Is your instructor using an open textbook or other open educational resource so that everyone in your class can access teaching and learning materials? Nominate your instructor for the Student Government Association’s Open Education Award.

What makes open educational resources open? OERs are created by teachers and faculty and are licensed openly so that anyone may freely use them, read them, and build upon them. OERs can include open problem sets for practice, online tutorials open to anyone to view, and open textbooks, such as in the Open Textbook Library.

Is your instructor using OERs to increase student access to course materials, lessen the financial burden on students and their families, and mitigate the overall cost of receiving an education? This is your chance to give your instructor the recognition he or she deserves.

In the fall, UT’s Student Government Association passed legislation to establish an Open Education Award to recognize faculty members who make innovative use of open educational resources.

Any currently enrolled UT Knoxville student may nominate an instructor. Nominees will be judged on four criteria: overall educational impact, innovation in teaching and learning, economic impact on students, and quality of OER used.

Read more and nominate your instructor at tiny.utk.edu/open-educator-award. The nomination deadline is March 31.

The UT Libraries—which worked with SGA to establish the annual SGA Open Education Award—will host a reception to honor the winning faculty members on April 18.