Category: Open Education News
Award-Winning JMU Libraries Employees for 2024-2025
Posted May 9, 2025
Please join us in celebrating the JMU Libraries employees who won JMU awards this year! Open Education Librarian: Liz Thompson Liz Thompson, the Open Education Librarian, is the 2025 Distinguished Service Award winner for the JMU Libraries. This award recognizes a […]
Announcing 2025 Recipients: Summer Stipend for Transitioning to Open Educational Resources
Posted May 2, 2025
Congratulations to the five JMU faculty members who were recently awarded JMU Libraries’ summer stipends for transitioning to open educational resources (OER)! The awardees will teach their redesigned courses in the 2025-2026 academic year. JMU Libraries’ Summer Stipend for Transitioning […]
Faculty: Apply for a $2000 Grant to Switch to Open (No-Cost) Course Materials
Posted March 27, 2025
JMU faculty, do you want to swap out an expensive textbook for an option that is open, available through JMU Libraries, or otherwise cost-free for your students? Apply by May 2, 2025 for an Open Adopt Grant, which awards $2,000 to instructors to support the integration of […]

Worried About Textbook Costs? MyMadison Shows Courses with No-Cost or Low-Cost Course Materials
Posted March 27, 2025
Students, did you know that when you are enrolling in courses, you can filter your course search for those with low-cost or no-cost course materials? If the total cost of textbooks for a course is $40 or less at the […]

10 Ways to Celebrate Open Education Week
Posted March 3, 2025
It’s Open Education Week (March 3-7), and we’re celebrating because free and equitable access to information is at the core of what we do. This celebration also reminds us to share how you can help make education more affordable and […]

JMU Textbook Initiative Leads to Student Savings and College Affordability
Posted March 3, 2025
In 2023, JMU formed a task force to address rising textbook costs by promoting the use of Open Educational Resources (OER), which are free, accessible materials that faculty can customize for their courses. The team of representatives from across the […]
Open Educational Resources Address College Costs (from JMU News)
Posted March 2, 2025
The cost of classroom books and supplies has proven to be a serious problem for some students. Open Educational Resources prioritize accessibility, affordability and quality of course materials.

11 Easy Ways Faculty Can Make Textbooks More Affordable
Posted February 27, 2025
Textbook costs are a serious issue for many JMU students. According to a Spring 2024 survey, 39% of JMU students chose not to enroll in a class due to the cost of textbooks and 30% of students said they take fewer […]

2 JMU Faculty Awarded Grants to Create Open Textbooks
Posted February 18, 2025
Two JMU faculty members were recently selected as recipients for the statewide Open Course Grants program: Here’s what Dr. Johnson had to say: “‘I wrote Dear Computer for many reasons. To save students money, to clarify and organize my own […]

Apply by March 23 for Summer Stipend for Transitioning to OER
Posted February 17, 2025
The JMU Libraries Summer Stipend for Transitioning to OER provides funding for faculty to do critical course redesign work, such as developing new assignments and graded activities, when transitioning to an open textbook or other open educational resources (OER).
