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MCC Daily Tribune Archive

MCC to Lead Community College OER Grant


On June 14, 2016 Achieving the Dream (ATD) announced the winners of the Open Educational Resources (OER) Degree Program development grant. I am proud to announce that Monroe Community College (MCC) will be leading a group of five SUNY community colleges chosen to use open educational resources (OER) to reduce costs and raise college completion rates.  MCC, Clinton Community College, Herkimer Community College, Mohawk Valley Community College, and Tompkins Cortland Community College have received a $400,000 grant to create new degree programs using high quality open educational resources in new degree programs. These SUNY campuses receiving the grants will be supported by the Open SUNY Textbook and SUNY OER Services program.

This grant initiative will assist the students of MCC in gaining access to high quality OER to provide them with an alternative to high priced textbooks and course materials. Many community college students find it difficult to pay for their education, and the added cost of educational materials creates another barrier to their educational goals. OER is a viable solution that has already saved students at MCC hundreds of thousands of dollars while maintaining access to the high quality educational materials that our faculty at MCC are accustomed to using in their courses.

As part of this grant project, MCC will develop an OER Pathway for our Liberal Arts Biology A.S. Degree.  This will allow MCC students obtain a college degree that includes OER-enabled sections. This exciting development is being led by the hard work of our faculty at MCC and builds off the momentum started by MCC OER pioneers, including Renee Dimino, Terry Shamblin, Verdis Robinson, Paul D’ Alessandris, Elizabeth Johnston, Paul Seeburger, and others. Their work has inspired so many of us at MCC, and this grant will provide us with the funding needed to build upon their work.

MCC Libraries has led this effort for the entire SUNY System.  The core team of librarians includes Assistant Director Katie DeRusso, Digital Scholarship Librarian, Andrea Kingston, and Director of Library Services, Mark McBride.

This project is another example of MCC’s commitment to making college affordable for all our students and to maintaining our commitment as an Open Access institution.

Andrea C. Wade, Provost and Vice President
Academic Services
06/16/2016