Textbook and other learning resource costs can contribute significantly to student debt. A proven method for mitigating and reducing barriers to learning and reducing costs for students is the use of open textbooks and other types of OERs. One of the UPEI Student Union’s policy priorities for 2018/2019 was an open textbook pilot project with the purpose of reducing the cost of accessing educational resources.

As a result of the student union’s advocacy efforts, through a strategic investment in student learning and success by the provincial government, the OER Development Program at UPEI has been created at the Robertson Library, supported by the province.

The funding program will run through 2020 and will be administered by the Robertson Library, and provides a variety of funding opportunities including: 

• an open textbook grant to support the development of a new open textbook on a topic that is currently not covered by an existing open textbook,
• an open textbook adaptation grant to support the adaptation of one or more open textbooks to create a new version or edition of an open textbook,
• a supplementary resources grant to support the creation of ancillary materials for existing open textbooks, including, but not limited to test banks, slide decks, or interactive media, etc. for an open textbook or other open education resource, or
• an honoraria for open textbook peer reviews to support individuals completing a formal peer review of an existing open textbook. 

The funding is available to any instructor of a credit course at UPEI and can be applied for as individuals or teams. For more information, see library.upei.ca/oerprogram.