The University of British Columbia has long demonstrated its commitment to open educational resources (OER) as a way to reduce student costs and lower barriers to access. This commitment is reflected in several key initiatives, including OER Fund grants that support the development and integration of OER into credit courses, collaborative support from the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology (CTLT) and UBC Library, and formal recognition of OER contributions as evidence of educational leadership in the university’s Senior Appointments Guide to Tenure and Promotion.
Building on this foundation, last year the offices of the Vice-President Academic at both UBC Okanagan and UBC Vancouver launched the UBC Open Education Resources Excellence and Impact Awards to recognize outstanding work by faculty who have materially advanced the use and impact of OER at UBC. These awards are intended to recognize excellence in faculty use of OER in teaching and learning, the positive impact of their work on student affordability at UBC, and their contributions to the broader open education community on campus.