Donors and OER

DeeAnn Ivie is the OER Coordinator at UT San Antonio and worked with Felipe Barrera the Director of Development at UTSA Libraries. They presented at Open Ed 2021 a 25-minute recorded session entitled “Keeping Donors Engaged: A Strategy for Demonstrating Impact through Storytelling.” Barrera’s job is focused on finding philanthropic opportunities, and Ivie works with faculty to promote OER on the campus. They have a significant impact in San Antonio and a large number of first-generation students. They now have a Pressbooks subscription and are expanding their training programs. Ivie and Barrera are working together to support OER, including working with the Student Government Association to promote OER and fundraise. Barrera spoke about talking to donors and explaining Ivie’s work and its impact. Barrera is also an alumnus of the institution and works to identify opportunities for donor connections. As a development officer, Barrera mentions the OER and has shared flyers about the free textbook program with donors. A one-page document with visuals shows the value and impact of OER on graduation rates. Barrera talked about how donor gifts have been matched and more gifts pledged. Ivie and Barrera agree that their partnership has helped engage and maintain more donors to sustain and expand the OER initiatives. Ivie described how projects are using open pedagogy techniques and engaging students in the creation of new OER. Ivie ended by emphasizing the importance of student and faculty stories and connections with development offices to continue to engage donors. I had not thought about this aspect. I wonder how it works at my institution and if there is something I can do to help?

Black man with glasses and curly hair reading book in library.
How can we work more closely with development officials to prioritize OER funding? Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com