The Appalachian College Association has a long history of supporting and providing professional development for faculty and staff at member institutions. Our Open & Affordable Resources (OAR) initiative builds on this foundation as we coordinate with our newly established Center for Teaching and Learning to develop ACA faculty members’ knowledge about OAR and confidence with implementing these resources. Our objective is to support ACA faculty members in adopting high-quality open and affordable resources for students to use in their classes. As ACA faculty implement OAR materials, we anticipate several interrelated benefits: reduction of the cost of attendance, more accessible education, improved student outcomes, and increased equity through the reduction of barriers to obtaining course materials. We see the open and affordable resource project as integral to the equity and inclusion work and to our commitments to support collaborative professional development. To amplify this consortium-wide endeavor, we encourage ACA members to develop complementary campus initiatives to incentivize and support faculty to adopt OAR.
Visit our OAR webpage to learn more about the program and its opportunities for professional development.
