Open Touro OER Initiative: Touro OER Committee

Touro University Libraries Open Educational Resources Committee Charge 

Approved 11/30/2020, Updated 8/1/2022

The Touro University System Libraries OER Committee is charged with advocating for OER at Touro University and planning and executing systemwide educational and outreach events in support of OER. 

The Touro University OER Committee will accomplish this charge by: 

• Training and educating the TCUS community on all aspects of OER 

• Coordinating OER outreach events and efforts 

• Providing feedback to the Touro College & University System Libraries about OER efforts 

• Serving as liaisons between the Touro College & University System College Libraries and academic units to promote OER 

Membership 

Each member’s term shall be one year, with terms beginning and expiring in November. Members may serve consecutive terms and shall be appointed by the OER Librarian. The committee shall be capped at 12 members not including ex-officio members. 

Meetings 

The TCUSL OER Committee shall meet monthly, virtually, on a schedule determined by the members. Additional meetings may be called by the Chair, as needed. Missing two consecutive meetings without prior notification will result in removal from the committee. 

This charge may be amended at any time with notice given to the committee. 

Rhonda Altonen, Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine - Harlem

Jeanette Aprile, New York Medical College

Theresa Canavan, Touro Law Center 

David Druelinger, Touro University New York - Midtown

Alissa Felberman, Touro University Israel

Julie Horwath, Touro University Nevada

Christine Leddy, Health Sciences Library, Central Islip, NY

Irene McDermott, Touro Law Center

Belinda Potter, Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine - Montana

Kirk Snyder, Touro University New York - Midtown

Alexa Stoneman, Touro University Nevada

Sara Tabaei, Touro University New York - Midtown

Paul Tremblay, New York College of Podiatric Medicine

FREE OPEN TEXTBOOKS & OTHER OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES GAIN POPULARITY

In a new Physics Today article, OpenStax founder Richard Baraniuk and others in the education field weigh in on the growth of open educational resources. Baraniuk estimates that the nonprofit’s books have helped save students nearly $2 billion. 

Read the full article here. 

For archived OER in the News posts, see: https://bit.ly/oernews

The Touro University OER Initiative is an effort by Touro Libraries to support faculty across the Touro system in adopting, adapting, and authoring open educational resources for their teaching. Touro’s OER Initiative is tied directly to the University’s mission to operate “In the service of knowledge, compassion, and social justice.” 

Faculty will be supported through workshops, one-on-one consultations, technical support, and instructional support. 

This initiative is committed to: 

• Expanding awareness of OER and the benefits of OER 

• Improving student performance and retention at Touro University

• Lowering the cost of a quality secondary education by lowering the cost of materials for students 

• Supporting faculty as they engage in meaningful and sustainable pedagogical practices 

• Empowering Touro University members to collaborate in the service of student success 

With this statement, the Touro Libraries affirm the importance of equity in education and commit to helping faculty utilize free and low cost open educational resources through the Touro University OER Initiative. 

1. Open Education Summit 2022

In recognition of International Open Access Week, Touro University Libraries held the Open Education Summit 2022 for librarians and other information professionals, with presentations related to "open" by members of Touro's Open Educational Resources Committee. View on Touro Scholar here.

Presentations:

Introducing ORCID and Open Access, Rhonda L. Altonen (Presentation)

The Rise of Open Access Research Publications, Jeanette Aprile (Presentation)

Establishing an Open Education Resource (OER) in the TouroCOM-NY Histology Courses, Fernando Bruno (Presentation)

OER at Touro: Fall 2022, Kirk Snyder (Presentation)

2. Touro Faculty OER Course (2022) is an online course, consisting of 8 modules, designed for faculty to learn the fundamental concepts of evaluating, using, and creating open educational resources. This course was adapted for use at Touro from Texas Learn OER by Carrie Gits for DigiTex and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY).

3. Building Bridges: Tools for Open Educational Resources (OER) Advocacy and Collaboration at TCUS Libraries was an online workshop held April 13th, 2021. Organized and presented by the TCUS Libraries OER committee's inaugural members (Nov2020-Nov2021), the webinar featured an overview of OER with practical tips for Libraries staff at the Touro College and University System.

Lilyana (Lily) Todorinova, Undergraduate Experience Librarian, Open Educational Research, at Rutgers University Libraries delivered the keynote address.

The learning objectives established for the workshop were:

Explain and advocate for Open Educational Resources (OER) to faculty, administration, and students

1. Debunk common OER myths
2. Recognize the appropriate copyright licenses for OER and understand basics of copyright
3. In collaboration with others, assess, adapt, and support the implementation of OER for a given class’s curriculum

Presentations:

Introduction, Danielle Aloia (Presentation)

PDF, OER 101, Jeanette Aprile (Presentation)

PDF, Evaluating OER, Michael Kahn and Timothy Valente (Presentation)

PDF, OER and Copyright, Alexa Stoneman and Emily Johnson (Presentation)

PDF, Teaching and Publishing with OER, Sara V. Tabaei and Kirk Snyder (Presentation)

PDF, Keynote: OER - Advocacy Service Connections, Lily Todorinova (Presentation)