Tonight I watched the Open Ed 2021 session entitled “Scaling Regional OER and Equity: National Consortium of Open Educational Resources (NCOER)” with several panelists. Tanya Spilovoy, Jenny Parks, Liliana Diaz Solodukhin, Lindsey Gumb, and Charlotte Dailey participated in the discussion. I didn’t realize there were regional compacts with the WICHE, MHEC, NEBHE, and SREB groups: Midwestern Higher Education Compact (MHEC), New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE), Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), and the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE). NCOER is the name of the National Consortium. The groups met in Atlanta before the pandemic to discuss and share resources. In response to the meeting and interviews, they conducted a gap analysis and produced a research report. The research contributed to new initiatives. Spilovoy also mentioned each compact is known for different contributions. For example, MHEC is known for cost savings and dual enrollment. Charlotte Dailey from Open Educational Resources spoke about the Southern Regional Education Board. SREB works with Southern states to improve education. Dailey mentioned they have a webinar series that is available o their website. SREB is publishing research and organizing regional conferences. Pat Lane spoke about the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE), including Alaska, Hawaii, and Guam. Lane mentioned supporting states in the evaluation of OER. With MHEC, they have worked on evaluating the technology infrastructure and support needed for OER. Equity in the creation and adoption of OER was mentioned as a goal and focus by WICHE. Lane spoke about a data collection and analysis research study about zero-cost degrees. Gumb represented NEBHE and their work on a Hewlett Grant. Sixty-one percent of post-secondary institutions in New England are independent, mentioned Gumb. NEBHE created a Faculty Community of Practice. I had not considered how the groups interact, and this session brought up that the regional compacts are working together.
