(via the Illinois Library Association)
The Illinois Association of College & Research Libraries (IACRL) Awards Committee is now accepting applications for the OER Campus Kickstart: Award for Growing Illinois OER Programs. This program offers a way of getting financial incentive to faculty to take on OER projects, which is an opportunity for librarians to partner with classroom faculty. The award provides funding for financial incentives to smaller college campuses and campuses with little or no support for OER programming to take some of their first steps. The intended outcome is collaboration between academic faculty and librarians to implement Open Educational Resources in their courses and help establish OER programs on their campus.
Five awarded applications will receive $500 toward implementing OER in a course during the Winter 2025 and Spring 2026 semesters. Faculty and librarian collaborators are free to decide how the $500 award is used. For example, the funds may be used entirely as financial incentive for faculty, collaborators may split the funds how they see fit as a financial incentive, or use the funds to purchase necessary supplies.
The application deadline is now Friday, October 24. More information about this award is available on the ILA website. Questions? Please contact Shannon Pohrte, IACRL Past President and Awards Committee Chair, at spohrte@elgin.edu.