Universal Access/OER Faculty Resources
NVC OER Committee Mission Statement
The mission of the Northwest Vista College (NVC) OER Committee is to advocate for and support Faculty in the exploration, development, adoption and/or use of affordable materials, whether these materials be designated OER or low-cost.
NVC OER Contact
- Amanda Gorrell, Librarian (Chair): agorrell2@alamo.edu
Research Guides
Contact your Department Chair for more information about tagging your course as either AlamoOpen or IM Direct in the catalog.
Universal Access is a movement that identifies No-Cost and Lowered-Cost initiatives, which include AlamoOPEN adoptions, a majority of IM Direct adoptions and a percentage of Traditional Purchase Model adoptions in order to provide quality no and or lowered-cost instructional materials to all students available the first day of class.
AlamoOpen is the district’s no-cost initiative and includes the use of Open Educational Resources (OER) and IM Direct to provide no cost or lower the cost of instructional materials for students.
IM Direct (IMD) is an inclusive access model with major education publishers, including Pearson, Cengage and McGraw-Hill Education. Entire classes of students automatically receive digital instructional materials discounted below competitive market rates, rather than purchasing them individually.
Students are direct billed for the IM as part of their tuition. Students can opt out before census date by re-enrolling in a non-IMD course. Students can search the class schedule for courses using IMD instructional materials by selecting the Alamo IM Direct Course attribute.
According to Texas Senate Bill 810 (SB 810):
“Open educational resources,” means a teaching, learning, or research resource that is in the public domain or has been released under an intellectual property license that permits the free use, adaptation, and redistribution of the resource by any person. The term may include full course curricula, course materials, modules, textbooks, media, assessments, software and any other tools, materials, or techniques, whether digital or otherwise, used to support access to knowledge.”
You can limit your search to courses that are designated AlamoOpen (no-cost textbook) or IM Direct by selecting the appropriate Location/Attribution limiter during your search.
Please see the image below:
The NVC Bookstore website also identifies classes or labs using low-cost and no-cost instructional materials. Low-cost instructional materials generally cost students $40 or less. Reduced-cost IM Direct instructional materials are discounted below competitive market rates and direct billed as part of tuition. Students can opt out of an IM Direct course before census date by re-enrolling in a non-IMD course!
By 2030, at least 60 percent of Texas ages 25-34 will have a certificate or degree.
Universal Access supports the Texas 60x30 Initiative Goal Four Student Debt by providing students with lowered-cost or no-cost learning material options.
