The President’s award is given by the OE Consortium Board of Trustees to an institution with exceptional contributions to the field of open education serving as inspirational model of engagement and commitment. The Open Education Consortium is pleased to present this year’s award to:
The University of Maryland University College (UMUC) is the largest public institution in the University of Maryland System and one of the largest distance learning institutions in the United States. Its students are comprised of primarily residents of the state of Maryland and the U.S. military.
In 2013, UMUC embarked on an ambitious project to convert their courses and curriculum so that learning resources would have no cost to students, primarily through the implementation of open educational resources. The motivation was to better serve their students in the military, improve accessibility and lower costs to students. The implementation phase was two-years for the undergraduate program, with the graduate school coming on board in 2016.
The project involved a systematic review of courses and resources to identify no-cost alternatives. The OER/No-Cost project is part of a broader transition, what UMUC calls “enhancing the learning model.” As part of this new model, learning resources will be available throughout any given program and not just on a per-course basis. By moving to OERs, students will have immediate and no-cost access to the resources they need to learn. (more information)
