Open Education Resources Symposium

Amy Hofer

OER Librarian and Statewide Open Education Program Director
Oregon’s Colleges and Universities

Ms. Hofer, Statewide Open Education Program Director, is the OER librarian for Oregon’s colleges and universities. She created the Open Oregon Educational Resources website, openoregon.org, and has hosted OER training at almost every community college in Oregon to support open education efforts on those campuses. Ms. Hofer has worked closely with library leaders on textbook affordability issues and provided specialized reference services highlighting open, free and low-cost course materials. She supports librarians in using library holdings as course materials where OER are not yet available.

Presentation:
March 27, 2024 at 3 p.m.
Panel Discussion: Scaling Up OER Initiatives to a State Level

Amy Song

Customer Success Manager
Pressbooks

Ms. Song is the Customer Success Manager at Pressbooks. For the past four years, she has been working with education institutions of all sizes to strategize and support them in achieving their institutional goals. She is passionate about equity and accessibility, and she loves working on the Pressbooks mission of making sure that every educator can transform their bountiful knowledge into excellent and authentic resources for learners.

Presentation:
March 26, 2024 at 11 a.m.
Introduction to Pressbooks with Canvas

March 28, 2024 at 11 a.m.
Advanced Features & Accessibility in Pressbooks

Andrea Scott

Director of Open Educational Resources
Office of Learning Advancement
Salt Lake Community College

Ms. Scott is the Director of Open Educational Resources (OER) for the Office of Learning Advancement and Co-Chair of the Open SLCC Advisory Committee at Salt Lake Community College (SLCC). She provides leadership and strategic direction at Open SLCC, including overseeing program development, implementation, assessment and expansion. She serves on the Community College Consortium for Open Educational Resources (CCCOER) Executive Council as the Co-Vice President of the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Committee, where she advises on EDI-related strategic priorities and co-leads efforts in exploring the intersection of OER and EDI.

Presentation:
March 27, 2024 at 12 p.m.
Student Leaders Pave the Path: Strengthening OER Visibility Strategies with Students at the Helm

March 27, 2024 at 3 p.m.
Panel Discussion: Scaling Up OER Initiatives to a State Level (moderator)

Annie Fukushima, PhD

Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies
Director of the Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR)
University of Utah

Dr. Fukushima is the associate dean of Undergraduate Studies and Director of the Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) where she leads campus-wide efforts to foster student-faculty collaborations with undergraduate research. OUR supports research across the disciplines through funding student research, supporting opportunities to disseminate research through publication and presentation, and educational content beyond the classroom. Dr. Fukushima is also an associate professor of Ethnic Studies with the School for Cultural & Social Transformation.

Presentation:
March 28, 2024 at 3 p.m.
Project Showcase: OER to Reduce Student Costs and Share Undergraduate Research

Chealsye Bowley

Director of Open Education & Learning Innovation
Colorado Department of Higher Education

Ms. Bowley is the Director of Open Education and Learning Innovation for the Colorado Department of Higher Education working on Open Access and OER initiatives. She holds a Master’s in Library and Information Studies from Florida State University and an MSc in Science, Technology and Society from University College London, and she is a passionate advocate for Open Scholarship. She has previously worked for Florida Gulf Coast University, Texas Woman’s University and Ubiquity Press.

Presentation:
March 27, 2024 at 3 p.m.
Panel Discussion: Scaling Up OER Initiatives to a State Level

Cindy Greenman, PhD

Associate Professor of Accounting
Utah Tech University

Dr. Greenman is a full-time faculty member at Utah Tech University. She has received numerous awards and has over 15 years of experience in the Accounting field. Dr. Greenman graduated from Central Michigan University with both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees and did her doctoral work at Northcentral University in Arizona, where her dissertation was awarded the KPMG Dissertation of the Year for 2012. Dr. Greenman is a graduate of the FBI Citizens Academy and is a Certified Fraud Examiner. Dr. Greenman has co-authored many journal articles and has presented worldwide.

Presentation:
March 28, 2024 at 3 p.m.
Project Showcase: OER to Reduce Student Costs and Share Undergraduate Research

Cristie Cowles Charles

Adjunct Professor
Brigham Young University

Ms. Charles is an award-winning author and adjunct faculty in the English department at Brigham Young University. She teaches writing, literature, and global women's studies courses and last year became BYU's first writing consultant for graduate students. She led the creation of the first OER at BYU for a writing class, Writing in the Social Sciences, garnering funding through collaborations with the BYU Harold B. Lee Library, General Education, and the English Department. That field-specific text led to the creation of a sister text that would serve any teacher of writing no matter the field: Advanced Writing. Her work on these projects garnered the English department's inaugural Research and Creative Works award and the College of Humanities’ Adjunct Faculty Achievement Award. Her past efforts at collaboration and advocacy led her to receive the Laya B. Wiesner Award, the highest award at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for a member of the greater MIT community.

Presentation:
March 27, 2024 at 11 a.m.
Project Showcase: Writing and Language OERs

Derrick Esplin, PhD

Accounting Department
Utah Tech University

Dr. Esplin has taught Accounting courses full-time at Utah Tech University since 2012. Prior to becoming an Accounting educator, he worked for a regional CPA firm and then as a controller and CFO for a group of privately held companies.

Presentation:
March 28, 2024 at 3 p.m.
Project Showcase: OER to Reduce Student Costs and Share Undergraduate Research

Electra Gamón Fielding, PhD

Professor of Spanish
Weber State University

Dr. Fielding is a full Professor of Spanish at Weber State University. Her research interests are varied and include women writers in medieval and early modern Spain, the presence of Orientalized elements in Spanish cultural production, and translation studies. Although she specializes in the teaching and research of Spanish literature, culture, and language, she also teaches Medical Spanish and Medical Translation at Weber State University. She utilizes OER regularly in her lower-division and upper-division courses.

Presentation:
March 27, 2024 at 11 a.m.
Project Showcase: Writing and Language OERs

Elizabeth Matheson

OER Library Paraprofessional
Utah Technical University.

Ms. Matheson is the OER Library Paraprofessional at Utah Technical University. She earned her Master’s of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing from California State University Long Beach. As a writer, she is committed to telling the story of the impact OER has on students and faculty.

Presentation:
March 26, 2024 at 4 p.m.
Empowering OER Growth: Leveraging Grants and Local Infrastructure

Emily Orton

Vice President for Academic Pathways
Salt Lake Community College

Ms. Orton is Vice President for Academic Pathways at the Salt Lake Community College Student Association (SLCCSA). She is a passionate art history student, and as a student leader, she works to improve the lives of future students by advocating for solutions to student issues.

Presentation:
March 27, 2024 at 12 p.m.
Student Leaders Pave the Path: Strengthening OER Visibility Strategies with Students at the Helm

Emma Lanners, MLIS

OER & Graduate Support Librarian
Utah Tech University Library

Ms. Lanners is Assistant Librarian for Open Educational Resources (OER) and Graduate Support for Utah Tech University. She received her Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) in 2020 from the University of South Carolina and has been leading the planning and implementing the OER initiative at UT for the past four years. She was a co-writer and current implementation staff for a $2 million Department of Education Title III Strengthening Institutions Grant focusing on information science and OER in general education courses.

Presentation:
March 25, 2024 at 3 p.m.
Introduction to Open Education Resources

March 26, 2024 at 4 p.m.
Empowering OER Growth: Leveraging Grants and Local Infrastructure

Gerry Hanley, PhD

Executive Director
MERLOT and SkillsCommons

Dr. Hanley is the Executive Director of the Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching (MERLOT, www.merlot.org) and SkillsCommons (www.skillscommons.org), two free and open digital libraries of academic and workforce development teaching, learning and training resources administered at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB). He is also the Director of the Center for Usability in Design and Accessibility and Professor Emeritus of Psychology. He teaches Human Factors, conducts research, and leads projects for industry, education and government agencies. In 2020, Dr. Hanley was inducted into the United States Distance Learning Association’s Hall of Fame and in 2015, he was awarded the Frank Mayadas Leadership Award in Online Education by the Online Learning Consortium.

Presentation:
March 25, 2024 at 9 a.m.
Keynote: Managing Change in Higher Education to Achieve Open Education Benefits: Patience, Planning and Persistence

Isabel Asenio, PhD

Professor of Spanish and Translation
Weber State University

Dr. Asenio is a Professor of Spanish and Translation, and teaches in the Department of World Languages and Cultures at Weber State University. Her research interests, conference presentations, and published work range from translation and interpretation to women’s literature and Hispanic cultures, and language pedagogy. She has written several OER-based course packages for her classes on Spanish Grammar, Spanish Translation, and Audiovisual Translation.

Presentation:
March 27, 2024 at 11 a.m.
Project Showcase: Writing and Language OERs

James Richards

Accounting Department
Utah Tech University

Mr. Richards teaches Accounting at Utah Tech University (previously Dixie State University), where he taught the first graduate course offered, and is an advocate for open education resources. He has been teaching as an adjunct professor for more than nine years. He completed a bachelor’s in Accounting as well as a Master of Accountancy and Master of Business Administration at Southern Utah University. He completed a Master of Taxation at Weber State University.

Presentation:
March 28, 2024 at 3 p.m.
Project Showcase: OER to Reduce Student Costs and Share Undergraduate Research

Jason K. McDonald, PhD

Instructional Psychology and Technology
Brigham Young University

Dr. McDonald is a professor of Instructional Psychology and Technology at Brigham Young University. His 25 years of experience in industry and academia span a wide variety of roles connected to instructional design: face-to-face training, faculty development, corporate eLearning, story development for instructional films and museum/exhibit design. Dr. McDonald’s research focuses around advancing instructional design practice and education. He studies the field’s tendency to flatten/redefine educational issues in terms of problems that can be solved through technology and how alternative framings can resist these reductive tendencies.

Presentation:
March 28, 2024 at 12 p.m.
EdTech Books: Sharing the Process for Successful Graduate-Level Open Textbooks

John McLeod

Sales Team Lead
Pressbooks

Mr. McLeod is the Sales Team Lead at Pressbooks. He has spent most of his career supporting students, faculty, and staff of higher education institutions. Starting as a student working the back-to-school rush at the University of Alberta Bookstore, his career in higher ed spans four decades.

Presentation:
March 27, 2024 at 2 p.m.
OER for Technical Colleges and Workforce Programs

Justin Kani

Business & Economics Librarian
Weber State University: Stewart Library

Mr. Kani is a faculty member at Weber State University and a 2019-2020 graduate of the SPARC Open Education Leadership Program, a professional development initiative that empowers library professionals to become leaders in open education on their campuses. The program encourages participants like Mr. Kani to enhance their expertise in OER, enabling them to guide faculty in finding quality OER materials and promoting the use of openly licensed educational resources for teaching and learning.

Presentation:
March 26, 2024 at 4 p.m.
Empowering OER Growth: Leveraging Grants and Local Infrastructure

Katie Blunt, PhD

eMedia Product Manager & Host of PDTV
Utah Education Network

Dr. Blunt is the UEN Product Manager over eMedia and host of UEN’s Professional Development TV series. She has worked as an Educational Technology Specialist for the Canyons School District and taught sixth grade in the Jordan School District. She served as president of the Utah Coalition for Educational Technology from 2015-2016. She has a doctorate in Educational Leadership and Policy and a master’s in Instructional Design and Educational Technology from the University of Utah.

Presentation:
March 28, 2024 at 2 p.m.
Find, Curate, and Create Higher Ed OER

Kishan Thambu

Computer Science Undergraduate
University of Utah.

Mr. Thambu is a fourth-year undergraduate student studying Computer Science and an undergraduate worker in the Office of Undergraduate Research as a Publishing and Presentations Specialist at the University of Utah. He has been involved with research in some capacity since his freshman year, from bioinformatics to computational psychiatry, and he hopes to continue doing computational-based research, especially in psychiatry.

Presentation:
March 28, 2024 at 3 p.m.
Project Showcase: OER to Reduce Student Costs and Share Undergraduate Research

Richard E. West, PhD

Instructional Psychology and Technology
Brigham Young University

Dr. West is a professor of Instructional Psychology and Technology at Brigham Young University. He teaches subjects including instructional technology, academic research and writing, creativity and innovation, design psychology, and product/program evaluation. He studies how to innovate and advance education through improved and open educational Content, strong learning Communities and open Credentials that better recognize student learning. He has presented research in 13 countries and has over 150 academic publications, along with several popular open textbooks on learning and instructional design. His open textbooks are available at edtechbooks.org.

Presentation:
March 28, 2024 at 12 p.m.
EdTech Books: Sharing the Process for Successful Graduate-Level Open Textbooks

Wayde Oshiro

Interim Learning Commons & Library Coordinator
Leeward Community College

Mr. Oshiro is the Interim Learning Commons and Library Coordinator at Leeward Community College in Pearl City, Hawaii. He has over 20 years of experience in academic librarianship, including positions in public services, reference, instruction and leadership. Since 2014, Mr. Oshiro’s work has focused on OER. He leads the Leeward CC and UHCC system OER initiatives and serves as a mentor with the Open Education Network’s Certificate in OER Librarianship Program. His recent interests include the advancement of equity through open educational practices and OER stewardship.

Presentation:
March 27, 2024 at 3 p.m.
Panel Discussion: Scaling Up OER Initiatives to a State Level