below before preparing your application.

The application deadline for this round of grants is October 15, 2019 at 9:00 am. Recipients will receive notification by October 21, 2019.

Any questions about the application or process should be directed to Joe Dobson, OER Grant Facilitator, at jdobson@tru.ca

The Open Educational Resource Development Grant (OERDG) program at TRU provides funding and staff support to TRUFA and TRUOLFA members who wish to prepare open educational resources (OER) into their TRU courses. This direct support can be used by faculty to adopt, adapt, create, and/or integrate OER as primary materials within their TRU courses.

The purpose of this initiative is:

To support faculty to integrate OER into their courses (through course release or other financial support/incentive)
To build capacity at TRU for creating and adapting open textbooks and other OER that are up to date and appropriate for TRU curricula
To demonstrate TRU’s commitment to student needs (as outlined in TRUSU’s 2018 Open Textbook Grants Program proposal).

The OERDG has been generously funded by the 2019-2020 Strategic Initiative Fund (SIF). It anticipates funding up to eight (8) project in the 2019/20 fiscal year. The program will be funded at the same level in 2020/21.

The program will be administered by the University Library, the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT), and Open Learning.

Successful applicants may receive up to $6,500 to be used for course release or financial incentive to adopt and/or adapt open textbooks and other open educational resources as their primary course material. An additional $500 may be available to support travel costs related to dissemination of results of their efforts.

Successful applicants are encouraged to work closely with faculty and staff from the University Library, Open Learning, and CELT who will be available to assist recipients in locating, evaluating, and adapting high-quality open resources as an alternative to commercial course materials. Support staff in Open Learning are available to assist with digital formats, text editing, and layout needs.

Eligibility
Current TRUOLFA or limited-term, tenure-track, or tenured TRUFA members are eligible to hold an OER Development Grant (OERDG). Faculty members, individually or jointly, as well as course teams may submit grant proposals.

Eligible Expenses

Course release coverage at a sessional rate (for TRUFA members) OR resource development cost up to $6500
Support for hiring student research assistants
Support for hiring persons with a particular expertise/skill set not found in the Library, CELT, or Open Learning
Development of data collection instruments and support for data collection and analysis
Travel for dissemination of findings (not to exceed 20% of total award)

Expectations of Grant Recipients

Attend a mandatory planning meeting to develop a project plan with a team comprised of the OERDG Coordinator and members of the University Library, CELT, Instructional Design, and others as appropriate
Willingness to share experiences with colleagues at TRU events (such as workshops) or through communications activities arranged by the University Library, CELT, and/or Open Learning
Providing brief summary reports on the grant activity using provided template (up to 2 pages) half way through the project and at the end of the project
Making the end product “open” with a Creative Commons license and accessible (e.g., using TRUSpace, TRU’s institutional repository)
Plans to (re)use open educational resource in courses in the future.