Zero-Cost Options

OER  

• Open Education Resources are openly licensed text, media, and other digital assets that are useful for teaching, learning, and assessing as well as for research purposes. These materials can be modified and redistributed without permission. 

• There are different Creative Commons Licenses that creators can apply to their work, some which allow for the work to be more open than others. OER must follow all 5 Rs in order for it to truly be classified as such:  
  • Retain  
  • Reuse  
  • Revise  
  • Remix
  • Redistribute 

To learn more about the 5 Rs and what they mean, please visit our OER guide. 

Other Zero-Cost Options 

• Open access materials 
• Library materials 
• Course reserves 

Low-Cost Options 

• Identify learning objectives for the course or program. This will highlight which objectives are being met by the course materials and which are not.  
• Compile OER + other affordable materials to create a course materials package tailored to your course outcomes 
• Creating an affordable course material plan can be done for: 
  •  one course taught by a singular faculty member 
  • across various sections of the same course in collaboration with colleagues 
  • or across a program or department spearheaded by the chair 

• Mark courses as Zero or Low-Cost in Goldmine through so students can filter for those classes during registration. 
• Tessy, the OER Librarian at the University Library, can help at all stages of an affordable course material plan. A feasibility search can be completed to find available zero- and low-cost materials based on syllabi, learning objectives, and/or any other information that can be helpful in finding resources. A request for a feasibility search from Tessy can be made via the form here or via email at mttorres3@utep.edu.  

• Removing socio-economic and political barriers that prevent certain materials from being published in the higher education realm
• Allowing a space for marginalized and under-represented voices/perspectives to be included in instructional materials in positions of authoritativeness and expertise
• Allowing end users to dictate the continued enhancement of course materials to more effectively address learning objectives
• Promoting accessibility and universal design strategies to benefit end users regardless of accommodation need
• Encouraging collaboration across departments and disciplines to create materials with global and diverse perspectives
• Recognizing the intersectionality of different identities and providing a platform that celebrates all aspects of end users

• Increasing class and program retention among Hispanic students by eliminating restrictive costs to quality materials
• Creating and adding materials to the educational landscape that represent the diverse population at UTEP, celebrating identity, intersectionality, and culture
• Celebrating the multiculturalism within the Hispanic population, highlighting the different traditions from various cultures in Latin America
• Including bilingual materials that enhance the teaching and learning experience for end users
• Contributing to the mission to create a culture of global awareness

• Foster consistent evaluation and improvement of courses being taught with OER or affordable materials
• Provide the infrastructure for pre and post- publication quality evaluation of locally created or adapted OER
• Collaborate/partner with colleges and departments to nominate knowledgeable volunteers to perform quality assessment of course materials germane to their expertise, which can then be acknowledged for tenure and promotion
• Develop and maintain quality assessment instruments that incorporates feedback from subject experts and end users

• Instilling a culture of collaboration and creativity by making OER as viable an option as commercially published course materials
• Educating end users, to include instructors and students, on the benefits and challenges about using OER so they can be advocates for non-traditional course materials in the classroom
• Providing incentives to adapt and create OER, with the help of support services, at the department and administrative level

• In accordance with the UT System’s Affordable Learning Initiative, reduce the overall price tag of obtaining a higher education by alleviating restrictive course materials costs
• Incorporating a culture of care at UTEP to showcase, highlight, and retain the talent of the El Paso and Borderland community
• Create and provide localized instructional materials to meet the needs of the student population at UTEP
• Assist the University’s mission to increase access to excellent higher education across various socio-economical status by eliminating restrictive textbook costs