OER Grant Program @ UNM

Apply Here

The application form for this program is accessible only to UNM employees, and it is only available during the summer and early fall of each year.

Before you submit your documents, consider meeting with the OER Librarian for a consultation and to get details about attending an informational session. 

You can also receive program updates by sharing your email address and joining our mailing list. We'll keep you informed of OER initiatives and events at UNM!

The University of New Mexico's Open Educational Resources (OER) Program is a university-sponsored professional development program designed to support faculty with the adoption, adaptation, and creation of OER materials into their courses as a way to increase student success. We have created this program because we recognize that the authorship and development of OER materials requires unique effort and collaboration. We support our OER creators through funding, editorial and licensing guidance, technical design, and more.

This program aims to: 

• Encourage the development of alternatives to high-cost textbooks by supporting the adoption, adaptation, or creation of OER.
• Provide support to faculty to implement these approaches. 
• Lower the cost of college for students in order to contribute to their retention, progression, and graduation.
• Encourage faculty to engage in new pedagogical models for classroom instruction.
• Develop a Community of Practice surrounding OER integration.

We ask that faculty who are interested in participating in the OER program please complete the following steps:

• Read through the OER Grant Program libguide.
• Consult with your subject librarian, an advisor through the Center for Teaching and Learning, and/or the OER Librarian in the development of your proposal.
• Propose a realistic, well-planned, and innovative project that has clearly outlined rationale and desired outcomes. Proposals can be submitted by an individual, a team, or a department.
• Compile a cover page, letter of support, project overview, budget, and timeline into one PDF.  
• Proposals should be submitted by October 1. The OER Grant Selection Committee will review proposals and contact awardees by November 15. 

Interested in applying but don’t know where to start?

The Open Educational Resources Librarian, located in Zimmerman's DISC office, is ready to offer support! She offers workshops, consultations, and online resources to help instructors design or redesign their courses. Other OER support team members are on standby and happy to help brainstorm ideas and provide additional guidance to develop a successful proposal! 

Here are examples from OER projects that received grant funding:

Informational Sessions

Faculty interested in applying will be able to attend any of the three online informational sessions hosted by the OER Librarian. The first two sessions will provide information about OER in general as well as the UNM OER program specifically. The final session will be held in a Q&A format for interested applicants. The dates and times are listed below; each bulleted item links to the event's registration page:

• Wednesday, August 27, 2025 @ 1 p.m.
• Thursday, September 11, 2025 @ 1 p.m.
• Wednesday, September 24, 2025 @ 10 a.m.
  

Below, please find a recording of the first OER Informational Session, which occurred on September 11, 2024:

Purpose

Our purpose is to support faculty development and integration of high-quality, open-access materials into UNM courses for the benefit of students at UNM and elsewhere. The sections below describe the types of fundable OER projects. In addition to these descriptions, you can also determine the scope of your project using the information located on the OER Scoping and Workflow page. 

Types of Fundable OER Projects

The following types of projects may be submitted for funding:  

Adopt

In this situation, existing course materials (in an open textbook format or otherwise) are available for adoption and can be integrated into a UNM course without significant revisions or additions. Faculty will integrate the newly adopted materials, similar to adopting and integrating any new textbook into an existing UNM course, but without publisher support.    

• Supplementary and ancillary materials not supplied with the textbook may be acquired from other sources and compiled and/or be composed as needed. 

Adapt 

When existing course materials don't quite meet the needs of a particular course, we encourage professors to blend multiple types of existing OER content.

• Some editing and/or original writing may be required for successful integration.  
• Supplementary and ancillary materials not supplied with the textbook may be acquired from other sources and compiled and/or be composed as needed. 

Create

When existing materials can't be readily adapted, combined, compiled, and integrated into an existing course, we encourage faculty to develop unique course materials by:

• adapting, combining, synthesizing or compiling content from multiple sources to create a cohesive text or set of course materials
• adapting or creating any necessary supplemental and ancillary materials
• contributing significant original writing as required to introduce, contextualize, and connect original source materials.