UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State faculty interested in providing greater access to higher education through affordable course materials are encouraged to participate in the third round of Affordable Course Transformation at Penn State (ACT@PSU). The call for proposals will open on Wednesday, Sept. 25, and the deadline to submit is Monday, Nov. 11.

“It was exciting to work on because it gave me the resources to complete something I had planned for many years,” said Zachary Klingensmith, assistant teaching professor of economics at Penn State Behrend, when asked about his ACT@PSU project last year. “The ACT team introduced me to existing materials that allowed me to create something beautiful, useful, and free for my [ECON 102 and 104] students which will be used for many, many years to come.”

Published research has shown that open educational resources (OERs) are effective in increasing students’ end-of-course grades, along with the potential to save student populations millions of dollars by providing free or more affordable course content.

Penn State is supporting the effort to develop OERs through the ACT@PSU program, funded by the Open and Affordable Educational Resources (OAER) Working Group, which is charged by Penn State executive vice president and provost Nick Jones.

Faculty who participate in the program receive a grant stipend, instructional design support from Teaching and Learning with Technology, and additional support from the Open Educational Resources coordinator and Open Education Librarian.

Interested faculty should visit Penn State’s OER website, click on “Schedule Consultation” in the top right corner, and choose to meet in person or via Zoom with Julie Lang or Amanda Larson.

Following the consultation, an online application can be submitted along with a syllabus for the course intended for transformation.