The Alamo Colleges District has been awarded a $1.96 million grant for the Alamo Colleges Open Educational Resources (OER) Consortium Project as part of the U.S. Department of Education’s Open Textbooks Pilot Program for community colleges and universities. Among this year's recipients, Alamo Colleges is one of only five institutions to receive the grant funding.
The Alamo Colleges OER Consortium Project is set to enhance the AlamoBOOKS+ initiative, an innovative dual-investment program aimed at providing universal access to instructional materials, including open educational resources, for Alamo Colleges students.
Dr. Mike Flores, the Alamo Colleges District Chancellor, highlighted the significance of the grant, stating, “This grant funding will be pivotal for the Alamo Colleges to sustain the viability of AlamoBOOKS+ and create new and innovative professional development opportunities. Open textbooks can decrease the costs for college students. Through this grant, we can provide cost-effective course materials for more students.”
San Antonio College will spearhead the grant activities, with the involvement of all five Alamo Colleges. Over the span of three years, 75 faculty members will undergo professional development in OER and contribute to the development of open content for high-enrollment courses. These courses include introductions to government, history, English, psychology, and math, all of which form part of the core 15 credit hours for Career and Technical Education high-wage, high-demand pathways.
The Open Textbooks program is anticipated to benefit approximately 10,000 students. In addition to supporting the development of open educational resources, the funding will aid the Alamo Colleges District in establishing a repository to share OER and facilitate faculty collaboration across the five colleges.