Leveraging Open Educational Resources to Advance Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: A Guide for Campus Change Agents

Adopting open educational resources, or OER, can be an effective strategy for meeting campus equity goals. In addition to saving students (and institutions) money, making free educational materials available for faculty and students to use, customize, and share can level the academic playing field, narrow performance gaps, and reduce failure and withdrawal rates. Yet, intentional connections are seldom made between OER initiatives and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, despite the similar outcomes sought by both.

Leveraging Open Educational Resources to Advance Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: A Guide for Campus Change Agents is designed to support the integration of OER and DEI efforts within higher education institutions. Based on research funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation that examined the strategies and experiences of the sixty-six colleges, universities, and state systems that participated in AAC&U’s inaugural, yearlong Institute on Open Educational Resources (2021–22), this publication provides evidence-based guidance and best practices that result in initiative sustainability and broad adoption of OER by strategically connecting this work to DEI goals, strategies, policies, initiatives, and offices that also exist within a given educational context.