Documented student savings to date
Rather than trying to identify the exact cost of new/used textbooks faculty are assigning, which would be unrealistic to calculate due to students having several outlets to purchase texts (bookstore, Amazon, Chegg, websites, etc.), RWU now calculates student savings according to the Open Textbook Network’s $100 standard, which is based on multiple studies proving that $100 is a reasonable median figure to use. The following formula is used by the Scholarly Communications Librarian to calculate student savings:
[# of enrolled students after add/drop period] x [$ 100] = [savings estimate per course]
Applying this formula to track known OER Faculty Fellows courses, plus past Fellows who are still assigning Open Educational Resources in lieu of commercial resources, we can estimate that since 2016 we have saved 2,255 students $225,500. For a private institution, with no state aid to supplement these OER initiatives (like funding the Fellows program), this number is laudable and should be celebrated!
OER Faculty Fellows
If you are a full or part-time faculty member at Roger Williams University and you are interested in becoming an OER Faculty Fellow, please contact Lindsey Gumb for more information. Our Fellows dedicate a semester to learning about OER and developing their new OER-based courses and then implementation and assessment occur in the following semester.
2020 Fellows:
The 2020 cohort are all members of the Writing Department, collaborating on an open textbook together.
- Dahliani Reynolds
- Mel Topf
- Kate Mele
- Jennifer Campbell
- Catherine Forsa
- Christian Pulver
2019
- Heather Miceli (CORE 101)
- Marybeth MacPhee (PH 430)
- Kerri Ullucci (EDU 330)
- Elizabeth Volpe (MGMT 310)
- Gerry Matos (MRKT 302)
- Laura Turner (PSYCH 340)
2018
- Heather Miceli (CORE 101)
- Peter Hahn (BUS 100)
- Teal Rothschild (SOC 100)
- Jennifer Stevens (AMST)
2017
- Bob Dermody (ARCH 335)
- Chantelle Messier (WTNG 102)
- Heather Miceli (CORE 101)
- Janine Weissman (JOUR 100)
- Kathy Micken (MKTG 200)
- Paula Bailey (MATH 124)
- Peter Hahn (BUS 100)
2016 (Pilot)
- Adria Updike (PHYS 109)
- Kelly Donnell (EDU 375)
- Marcella Recher (SUST 101)
- Paul Bender (WTNG 200/220)
- Paul Webb (NATSC 214)
- Renee Soto (CW 210)
- Susan Bosco (BUS 100)
