About SUNY OER Services (SOS)
SOS operates as part of SUNY’s Office of Library and Information Services. SOS works directly with SUNY campuses and faculty to provide assistance and knowledge to support the adoption of open educational resources (OER) and sustained use of OER as drivers of faculty choice and student success.
This includes offering a ready-to-adopt course catalog, facilitating the seamless integration of openly-licensed content into learning management systems, the remixing of openly-licensed content from various sources, the offline (print) production of learning materials, as well as the services and resources of our partners.
Please contact oer@suny.edu with any questions.
SUNY Geneseo played an important role as an early incubator for exploring the idea of SOS. An extended thanks goes to the administration, faculty, and staff at SUNY Geneseo for embracing this initial model.
SOS Advisory Board
The SOS Advisory Board is comprised of experienced OER leaders in SUNY from various stakeholder groups, including administrators, OER campus leads, faculty governance, and SUNY Online. The Advisory Board works with the SOS staff to provide thought leadership around System-wide OER efforts and to ensure continuous support for the growth and sustainability of OER and other affordable learning initiatives across SUNY.
Current Board members:
- Michelle Beechey, Access Services and OER Librarian (Monroe CC)
- Sophia Georgiakaki, Mathematics Professor (Tompkins Cortland CC)
- John Kane, Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching Director and Economics Professor (Oswego)
- Keith Landa, Director of the Teaching, Learning, and Technology Center (Purchase), and President of University Faculty Senate
- Katie Lynch, Officer in Charge of Academic Affairs (Rockland CC)
- Erin Maney, Manager of Communications and Community Engagement (SUNY Online)
- Chris Price, Academic Programs Manager (SUNY Center for Professional Development)
- Nicole Simon, Engineering, Physics and Technologies Professor (Nassau CC)
SUNY OER Services is committed to ensuring accessibility is incorporated within the design, adoption, and distribution of electronic materials and related platforms. Accessibility regards inclusive engagement for individuals with disabilities, with or without the use of assistive technologies. Consistent with the values of open access and affordability, accessibility design principles improves usability and equitable opportunity.
The content and platforms available at oer.suny.edu meet or exceed current accessibility standards.
Lumen Learning Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT)
OLI Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT)
SUNY campuses and SUNY faculty engaged in the revising, remixing of content available on oer.suny.edu and/or creating new open content assume the responsibility for proactively adhering to accessibility design principles and practices. That incurred responsibility includes directly responding to issues that may arise in accordance with SUNY’s Electronic Information Technology Accessibility Policy.
SOS strives to improve the learning experience for everyone by applying the relevant accessibility standards. We welcome feedback, especially related to access barriers. Those requiring additional support or alternative accessible formats, are asked to please email oer@suny.edu.
The services and resources offered by the partners of SUNY OER Services are at no cost to SUNY campuses, faculty, or students.
Lumen Learning provides affordable course materials designed to strengthen learning using open educational resources (OER). Lumen works to improve student success, affordability, and access simultaneously applying learning science insights and learning data analysis to develop continuous improvements to its courseware. Adding timely updates, learning design, and technical support to OER, Lumen makes the transition to open content simple, reliable, and effective for instructors and students. Thanks to a partnership with SUNY Lumen’s OER courseware platforms (Waymaker, OHM, and Candela) as well as faculty development opportunities available through Lumen Circles are available at no cost to SUNY faculty and students.
Carnegie Mellon’s Open Learning Initiative provides “a collection of evidence-based tools and approaches to learning that are proven to boost student success, and enable instructors to be more effective.” Thanks to a partnership with Lumen Learning, all of OLI’s courses are available at no cost to SUNY faculty and students.
rpk GROUP works with SUNY OER Services to support the implementation of SUNY’s OER Sustainability Framework. by campuses. rpk GROUP also coordinates and leads SUNY’s OER Sustainability cohorts. These two-year process provides structured support to cohorts of 15-20 campuses as campuses develop and implement sustainability plans that are reflective of their campus mission, vision, and culture.
An imprint of SUNY Press, 64 ink showcases the work of faculty from across SUNY, the largest comprehensive system of higher education in the United States.
The SUNY Online Support Services HelpDesk seamlessly connects SUNY faculty, staff, and administrators with SUNY OER Services and/or its partners. Available over 100 hours a week, the HelpDesk provides a constant level of support for SUNY’s OER efforts. Contact the SUNY HelpDesk with OER questions at oer@suny.edu
SUNY’s Center for Professional Developed (CPD) coordinates professional development, training and services for SUNY campuses as well as organizing all OER workshops facilitated by SUNY OER Services. The CPD also manages processes for SUNY faculty interested in Lumen Circles.
SUNY OER Services offers:
- User-friendly technology to support adopting, adapting, and building of openly-licensed course content
- Professional development opportunities, online and on campus
- Networking across faculty and campuses to advance open educational practices
- Support in establishing sustainable open education programs
- Guidance around opportunities for recognition, research, and publication related to open education
Terms of Services and Privacy Policies
Carnegie Mellon’s Open Learning Initiative Policies and Procedures
From 2017 through Spring 2022, total savings is over $78 million.
Details of funding models for each year are below. Please send additional questions to oer@suny.edu.
2022-2023 SUNY OER Funding
For 2023, selected institutions will be awarded SUNY OER Grants to support significant advances in OER adoption, scaling, and sustainability in support of student success. There are two levels of grant funding – up to $15,000 and up to $30,000. Grants will be awarded for projects such as:
- Large-scale adoption of OER for high-enrollment courses and gateway courses with the highest drop/fail/withdrawal rates
- Creation of OER, such as open textbooks, adaptive courses, and ancillary materials
- Professional development supporting OER and open pedagogy
For more information visit the 2023 OER Grants Program page.
2021-2023 SUNY OER Funding
SUNY made available at no cost to campuses, faculty, and students:
- assistance, support, and knowledge of SUNY OER Services
- all content and courseware
- participation in Lumen Circles
- access to SUNY Create, an initiative that utilizes Domain of One’s Own, which is a hosted web domain space designed for faculty and students to develop and share content and build portfolios.
- access to OLI’s Torus, a data-driven, adaptive course authoring and delivery platform
2020-2021 SUNY OER Funding
SUNY made available at no cost to campuses, faculty, and students:
- the assistance, support, and knowledge of SUNY OER Services
- all content and courseware (Waymaker, OHM, Candela, and OLI) for over 120 courses available at oer.suny.edu which are aimed at empowering faculty choice and improving student learning
- participation in Lumen Circles, which offers opportunities for SUNY faculty (full and part-time) who are either using or considering using open educational resources to connect with other faculty members and explore effective instructional practices that support student success and apply them in their own teaching.
- continued guidance on sustaining OER initiatives through SUNY’s OER Sustainability Framework and facilitated sustainability cohorts.
2019-2020 SUNY OER Funding
- Discipline-focused faculty development
- Focused on supporting SUNY faculty already using OER
- SUNY sponsorship for individual faculty to take professional development courses led by Faculty Guild
- “We help higher education institutions create thriving faculty communities that lead to purposeful teaching and improved student outcomes” Promotional Flier
- Change Management and sustainability cohorts
- One-third of campuses participated in facilitated sustainability workshops in 2019-2021
- A two-year guided approach to sustainability
- Travel to workshops was funded
- We anticipated two-thirds of campuses would participate in the years 2020-2022
- The goals were to:
- Share knowledge & best practices
- Accelerate culture change
- Foster cross-campus communities of practice focused on student success
- Assist campuses with resource planning and infrastructure development
- One-third of campuses participated in facilitated sustainability workshops in 2019-2021
- Limited new OER course section funding
- Funding guaranteed for the first 25 new OER section per campus
- $300 / section
- Campuses were asked to submit all new or projected new OER sections for Fall 2019 and Spring 2020 for potential further funding
- The same form from the previous year was used
- Campus OER leads were emailed the form and instructions
- The form is also available here
- The form submission deadline to oer@suny.edu was October 15, 2019
- Funding guaranteed for the first 25 new OER section per campus
Important Dates for 2019-2020 OER Funding
| Dates | Action |
| June 13, 2019 | SUNY OER Funding for 2019-2020 announced |
| July 1, 2019 | SUNY OER Funding details for 2019-2020 available on oer.suny.edu |
| June-July | Sustainability Cohort Campuses contacted |
| August 2019 | Sustainability Cohort Campuses announced |
| September 2019 | Faculty Guild Circles begin |
| September 9, 2019 | Deferred Spring 2019 OER funds sent to campuses |
| October 2019 | Sustainability Cohorts begin |
| October 15, 2019 | Campuses required to submit all new or projected new OER course sections for Fall 2019 and Spring 2020 |
| December 1, 2019 | Funding for new OER course sections sent to campuses |
| January 15, 2020 – May 12, 2020 | UPDATE (5/13/2020) Campuses may still submit Winter 2020, Spring 2020, and Summer 2020 new OER course sections not originally reported however funding is no longer available. |
| June 30, 2020 | Funds received in support of new OER course sections must be spent |
2018-2019 SUNY OER Funding
Funding was available in three components:
- Baseline and Course Section
- OER Degree Program Development and
- OER Creation Projects
Campuses applied for one, two, or all three funding components.
Baseline and Course Section Funding
This application was completed by the campus OER lead.
Baseline funding of $10,000 was available for any campus adding new OER course sections (5 new OER course sections for campuses with an FTE under 10,000; 9 new OER course sections for campuses with an FTE over 10,000).
Additional funds of $300 per section were available for course sections that exceed the campus minimum. If all sections of a course are converted to OER, the award increased to $500 per section.
OER Degree Program Adoption Funding
This application was completed by the campus OER lead and a letter of acknowledgment was required from department chairs/deans.
Approved proposals for full OER degree programs were eligible for up to $25,000 of funding.
OER Degree Program Funding
Campus-based OER Degree programs received $25,000 in additional funding.
OER Degree Programs Funded and in development:
- A.S. in Liberal Arts English and Humanities: Corning Community College
- A.S. Liberal Arts in Math and Science: Herkimer Community College
- A.A.S. in Early Childhood Education: Jamestown Community College
- A.S. in Liberal Arts Math and Science: SUNY Orange
- A.S. in Liberal Arts Social Science: Rockland Community College
- A.A.S. in Entrepreneurship: Tompkins Cortland Community College
- B.S. in Applied Liberal Arts: SUNY Oneonta
- M.A. in Learning and Emerging Technologies: Empire State College
Access an overview of all SUNY OER Degree Programs currently available for review, adoption, and adaptation.
OER Creation Funding
Approved proposals for OER creation projects received up to $35,000 in additional funding.
Funded OER Creation Projects
- Abnormal Psychology: Sonja Miller, Hudson Valley Community College
- Anatomy & Physiology: Ann Miele & Frank Bell, SUNY Adirondack
- Foundations of Education: Raymond Siegrist, Thor Gibbins, Julia Baxter, Tasneem Amatullah, Suzanne Swantak-Furman, Rosemarie Avanzato, & Ann Fradkin-Hayslip: SUNY Oneonta
- Global Genders and Sexualities: Nadine Fernandez, Empire State College
- Introduction to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer Studies: Deb Amory, Empire State College
- Spanish I: Maria Montoya, Alejandra Escudero and Elizabeth Small, SUNY Oneonta
- Spanish II: Maria Montoya, Alejandra Escudero and Elizabeth Small, SUNY Oneonta
2017-2018 SUNY OER Funding
Campuses submitting information about OER enrollments were allocated $20,000 in baseline funds.
Campuses also received $8 per student enrolled in an OER course section.
Campuses also received $15 per student if all sections of a course were using OER.