Library, Museums and Press Staff
July 2, 2025

Big Savings, Big Impact: 2025 OATM Grant Winners at UD

 

The University of Delaware Library, Museums and Press is excited to announce the recipients of our 2025 Open and Affordable Teaching Materials (OATM) grants. This year, we are proud to support 14 innovative projects spanning a wide range of disciplines. In total, six authoring grants and eight transition grants were awarded. Together, these projects will make a significant financial impact for UD students by eliminating costly textbooks and expanding access to high-quality learning resources.

These grants are made possible in part through generous support from the Unidel Foundation and donors to the Library, Museums and Press. Thanks to this support, our OATM program has already saved UD students more than $500,000 in textbook costs to date — and that impact continues to grow.

Research shows that providing open and accessible teaching materials not only eliminates textbook costs, but also reduces barriers to success, helping to close educational gaps for underrepresented and underserved populations in higher education.

We extend our sincere congratulations and gratitude to our 2025 awardees for their commitment to advancing student success and educational equity through open and affordable course materials.

2025 OATM Grant Recipients:

Authoring Grants

  • Nigel Caplan, LING 677: Authoring Talking About Language, an open textbook for in-service K–12 Delaware teachers enrolled in Structure of English. The resource will also serve a broader audience for self-study and professional learning programs.
  • Jin Yao Kwan, HDFS 347: Developing an OER to support Human Subjects Research with a focus on culturally responsive evaluation and ethical principles, saving students an estimated $2,900–$5,000 per semester.
  • Christian Dewey, PLSC/CHEM 608: Creating an OER for Environmental Soil Chemistry built around real-world case studies to engage students across disciplines.
  • Sebastian Cioaba, Novi Bong, Robert Coulter, MATH 210: A team developing a customized OER for Discrete Mathematics I featuring original handouts, homework, exams, and worksheets.
  • Elizabeth Sargent, MAST 200: Authoring an open-access marine biology textbook for The Oceans, designed for non-STEM majors.
  • Tara Smith, CAS: Creating an OER for a new undergraduate elective on Media Relations, providing practical, real-world instruction in an area with limited existing resources.

Transition Grants

  • Bharat Patil, BUAD 447: Transitioning BUAD 447 to zero cost, benefiting more than 150 students each year and supporting potential broader adoption within the department.
  • Lara Boyero, SPAN 205: Shifting Spanish Conversation to open-access materials, integrating multimedia content and community voices for a richer learning experience.
  • Donna Woulfe, BISC 605: Replacing costly textbooks in Advanced Mammalian Physiology with open-access platforms, online workbooks, and free case studies.
  • Jill Ewing Flynn, Deborah Bieler, Kisha Porcher, ENG 491: Reducing costs in Methods in Teaching Secondary English by curating diverse, open-access materials for future educators.
  • Dana Veron, GEOG 341: Transitioning Climate and Climate Change to zero cost by integrating open resources and recorded content, with plans to extend this approach to graduate-level courses.
  • Kyle McCarthy, Angela Holland, Phillys Gichuru, ENWC 201: Creating a zero-cost model for Wildlife Ecology and Conservation by developing new open content and compiling existing free resources.
  • Melissa Stevens, ANTH 101: Bringing Introduction to Cultural Anthropology to zero cost for a large, online course through carefully vetted open resources.
  • Heather Doty, MEEG 241: Replacing the textbook for Thermodynamics with a free Pressbooks edition, supplemented by additional open materials.

All authoring projects will leverage the Library’s subscription to Pressbooks, an easy-to-use platform for creating and sharing open textbooks.

Congratulations once again to our OATM grant recipients! We look forward to seeing the impact of your work on the UD community and beyond.