Libraries

UMass Amherst Announces 2025 Open Education Initiative Grant Awardees

The Office of the Provost and the University Libraries are pleased to announce the recipients of the 2025 Open Education Initiative (OEI) grants at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. This year’s awards recognize eight outstanding faculty-led projects that embrace the principles of open education by increasing access, enhancing affordability, and improving student engagement. 

A total of $25,000 in funding has been awarded to support the adoption, adaptation, and creation of Open Educational Resources (OER) and the integration of open pedagogical practices across multiple disciplines. These projects reflect the University’s continued commitment to educational equity and innovation, reducing financial barriers for students while enabling instructors to customize and share course materials that are relevant, accessible, and inclusive. 

“These projects demonstrate the transformative potential of open education at UMass Amherst,” said Curtis Bundy, Dean of University Libraries. “By making course materials openly available, our faculty are not only reducing costs for students but also empowering learners through inclusive, flexible, and innovative educational practices.” 

2025 OEI Grant Recipients: 

  • Yasmin Alkashef (Languages, Literature, and Cultures, College of Humanities and Fine Arts) — $2,500 to create the first OER focused on language-specific training for interpreting students. This pioneering resource will significantly contribute to translation and interpretation studies.  
  • Nathan Chan (Resource Economics, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences) — $5,000 to adopt an OER and develop new assignments and student tools for RES-ECON 102 and 106, eliminating the need for costly commercial homework platforms.  
  • David Fleming (English, College of Humanities and Fine Arts) — $5,000 to expand the Gifts of Speech OER, showcasing historical speeches by women and making them freely accessible for teaching and research. 
  • Laetitia La Follette (History of Art and Architecture, College of Humanities and Fine Arts) — $5,000 to develop new modules for the Art History for All OER, incorporating interactive elements with anticipated widespread adoption at state and national levels.  
  • Julia McDougal Ronconi (Elaine Marieb College of Nursing) — $500 to adopt OpenStax’s Fundamentals of Nursing for NURSING 327. 
  • Richard Peltier (Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health and Health Sciences) — $1,000 to create an open textbook and question bank for PUBHLTH 203. 
  • Aaron Tillman (Writing Program, College of Humanities and Fine Arts) — $5,000 to replace the current English 112 textbook with a newly developed OER as part of a broader effort to transition the entire College Writing curriculum to open resources.  
  • Brokk Toggerson (Physics, College of Natural Sciences) — $1,000 to update existing open textbooks used in PHYSICS 132 and 181, ensuring continued relevance and accessibility for large-enrollment courses. 

Overall, these projects are expected to save students more than $185,000 annually on course materials. 

These projects were selected through a competitive application process that prioritized proposals focused on student impact, accessibility, innovation, and reusability. The OEI is supported by the Office of the Provost, with collaborative review and guidance provided by the University Libraries, the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL), the Learning Resource Center (LRC), and Instructional Design, Engagement, and Support (IDEAS). 

Since its launch, the Open Education Initiative has empowered instructors and saved students thousands of dollars in course material costs—demonstrating UMass Amherst’s leadership in open education. 

To learn more about open education at UMass Amherst or view resources, visit https://guides.library.umass.edu/OER.