OER and Affordable Learning Solutions (AL$)

AL$ Call for Proposals for Spring 2022

The call closed March 17, 2022, but if you have eligible courses or ideas for other activities that support affordability, please contact Kitty Luce, Campus Coordinator for Affordable Learning Solutions, kluce@csum.edu or 707-654-1769.

What to do

• Submit an application at the application link by March 17, 2022. Complete a separate application for each course. Once your application has been approved, go to the next step.
• Identify free or lower-cost course materials and teach with them. The "Find OER..." page in this guide has some good places to look.
• Conduct a student textbook survey in the first semester teaching with the new materials.
• Complete an e-Portfolio, aka a course showcase, on the CSU-wide AL$ website (they help).

Eligibility

• Eligible course materials include any required assigned materials, such as textbooks and courseware. Projects that include some or all openly-licensed materials will receive priority consideration.
• Eligible sections include sections taught with the lower-cost materials in the 2021-2022 academic year or planned for 2022-2023.

Project Types

AL$ Conversion 1: Change course materials to save 75-100%: $1,000 1^st section, $500/section up to 3 total.

AL$ Conversion 2: Change course materials to save 30%-75%: $500 first section, $250/section up to 3 total.

Zero-cost from the get-go: Course has always had free materials. Identify the standard text or most likely textbook for this course, submit an e-portfolio in MERLOT and conduct a student textbook survey: $500/section up to 3 total.

Questions?

Kitty Luce, Campus Coordinator for Affordable Learning Solutions, kluce@csum.edu or 707-654-1769

Once your proposal to convert your course sections to free or low-cost course materials is approved, it's a good idea to start gathering information early! To receive the stipend, you'll need to complete the guiding questions document below, describing your new course materials and how they affected your students, in order to create a course showcase on the MERLOT / COOL4Ed websites. Here are a few documents to guide you.

Course sections which don't cost students anything in course materials such as textbooks and online access codes can be given a "zero-cost course materials (ZCCM) attribute in the course schedule. Please contact your AL$ Coordinator if you have questions or your course should be listed.

Any materials used in CSU courses need to comply with Section 508, being accessible to all students with or without disabilities. If you have questions, review the resources at Cal Maritime's accessibility websitecheck with the Department of Academic Technology or Disability Services at Cal Maritime.