Affordable Course Materials Grants
Through generous financial support from the University Provost, this pilot program provides funding and hands-on support for faculty to adopt, adapt, or create zero-cost course materials for a class. Course materials may include textbooks as well as any other materials used for teaching, such as videos, slide decks, podcasts, or other supplementary materials.
Program Goals:
- Reduce the costs of required course materials for MTSU students
- Encourage and support the use of open educational resources (OER) by MTSU instructors
- Empower instructors to adopt, adapt, and create course materials that meet their pedagogical needs
Award Levels:
Level One: Adopt - Up to $1,000
To adopt an existing open or free educational resource (e.g., OER textbook, library-licensed ebook, or freely available web content) in place of a current commercial textbook. Applicants must have already reviewed potential resources & identified ones they intend to adopt at the time of application.
Level Two: Adapt - Up to $2,000
To adapt, update, or combine existing open educational resources into a new resource for course use. This may involve reorganizing content, adding examples or assignments, or incorporating materials from multiple sources. Adaptation involves making significant instructional changes to existing materials without creating mostly original content.
Level Three: Create - Up to $4,000
To create a new, original open educational resource (e.g., textbook, lab manual, workbook) for a course. Creation involves authoring substantial new content, typically 75% or more original.
Project Support:
- Assistance locating existing open materials to adopt, adapt, or incorporate into a new resource
- Access to the Pressbooks publishing platform for authoring and sharing open educational resources
- Consultations on publishing workflows, open licensing, and copyright considerations
- Final project review prior to publication
Grant Timeline:
- Application deadline: August 15, 2025
- Applicants notified: August 29, 2025
- Independent work time & consultations provided: September 2025 - June 2026
- New course materials implemented: Fall 2026
Eligibility:
- All full-time, benefits-eligible faculty, tenure-line or instructional, with continuing appointment through the grant period, are eligible to apply.
- Non-tenured and non-tenure-track faculty are eligible to apply but must list a tenured faculty member as a co-applicant to ensure the resource can be maintained or updated if the original applicant is no longer at MTSU.
- Postdocs or adjunct faculty may apply with an eligible faculty sponsor, and GTAs who are an instructor of record for the course are eligible to participate on team projects with approval from the MTSU College of Graduate Studies.
Requirements:
- Attend at least three check-in meetings with the Open Education Librarian over the course of the project.
- If creating a new resource, use only grantee-authored, Creative Commons licensed, or public domain works in your project and publish the completed project under a Creative Commons license that allows for modification.
- Deposit the most appropriate version of the work in JEWL Scholar.
- Use the selected or created material for at least two semesters and designate your course as a Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) course for students in Pipeline.
- Submit a 1-page project evaluation.
How to Apply:
Applications should be submitted using the online form and should include a proposal (approximately 2 pages) addressing the following:
- Project description: Give a brief description of the project, including the need/relevance of the project, a timeline, support required, and any platform preferences for publishing and hosting your project (for example, Pressbooks, OER Commons, JEWL Scholar, etc.).
- Cost savings & impact: Detail how the project will reduce student learning costs and its potential impact on student learning. Preference will be given to projects that create extensive cost savings for students.
- Sustainability: Describe your plan for sustaining and updating the materials beyond initial use.
- Departmental Commitment: Discuss how your department will support you on this project and whether it is an individual or team project.
Evaluation of Proposals:
An interdisciplinary committee will evaluate applications according to the following criteria: cost savings and impact, feasibility, sustainability, and departmental commitment.
Questions?
If you have any questions about these grants, please contact Ginelle Baskin, Open Education Librarian, at Ginelle.Baskin@mtsu.edu.
