Author: Patrick Carr, Chair of the CT Open Educational Resources Coordinating Council
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The Connecticut OER Coordinating Council is a statewide council formed in 2019 through the State’s Public Act Number 19-117. Among other roles, the council is responsible for submitting a report each year to the CT General Assembly detailing the council’s work and impacts and the status of OER in the state’s institutions of higher education.
The council recently completed its 2023 Legislative Report, which is accessible at this link. A central topic in the report is the council’s OER Grant Program, which has been made possible through $100,000 in annual state funding. Since 2020, the program has helped nearly ten thousand Connecticut students avoid more than $1,177,000 in textbook costs. This is a cumulative return of over 5x for the state’s investment. The state has removed all funding for this program and a central recommendation of the report is the full restoration of the funding.
Another area of focus for the council is organizing an annual CT OER Summit. The 2024 Summit will be held in-person on Friday, March 8 at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain. To register for this free event, complete the form at this link (https://forms.office.com/r/XAYR9PyQBB). Registration is capped at 85 people and is limited to faculty, staff, and administrators working in Connecticut’s institutions of higher education. The Summit will feature a keynote presentation by Dr. Andrea Lanoux (Professor of Slavic Studies at Connecticut College), who will discuss the open pedagogy project that she created for her first-year experience course, Being Ukraine. A tentative agenda for the Summit is available on the Summit website and will be updated as the event nears.
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