Open Educational Resources

Nominations for Spring 2024 are now closed. Nominations will reopen in Fall 2024

Have you had an instructor who increased access and equity by selecting free or low cost course materials for class? Nominate them as an Affordable Education Champion to let them know how much their choices meant to you! 

Affordable Education Champions are instructors who assign free or low cost resources -- like textbooks, websites, films, and more -- for their courses. (Because the "low cost" definition can vary by discipline, we invite you to determine what that means for you.) Sometimes they author their own materials, and sometimes they're able to reuse free or low-cost work created by others. This award celebrates faculty who are committed to fostering access to high quality education at the lowest possible cost barrier for their students.

UT Libraries and the Senate of College Councils will recognize some instructors in promotional materials on our websites and social media. All instructors will be made aware of their nominations. 

If you have any questions about the program, please contact Heather Walter at heather.walter@austin.utexas.edu

Q: Who can submit nominations?

A: For this recognition program, we invite students of any level to submit nominations.

Q: Who can I nominate?

A: Any instructor you'd like! If a course has more than one instructor, the person responsible for choosing and assigning course materials is the best option, but you may nominate more than one instructor per course as needed.

Q: Why are you recognizing instructors for this?

A: It can represent significant effort on the part of instructors to design their course around free or low cost course materials. In many cases, they've made the switch from expensive textbooks specifically with the cost of education in mind for their students. And some instructors even author their own materials. We share gratitude and appreciation for their commitment to fostering access to high quality education at the lowest possible cost barrier for their students.

Q: How do you define "low cost"?

We are allowing student nominators to define "low cost" because we know this can vary between disciplines significantly. For example, a low cost law textbook may be $50, but a low cost novel for an English class may be a few dollars (or free!). It also counts if you were able to access the (otherwise expensive) materials at no cost through the UT Libraries.

Q: Can I nominate more than one instructor? 

Yes! If these are instructors for different courses, please complete separate nomination forms for them.