The Iowa Open Education Action Team (Iowa OER) is a statewide group working to support the affordability of higher education for students in the state of Iowa. Our team consists of representatives from Iowa community colleges, Regent’s universities, and private colleges, as well as representatives from the Department of Education and legislature.
Iowa college students saved
nearly $17 million* over the past 5 years
thanks to the use of OER.
Our Projects
Annual Survey
Each year, the Iowa Open Educational Resources Action Team runs a survey of colleges in the state to learn more about their capacity for and interest in OER development. The results of these surveys are shared freely online: Iowa OER Survey Results Archive.
*Savings numbers are based on a standardized metric for calculating savings through replacing a commercial textbook.
Open Education Network Membership
In 2019, members of Iowa OER presented to stakeholders across the state to get buy-in for a state-wide membership to the Open Education Network (OEN), an alliance of hundreds of colleges, universities, and consortia partners working together to advance the use of open textbooks in higher education. This is an exciting partnership that allows us to provide Iowa higher education institutions with tools and services that will assist them in building sustainable OER initiatives on their campuses.
Vision Statement
Every college student in Iowa will have access to courses or programs fully using OER to support an affordable, high quality education.
Our Goals
- By 2024, every college and university in Iowa will have courses that rely on OER with no course material costs for students.
- By 2024, a growing communities of practice program will be available for faculty interested in OER across several key disciplines to meet across institutional lines.
- By 2025, OER-based degree pathways will be available across Iowa colleges and universities.
- By 2025, a set of locally-situated research studies will be in development to support individuals and institutions promoting OER, including research on OER quality, cost savings, and effectiveness.
Members
- Abbey Elder, Open Access and Scholarly Communication Librarian, Iowa State University
- Rachel Boon, Chief Academic Officer, Iowa Board of Regents
- Jenni Breems, Director of Library Services, Dordt
- Shannon Brenner, Instructional Designer, Northeast Iowa Community College
- Mahrya Burnett, Scholarly Communications Librarian, University of Iowa
- Holly DeGrote, Director of Online Learning, Northwest Iowa Community College
- Kevin Engel, Department Head of Kistle Science Library, Grinnell College
- Anne Marie Gruber, Instruction & Liaison Librarian, University of Northern Iowa
- Teri Koch, Coordinator of Serials, Acquisitions, and E-Resources, Drake University
- Debra Lowman, Associate Dean of Library and Learning Resources, Eastern Iowa Community Colleges
- Heather Meissen, Education Program Consultant, Iowa Department of Education
- April Pforts, State Supervisor of Mathematics, Iowa Department of Education
- Pamela Rees, Library Director, Grand View University
- Christine Whitney, Librarian, DMACC