OER Funding Application

The Office of the Provost invites proposals from faculty for projects to adapt, adopt and/or create open education resources (OER) for an existing course. The current proposal period is closed; proposals were due Friday, April 1, 2022.

OER is defined as high-quality curricular materials such as textbooks, lab notebooks, videos, quizzes, or other ancillary items that are freely accessible to faculty and students. OER are unique in that they grant copyright permissions for use and adaptation, free of charge. This means that the content is available to other faculty and students to retain, reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute. Typically, the only requirement is that attribution must be made to the original creator/author.

Information about open education resources, including where to locate peer reviewed resources, can be found at University Library System Course & Subject Guides: Open Educational Resources.

You can also learn more about previously funded grants on the Open Education Resources Grants Awardees page. 

Funding Range of Proposals

Proposals must fall into one of the following categories: 

  • Adopt an existing open textbook and/or other OER course components such as homework assignments, lab manuals, or other supplementary materials 
  • Adapt an existing open textbook and/or other OER course components such as homework assignments, lab manuals, or other supplementary materials 
  • Author a brand new open textbook and/or other supplementary course materials

Applicants may request up to $5,000 total, either as a team or as an individual. OER that support a culturally responsive learning experience are encouraged. For more information about creating inclusive curricular materials, please contact the University Center for Teaching and Learning. 

Eligibility

Pitt faculty (tenure or appointment stream) on all campuses may apply.

Support for Grant and OER Development 

Support for grant development is available from the University Center for Teaching and Learning (teaching@pitt.edu) and the University Library System (ULS). Expertise from the Teaching Center centers on curricular integration and assessment; support from the ULS will focus on identifying sources and examples of OER materials in addition to serving as a resource for creative commons licensing assistance. 

Cohort-based workshops on a variety of relevant topics will be provided to grant recipients over summer 2022, and support will be available as needed during the duration of the grant period to assist with selecting, developing, and/or integrating your materials into your course. Award recipients will be required to meet either with a representative of the Teaching Center (teaching@pitt.edu) or the University Library System for an initial project-readiness assessment.

If you would like to meet with someone from the Teaching Center prior to submitting your application, please fill out a Pre-Consultation Survey form

A letter of support from the Department Chair as well as a copy of the project budget (templates attached) are required.

Deadline

The submission deadline has passed (April 1, 2022). Projects are expected to be completed and OER implemented during the fall or spring term of the 2022-2023 academic year.

Awardees will be notified no later than April 15.

Project Requirements

  1. A project outcomes report must be submitted by January 20, 2023. 
  2. A standard set of OMET questions related to OER have been developed and will be required for use in the courses identified in the application. 
  3. You agree to be featured on the Pitt OER web page after the completion of your project, and may be asked to serve as a mentor for future participants and/or to provide educational or promotional support about the grant (interviews, articles, podcasts, etc.). 
  4. Recipients must openly license the resource created or adapted with a Creative Commons license and be willing to share it in an open education repository such as OER Commons.

Submission Format

Complete proposals should be submitted using the application management tool »