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K-State Today

October 14, 2013

K-State faculty invited to develop open or alternative textbooks

Submitted by Beth Turtle

Applications are now being accepted for the second round of awards from the Open/Alternative Textbook Initiative. Awards of $1,000 to $5,000 will be made with the remaining funds of $14,000. Proposal requirements, submission and selection criteria, and examples of open texts in use are available from the K-State Libraries website. Proposals are due by Nov. 8 and awards are expected to be announced by Dec. 6.

The initiative is open to either individual K-State faculty members or a group of faculty teaching multiple sections of the same course. Textbooks are to be developed and implemented by either spring or fall 2014.

Successful proposals may involve using a range of resources across different media or adapting an existing open access textbook to create a set of learning resources which eliminate traditional textbook costs. There is no expectation that faculty will author complete open textbooks, although that would certainly qualify as an acceptable project.

The Open/Alternative Textbook Initiative was funded through Student Centered Tuition Enhancement funds with a supplemental allocation provided by K-State Libraries.

Co-authors of the initiative proposal are Andy Bennett, professor and head of mathematics; Brian Lindshield, assistant professor in human nutrition; and Beth Turtle, associate professor at K-State Libraries. Bennett and Lindshield have successfully created and used open textbooks in their classes.

Questions about the initiative may be directed to TurtleBennett or Lindshield.