UI Libraries Open Educational Resources grants program
OpenHawks is a campus-wide grant program that funds instructor efforts to replace their current textbooks with Open Educational Resources (OER) for enhanced student success. The program is open to faculty, staff, and graduate students who teach for-credit courses and medical residencies at the University of Iowa. We are not currently accepting applications, but check back in spring 2025 for more information about the next round of funding.
What are OER?
OER (such as textbooks, videos, assessment tools, lab books, research materials or interactive course modules) are free for students and carry legal permission for open use. The open licenses under which these items are released allow users to create, reuse, and redistribute copies of the resources.
Why use OER?
Open textbooks help students better meet their learning objectives by removing cost and copyright barriers. Students benefit when they have their course resources freely available on the first day of class. They also benefit when faculty can fully integrate free resources into their curricula by “remixing” or tailoring materials to enhance specific learning objectives.
The university acknowledges that adopting, remixing, using, and creating OER requires significant additional labor for instructors. Accordingly, OpenHawks grants provide compensation for five different types of OER projects: adopting or remixing existing materials, developing open access assessment and learning tools, redesigning courses, or creating an original OER to share under an open license.
How to apply?
We are not currently accepting applications.
Call for Proposals: This document is a good place to start. It will give more detailed information about the funding and about how to submit your application.
Application Preview: Download the application questions here to prepare before you submit your application via Qualtrics.
More information
Funding is available at several different levels depending on the type of projects applicants wish to complete. Some projects require more time and resources than others, and our award structure is meant to reflect that. See below for the award types available:
| Award Type | Award Range | Requirements |
|---|---|---|
| Adoption | $500-$1,000 | Use an existing open textbook for a course with no editing and minimal course adaptation required. |
| Remixing | $750-$2,000 | Adapt, update, combine, or improve existing OER to replace a currently used textbook. Use of library-licensed materials may also be considered. |
| Support Materials | $1,000-$3,000 | Develop test bank questions, teaching support materials, quizzes, interactive learning aids, or other support materials for existing OER. |
| Course Redesign | Up to $5,000 | Redesign a course around the use of OER. |
| OER Creation | Up to $10,000 | Create an original ORE to be used in a course and shared under an open license. |
Evaluation Rubrics: These are the criteria that reviewers will use to make funding decisions. You may want to read through the rubrics before submitting your application.
Information Session Recording: This session was held on March 19 and covers grant program basics and FAQs.
Author-Publisher MOU: Take a look at our author agreement template. You’ll sign a version of this document if you receive OpenHawks funding. It includes additional information about project expectations and the Libraries’ role as a publisher.
If you have an idea you’d like to discuss, feel free to contact Scholarly Communications Librarian, Mahrya Burnett, at mahrya-burnett@uiowa.edu. We can set up a consultation to go over your proposal.