By Kaitlin Carman Asst. News Editor Framingham State University has secured a $1.98 million Remixing Open Textbooks through an Equity Lens (ROTEL) grant from the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) to develop open-source materials tailored for diverse student populations. Millie Gonzalez, Whittemore Library dean and ROTEL grant co-author said, “The project centers equity and inclusion. The textbooks read differently than traditional textbooks. Students will be encouraged to provide feedback, and can see their community reflected in the material. … OER fulfills a critical gap within the textbook marketplace.” She added, “Students will not need to choose whether to spend their money on buying a textbook or paying a bill.” These 100% grant-funded textbooks and supplementary resources, including practice exams, videos, and question-and-answer banks, will replace their costly commercial counterparts. In a press release, Gonzalez said, “We believe that underrepresented students will achieve higher academic outcomes if they have access to free, culturally relevant course materials that reflect their experiences.”
She said, “FSU is the lead fiscal agent of the ROTEL grant and is among the six institutions that make up ROTEL.” The other schools that are part of ROTEL include Fitchburg State University, Holyoke Community College, Northern Essex Community College, Salem State University, and Springfield Technical Community College. Currently, over 30 OER textbooks have been produced, revised, and adopted by faculty nationwide. Although ROTEL is currently in its fourth and final year, “We continue to add to the catalog,” Gonzalez said. FSU is also the lead fiscal agent for a second grant through the Career and AI Readiness while Remixing Open Textbooks through an Equity Lens (CA-ROTEL) project, which was also co-written by Gonzalez. As AI is becoming more prevalent, a large focus of CA-ROTEL is teaching students how to utilize AI both responsibly and ethically. “We want to prepare students for the future and AI is a gamechanger,” said Gonzalez in a press release. For the CA-ROTEL initiative, the University is partnering with two other institutions - UMass Lowell and Northern Essex Community College - to “produce open textbooks and corresponding ancillary materials for 17 high-enrollment general education courses,” according to the grant. “The project goals are to eliminate textbook costs for students in high-enrollment general education and career and professional courses; improve student learning outcomes, particularly for students from underserved communities; and create a sustainable model of OER development, publishing, and revision,” according to the grant. “The preliminary reports on the new OER textbooks that are being used in the classroom are very positive,” according to Gonzalez in a press release. “Not only are students engaged with the materials, but the DFW (Drop, Fail, Withdraw) rates are lower than comparable classrooms. We are also learning about a number of colleges beyond the partnership that are taking advantage of the free resources,” she added. Gonzalez believes “It is important that FSU is leading OER creation among public higher education institutions. It shows that we care about our students, their financial constraints, and their education.” In a press release from the Healey-Driscoll Administration, Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler said, “Making college affordable and accessible is central to higher education equity.” Massachusetts programs such as MassReconnect and MassEducate, which make community college tuition and fee-free, has “clearly lifted a barrier for many students who had college dreams but had not been shown an affordable path to achieving them,” according to Tutwiler. Now, with FSU’s involvement with the ROTEL partnership and the grant funding from the DOE, accessing higher education and required resources which reflect the diversity of student populations is even more attainable, according to Gonzalez. “If the impact is that our students are more engaged and doing better in their classes and that our faculty are excited to work on innovative, inclusive projects that improve their pedagogy, then higher education institutions should support the implementation of OER with financial support and resources. It is a win-win for everyone,” said Gonzalez. Iris Godes, vice president of strategic enrollment management, said, “Once we have a significant number of courses using no- or very low-cost course materials, this may have a positive impact on enrollment. … Any opportunity to reduce the cost of attending college will be helpful and may encourage more students to enroll. “If on average a course uses OER over a textbook that costs $100, that is significant savings for students - especially when that could be multiplied over several courses,” said Godes. She added, aside “from potential cost savings, the other component of this new grant that I am very excited about is its focus on creating free course materials that will intentionally embed DEI, accessibility, and career and generative AI technology readiness into the texts and ancillary materials. “This approach will improve the success of our students and their preparation for the future as well as being more inclusive so many students can relate better to the content. This is a great message to prospective students,” said Godes. Scholarly Communications Librarian Rebecca Dowgiert said the ROTEL steering team “wants to provide stipends and training to help faculty at these schools update and edit existing OER or create their own [new ones] from scratch, with equity and inclusion being centered. “It wasn't just, ‘Make it a good textbook and up-to-date textbook.’ It was, ‘Make it a textbook where our diverse students will see themselves in it’ - whether it's images, descriptions or case studies,” added Dowgiert. She said faculty will be using them to teach courses, collect data, and see if the implementation of OER resources will improve students’ academic performances and outcomes - whether or not students prefer these textbooks and get better grades. Freshman Audrey Ziegler said, “I think it’s great. It’s a really good opportunity for low-income students to be able to have access to things that they may not have had access to before. … It eliminates needing to get assistance for that kind of stuff.” Amanda Shotten, ’22, said, “It’s an amazing opportunity for current and future FSU students and it better represents the diversity of the campus community.” She said, “As someone who had to work full-time to support myself while pursuing a college education, having some textbooks available to me for free would have significantly reduced the stress and financial burden at the start of each semester when I needed to buy books. “If I had that opportunity, it would have allowed me to focus more on my education and less on needing to work extra hours to cover those costs,” she added. Junior Mustafa Elgazouli said it will positively impact his undergraduate experience. “I can put all my focus on learning instead of sharing my focus on how I’m going to [finance] what I need to help me learn. It’s a huge stress reliever because I can just focus on school rather than how to make money so I can go to school.” He said, “Over 30% of students of color struggle financially when it comes to college - going to school and being able to pay for [what] they need to succeed. That relieves so much stress on … not just students, but their families as well.” Elgazouli added, “We’re all family. No matter [your] income or family you come from, Framingham State can find a way to supply those needs so we can all come and have an equal opportunity.”