Course Material Transformation Fellowship

The 2021-2022 CFP for Fellows is now live! View details on the IU Libraries website. Contact iusw@iu.edu with questions.

IUB Libraries and IUPUI Libraries have created a Course Material Transformation Fellowship Program for instructors interested in adopting or creating affordable course materials. Modeled after the successful Mosaic Faculty Fellowship Program, the Course Material Fellowship Program pilot year will provide instructors with a $2,000 stipend, the expertise of librarians and instructional technologists, and the opportunity to learn alongside their peers. Course material fellows will be encouraged to utilize a variety of solutions and strategies to transition their course to a zero textbook cost course. These may include Open Educational Resources (OER), library eBooks and databases, and instructor-created materials. The stipend will compensate instructors for the time and labor inherent in attending workshops and customizing content so that it is aligned with their learning objectives.

The pilot year (2020-2021) of the Course Material Transformation Fellowship Program is estimated to impact over 5,000 students and save IUB and IUPUI students over $185,000.

"The Fellowship Program holds that pedagogy should shape learning materials, not the other way around."

-Sarah Hare, Scholarly Communication Librarian

"In my experience, these opportunities are not only transformational because they make course materials accessible to all students—they are also transformational in that they give instructors more agency and inspire experimentation.”

- Sarah Hare, Scholarly Communication Librarian

Some of the instructor expectations for the Fellowship involve replacing a traditional textbook with an alternative that costs nothing, attending three workshops, evaluating new course materials, and placing transformed course materials in an open repository.

In addition to librarians specializing in an instructor’s content area and Open Access solutions, the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning (CITL), and the UITS Digital Education Programs and Initiatives Team will be available to help instructors craft new materials. Participants will have a variety of new options and approaches to utilize. Modeled after the successful Mosaic Faculty Fellowship Program, the Course Material Fellowship will provide instructors opportunities such as utilizing Open Educational Resources (OER), creating Pressbooks with their own material, and using library eBooks and databases.

The goals of the Course Material Transformation Fellowship Program are to help students afford college, to facilitate and inspire the development of alternatives to high-cost textbooks, to have course materials in the hands of all students on day one regardless of their economic status, and to centralize support for instructors working with these solutions.

Fellowship Program Goals

The Fellowship Program aims to:

Lower the cost of college for students in order to contribute to their retention, progression, and graduation
Encourage the development of alternatives to high-cost textbooks by supporting the adoption, adaptation, and creation of Open Educational Resources (OER)
Make course material access on the first day of class a reality for all students, regardless of socioeconomic status
Support instructors in navigating the variety of affordable course materials solutions available and aggregate instructor supports across campus into one space