Jennifer Jordan

When I started working on a grant proposal for the Department of Education’s Open Textbooks Pilot program back in late March, early April, I thought it was a long shot, but I started writing anyway. I thought New Mexico needs this funding, and I am the first librarian in the state whose job is devoted solely to Open Educational Resources. Plus, I work at the state’s flagship university, so I felt an obligation to at least try to apply for the funding.

For those of you who don’t know, Open Textbooks are openly licensed educational materials that faculty can adopt, adapt, and create. These free online materials can take the place of super-expensive publisher’s textbooks.

When I started gathering momentum to write this proposal, I worked with a lot of folks on it, and we worked really hard. But I didn’t think we’d actually get it.

I have been a creative writer for decades, and I am used to rejection. I am fine with working my butt off only to be told no, you can’t have this. You can’t do this thing. You won’t be picked.

Lo and behold, I was wrong. We got it. New Mexico is one of five new institutions/organizations that the federal open textbooks program chose to fund, and we’re receiving nearly 2.125 million dollars.

Faculty at UNM are already set to begin creating materials for our students. Two community colleges will receive funding from that pot of money to support faculty with OER development.

My program officer at the OTP said we had a strong proposal. And the committee who reviewed the applications chose to fund us using a very specific rubric.

It was nice, this one time in my career, to submit a piece of writing, granted, a lot of people helped and I also have a co-PI on the grant (a co-principal investigator for the uninitiated), but to submit a piece of writing the first time out and have it be accepted. Accepted. You hear that editors?

Just kidding. (I’m not bitter. That’s a lie. It doesn’t matter.)

Back to the grant, we’re going to do so much good with this money. The thought of it makes me want to cry. New Mexico students will hopefully have an easier time attending college because of the work we are doing. OER is getting a nice jump start in the state.

Hooray for open textbooks!