Call for Proposals: Open and Affordable Community Forum

Posted August 16, 2024 in Featured News, JMU Libraries News, Open Education News

Do you want to connect with others across the Commonwealth of Virginia to explore topics of open and affordable higher education? 

You’re invited! The Open and Affordable Community Forum covers existing and emerging issues in open education, open pedagogy, and open educational resources.  This forum is hosted by VIVA, Virginia’s Academic Library Consortium, and anyone in higher ed in Virginia is welcome to attend. 

This year’s forum will be held on November 14, 2025. The event will be hybrid, allowing you to join in person (at Reynolds Community College, Parham Road Campus) or virtually.  

The theme for 2025, “Cultivating Resilience in Education,” explores how open and affordable course content and open educational practices can foster resilience for both faculty and students–for example, how OER can place control of content in the hands of the faculty, free educational materials can make education more accessible, or creating and using OER can foster collaboration, community, and sustainability.

Call for Proposals (due September 8, 2025): Any faculty member in Virginia is invited to submit a proposal for a workshop, panel, or presentation that considers the impact of creating OER and adopting open practices in meeting the needs of learners and instructors. Sessions will be 10 to 30 minutes in length. Submit your proposal by September 8. 

Learn more about the Open and Affordable Community Forum. 

Questions? Contact Liz Thompson, JMU’s Open Education Librarian and leader of the forum planning committee.