Vision
Open SLCC envisions a future where students at SLCC and beyond have access to high-quality open educational resources and where faculty and practitioners will receive the support to adopt, adapt, create, and share them.
Statement of Purpose
Open SLCC is a cross-institutional team that advocates for student success, inclusivity, and educational equity by supporting faculty and practitioners in logistics, scholarship, transformational open practices, and efforts to adopt, adapt, and develop open educational resources.
Why Open Education?
An Open Champion is an individual who has made a significant contribution in supporting OER work at SLCC and often in the broader open community. Open SLCC would like to congratulate all our faculty, administration, and staff champions. Here we highlight the efforts of our current Open Champions. We also recognize and thank our Past Open Champions.
“My goal for all students is to have easy access to course materials and be excited about them. OER maximizes the use of digital platforms for students, and because OER is adaptable, every semester can be easily revised and improved. While I believe in challenging my students academically, I also empathize with the anxieties of modern life and look for ways to make their lives less stressful. Writing and sharing high-quality OER material is one way I can do that.”
Simone Flanigan
Adjunct Instructor, English, Linguistics, and Writing Studies Department
Adjunct Faculty Open Champion
“My favorite thing about OER is that it is intentionally created to be adaptable. It can be customized, curated, and sequenced to fit the curriculum and the needs of our students, while static educational resources require the opposite. OER allows instructors and designers to more easily align course objectives with learning materials, activities, and assessments, which greatly improves educational outcomes and the student experience. Students get all of this at low or no cost to them.”
Corey Stevens
Assistant Director, Teaching and Learning Technology SLCC Online & eLearning Services
Staff / Administration Open Champion
“Dalia Salloum believes firmly in the ever-elusive idea that education is a fundamental human right for all human beings and that it should be free and accessible to all, but especially to those who are most marginalized by society. Salloum is passionate about creating meaningful and transformative experiences for her students that change the way they think about themselves and their abilities. She believes in walking the talk - that buzzwords about equity and inclusion mean nothing if faculty do not take significant and meaningful action to realize those words both in the classroom and in the community at large.”
Dalia Salloum
Associate Professor, Biology
Full Time Faculty Open Champion
“As a community college instructor, I believe OERs help break down financial barriers to education, allowing students from all economic backgrounds to access quality learning materials without the burden of additional costs. Integrating OERs into our curriculum fosters a more inclusive and diverse educational environment where every student has the opportunity to succeed. Furthermore, OERs provide an adaptable framework for instruction, empowering educators worldwide to continuously update and refine learning materials, ensuring that students receive the most current and relevant information.”
Roberto Rojas-Alfaro
Assistant Professor, English, Linguistics, and Writing Studies Department
Full Time Faculty Open Champion
Frequently Asked Questions
Cost Savings
Since the introduction of the OER to the college in 2014, there has been an estimated $21 million in cost savings for more than 243,000 SLCC students (as of Spring 2022). The rising cost of textbooks can pose a barrier becoming an unnecessary financial worry for SLCC students. OER is one way to help with making higher education more affordable and accessible. For further information, check out our OER By The #s.
Academic Freedom
Creative Commons licenses allow faculty to adapt and create OER customized to their specific teaching style and the needs of their students. It also allows faculty to easily update their resources to reflect up-to-date information.
Students
Interested in taking a course with no-cost/low-cost textbook alternatives? Check out our instructions for locating courses!
Faculty
If you're interested in exploring OER as an option for your course(s) - please schedule a consultation with the Open SLCC office. We can guide you through the initial stages of OER exploration and connect you with additional support to make the process easier. Or visit the faculty pages on this website for more information.