Librarian Andi Adkins-Pogue, who is the project lead of the Cosumnes River College’s OER Award Program, said the program hopes to help students save money by offering compensation for professors who pledge to modify their courses to fully utilize OER. “Part of it is just helping faculty understand that the cost of textbooks truly does impact our students,” Adkins-Pogue said. “50% of CRC students live below poverty or in low income and so that $50 or $100 could be used for groceries, or to help pay their rent, or to help pay for childcare or a car payment.” Switching to OER is not without its hurdles, and the question remains whether the effort professors must put into modifying their courses can be justified.
