Thank you for your interest in the Zero Textbook Cost Stipend! We will be opening the fund for applications soon!
If you have any questions, please email oer@tamucc.edu.
Redesign your course to incorporate an open textbook. There are three levels of stipend award:
The textbook that is adopted / adapted / created must be the required textbook for the course -OR- there must be no required textbook. Awardees agree to use the open materials during the 2026-2027 academic year and participate in the assessment provided by Bell Library.
TAMU-CC instructors of record (faculty) are eligible for funding at the course and/or section level (i.e., could be all sections of a program of instruction, or just section/s under the applicant’s control). Adjunct instructors who are invited to collaborate on an OER Stipend project as part of a team are eligible to receive a stipend but the team must be include at least one full-time instructor.
Funded projects must reduce the learning materials cost of the targeted course to zero. Projects which incorporate a learning platform that costs students money to access, even a low-cost platform based on open educational resources, do not qualify. The syllabus for the course may neither require nor recommend a textbook, courseware, or other learning material which must be purchased.
Proposals to purchase commercial electronic versions of textbooks or rentals of textbooks, or adoption proposals for courses that have already adopted open materials do not qualify for a stipend.
Applications must be submitted by November 3, 2025. Submissions will be evaluated by the Bell Library OER Working Group and awardees will be contacted on or before November 17, 2025. Awardees will be selected based on the narrative responses to the proposal questions, as well as:
Impact: preference will be given to projects that offer the highest potential savings to TAMU-CC students (based on enrollment and current course material costs).
Quality and strength of the application and how well it meets requirements (see rubric below)
How well the application addresses the accessibility of the course materials and the sustainability of the resource beyond initial use
Preference will be given for:
First-time applicants to the stipend program
Applicants from a department that has previously not engaged in OER
Applications will be reviewed based on a rubric (see below).
Awardees are expected to comply with several provisions designed to ensure that faculty undertaking projects are sufficiently familiar with OER and that the materials selected are openly licensed or available via the library. Awardees also are required to provide feedback to inform assessment of the stipend initiative. Generally, awardees agree to:
Attend required meeting with members of the OER Working Group between November 18 and December 19, 2025
Complete a short course on OER designed to strengthen understanding of open education principles and practices
Submit progress report by May 16, 2025
Apply an OER-compatible Creative Commons license to the final product (if adapting or creating OER)
Provide final product/s for deposit into the TAMU-CC Repository (if adapting or creating OER).
Ensure that all materials meet WCAG 2.0 accessibility guidelines.
Submit all deliverables by July 10, 2026
Teach with ZTC materials during 2026-2027 academic year and participate in assessment provided by Bell Library
Upon acceptance, the applicant will be informed via email and provided with a Letter of Award. Projects aren’t formally launched until the Letter of Award is signed by the applicant(s) and returned.
Stipend funding is dispensed as salary (subject to taxation) and is issued directly via payroll upon completion of the project.
Please rank the overall proposal on a scale from 1-5:
1 = poor quality, 2 = low quality, 3 = solid quality, 4 = high quality, 5 = outstanding quality
Pedagogical Innovation: Does the proposal describe materials that do something innovative, that a traditional textbook could not?
Impact: Does the proposal describe materials that will benefit many students at TAMU-CC (based on enrollment and current course material costs) and/or benefit students and instructors across the field at many institutions? Consider the sustainability over multiple courses and multiple semesters.
Yes
No
Don’t know/didn’t answer
Write in option:
Ability to Succeed: Does the proposal describe materials that could reasonably be created or adopted for the 2024-2025 academic year? Does it adequately describe logistics and identify resources within or beyond the Library that can help the instructor meet any challenges posed by the proposal such as technical needs, licensing support, etc.
Yes
No
Don’t know/didn’t answer
Write in option:
Please rank all proposals based on their priority for funding:
Group A: These proposals should definitely be funded:
Group B: These proposals should be funded if resources are available, in rank order:
Group C: These proposals need more work before we are comfortable funding them: