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UTA CARES Grant Program: Innovation Grants

Information on grants that support the adoption, modification, and creation of open educational resources (OER) at UTA.

Innovation Grants of up to $10,000 are available to support OER creation when no existing OER or library-licensed content is available to meet the learning objectives in a course. Preference will be given to highly collaborative efforts and those yielding the greatest benefit to UTA students. Multi-institutional partnerships are encouraged.

Though not required, Innovation Grant applicants are encouraged to attend an Open Textbook Workshop before submitting an application. The workshop will help to identify and assess existing OER. Workshop attendees will have the opportunity to write a short review of an open textbook and will receive an additional $200 stipend for the written review.

Requirements

  • The cost of required resources for all sections of all courses supported by the grant may not exceed $0.
  • Applicant pledges to use the resource (or another free equivalent) for a minimum of four years, distribute student surveys each semester the OER is used, and provide annual feedback on course material use.
  • The narrative for applicants proposing new OER creation should clearly explain why no existing OER are adequate to meet the learning needs in the course. Applicants are encouraged to be specific about their OER discovery process.
  • See the FAQ for additional requirements.

Support

  • Subject librarians and members of the OER team are available to assist applicants in locating OER or library-licensed content to replace current educational resources. Consultations are available by appointment.
  • UTA Libraries provide access to Pressbooks for authoring new OER. Platform training and technical support are also provided.
  • UTA Libraries will assist in marketing the resulting OER and identifying external repositories (e.g., Open Textbook Library and OER Commons) appropriate for sharing the content with potential adopters at other institutions.

Application Checklist

A complete application for the Innovation Grant includes the following:

  • Application form
  • Narrative
  • Budget
  • Letter of support from dean or director

Please note that proposals should not exceed ten pages.

Additional Information about OER Creation
UTA Libraries will not provide feedback on disciplinary content, editorial services, or accessibility remediation of new OER creation supported by the grant program. Grant recipients are responsible for the following:

  • Accessibility Review: OER in the form of multimedia, such as videos or audio, must be compliant with accessibility standards and include a transcript and, preferably, closed captioning. Consult the BC Open Textbook Accessibility Toolkit for additional information about ensuring accessibility of other OER components, including for images, tables, and hyperlinks. OER must pass an accessibility evaluation to be conducted by the Libraries; the grantee is responsible for remediation of any accessibility issues identified in the evaluation. 
  • Sustainability Analysis: The narrative should specifically address how the OER content will fare over time and present a plan for revision/future editions if it is likely the content will be outdated before the end of the four-year time period during which its use is required by the conditions of this grant program.