Making Textbooks More Affordable
Faculty Innovator Awards
About the Award
In order to award and stimulate the creation of innovative, affordable instructional materials for students in the University System of Ohio, Chancellor Eric D. Fingerhut has created the University System of Ohio Faculty Innovator Awards. Each winning recipient will receive a $1,000 cash award for using technological innovation to reduce the cost of textbooks to students. Funds for the program come from the Ohio Learning Network (OLN) Investment Fund. OLN is a consortium of Ohio colleges and universities dedicated to using technology in teaching and learning, as well as promoting shared statewide resources.
Faculty Innovators
Created in 2009 (see last year's award recipients), the Faculty Innovator Awards recognize 10 outstanding faculty at University System of Ohio institutions who have creatively integrated digital content (video, simulations, e-texts and journals, visualizations, etc.) into their courses, ultimately lowering the out-of-pocket cost of course materials for students. By creating digital materials, faculty can usher in a new era of learning materials that, if properly implemented, will improve student learning, encourage new, creative thinking from Ohio's talented faculty, and reduce out-of-pocket costs for textbooks and related materials for college and university students across Ohio.
Nomination Process and Guidelines
Candidates who are full-time, part-time or adjunct faculty on any University System of Ohio campus (university, regional branch campus, community college, or adult career technical education center) can be nominated by other faculty, students, or administrators using this nomination form. The 2010 nomination form requires those making the nominations to include a 500-word description of the innovation(s), a description of the amount of student out-of pocket-cost savings, an active URL to access the digital resource(s) created, and a statement about the educational impact(s) of the innovation. A faculty member may receive the Award only once, and may not hold an administrative position above the rank of chair. Faculty who receive the Award are expected to provide open access to the resources they have created and provide information about the educational innovation to share statewide.
Nominations must be received electronically no later than 5 p.m. on February 15, 2010. Nominations can be submitted using this online form, or by video upload to http://OhioTextbookHQ.ning.com (videos may be up to 100MB in size in .mov, .mp4, .mpg, .avi, .wmv, .3gp, and .3g2 file formats)..
Review Process
A committee of five Ohio and national experts will review the nominations and make award recommendations to the Chancellor by March 15, 2010. The Chancellor will announce the award recipients soon after.
Contact
Sheryl Hansen
Director, Academic Quality Assurance & Collaborations
Ohio Board of Regents
shansen@regents.state.oh.us
(614) 728-8081
