Open Educational Resources (OER) & Textbook Equity

UNI authors. Funded by Regents OER Grant Program, Governor's Emergency Education Relief Fund. Saves UNI students $82,000 per year.

Funded by Regents OER Grant Program, Governor's Emergency Education Relief Fund. Saves UNI students $33,640 per year.
Ancillaries: Workbook for Comprehensive Musicianship: A Practical Resource and Aural Training and Sight Singing Supplement for Comprehensive Musicianship. Volume 2 forthcoming, funded by College of Humanities, Arts, and Sciences (CHAS) Dean's Office.

Saves UNI students more than $60,000 per year.
(1st edition)

Winner: Iowa OER Adaptation Award and UNI OER Impact Award

Saves UNI students $5800 per year. Also adopted at Saddleback College, saving non-UNI students more than $5800 per year.

Saves UNI students $19,050 per year.

Feedback: "Just wanted to drop a quick note thanking you and your colleagues for Elements of Creative Writing--finally, an OER CW textbook that doesn't feel like a tradeoff between cost and quality! I look forward to using it in my spring intro classes. The hyperlinks to the sample writings are a wonderful built-in anthology, too. Thank you for your hard work with it." - Professor of English, University of Mary Washington

"This textbook is a true gift for my students. They have the benefit of a robust creative writing textbook and access to so many fine models without having to bear the cost of a textbook." -Instructor of English, Guilford Technical Community College

Adopted at Bakersfield College, Bridges Academy (K12), Duquesne University, Gateway Technical College, Elizabethtown Community & Technical College, Georgia State University's Perimeter College, Guilford Technical Community College, Hawkeye Community College, Malcolm X College, North Central Michigan College, MidAmerica Nazarene University, Normandale Community College, Oklahoma City Community College, Palo Verde College, Russell Sage College, Saddleback College, Santa Fe Community College, Southwestern Community College, University of Dubuque, University of Mary Washington, University of Northwestern Ohio, University of Puerto Rico - Arecibo, & University of Wisconsin.

Total estimated cost savings at adopting institutions beyond UNI is approximately $56,000 per year.
Known adaptations: University of Wisconsin.

Original 2023 edition, funded by UNI Textbook Equity Mini-grant Program.


Winner: UNI OER Impact Award


Featured in Betts et al. (2025). Using Open Educational Resources in Literature and Creative Writing Courses [conference presentation]. AWP Conference.

Funded by UNI Textbook Equity Mini-grant Program. Saves UNI students $21,700 per year.

Adopted at Loras College, SUNY-Empire State College, Susquehanna University, University of North Alabama, and University of South Florida, saving students beyond UNI more than $18,000 per year.
Feedback: "I am the Director of Grant Support at my community college. Our faculty often do not understand the grant process. Gave me the idea to share with the Development office to help faculty."

Funded by UNI Textbook Equity Mini-grant Program. Saves UNI students $4000 per year.

This book is the focus of an invitation-only May 2025 Media Literacy Summit and is slated to be translated into multiple languages.

Funded by Regents OER Grant Program, Governor's Emergency Education Relief Fund. Saves UNI students $52,200 per year. Peer-reviewed.

Funded by UNI Textbook Equity Mini-grant Program. Saves UNI students $5500 per year.

Funded by UNI Textbook Equity Mini-grant Program. Saves UNI students $14,000 per year.
Adopted at: Central Carolina Community College, Clemson University, East Texas A&M University, Empire State University, Metro State University (graduate Public Administration Foundations course), Northern Illinois University, Southern Methodist University, University of Arkansas, University of Nebraska--Kearney, University of the Pacific, & Youngstown State University. Cost savings at these institutions is an estimated $50,700 per year.
Feedback from a librarian: "I wanted to reach out and let you know how delighted one of my faculty members was when he was looking for a 'politically neutral' open textbook for his Public Administration class. [...] He's so pleased and plans on sharing it with other faculty members he knows."

Funded by Regents OER Grant Program, Governor's Emergency Education Relief Fund. Saves UNI students $65,000 per year.

Finalist: 2024 Open Education Awards for Excellence in the Significant Impact OER category.

This book, entirely in Spanish, includes essays and family recipes from students in UNI's Spanish for Heritage Speakers course, spring 2025.

This book includes case studies authored by UNI students in Dr. Jayme Renfro's course POL AMER 5154: Public Service Leadership and Management, as well as undergraduate students studying leadership in public service.
Adopted at State University of New York (SUNY) Empire State College and Satakunta University of Applied Sciences (Finland).

Feedback: "I found the book to be versatile with cases suitable for various settings. I especially liked the fact that different theories are summarized in the beginning. [...] Especially for master's students, perhaps writing their own cases would be an interesting assignment for the next implementation. Thank you for providing food for thought not just for my students but for me as well."