🌐Overview

As you’ve mapped how OER connects to your college’s mission and policies, it becomes clear that administrative leadership is the lever that determines sustainability. Faculty, librarians, and instructional designers can launch OER projects, but without administrative support through funding, policy integration, and strategic prioritization, these efforts risk stalling when champions leave or resources fade. That’s why understanding and communicating the institutional benefits of OER for administrators is essential.

Open Educational Resources (OER) are not just a budget-saving tactic. They’re a strategic investment in equity, access, academic excellence, and long-term institutional sustainability. In the California Community College (CCC) system, OER supports student success, strengthens institutional capacity, and aligns with key state priorities, including AB 705, Guided Pathways, and ZTC mandates.

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✔️ Core Benefits of OER for Administrators

Financial Savings and Institutional ROI: OER drastically reduces textbook costs, giving students immediate access to required materials at no cost. Institutions benefit from reallocated funds, increased retention, and improved FTES, resulting in higher ROI. Financial flexibility from OER allows campuses to reinvest in student services, faculty development, or technology infrastructure. Nationally, 87% of students cite textbook cost as a deciding factor in whether to purchase required course materials.
Student Success and Educational Equity: Cost-free materials from day one eliminate key barriers for first-gen, BIPOC, and low-income students. Research shows OER adoption improves student grades, especially in gateway courses. OER positively impacts final grades and reduces failure rates across demographics. OER also reduces the negative impact of course difficulty on student performance.
Institutional Flexibility and Innovation: OERs’ open licenses allow instructors to adapt and remix content to meet the needs of diverse learners and local goals. Customization supports culturally responsive pedagogy and DEI-focused curriculum development.
Strengthened Collaboration and Efficiency: OER initiatives break down silos by encouraging cross-departmental collaboration and coordination with support services. At the same time, they streamline course content development, reduce duplication, and increase curriculum efficiency.
Improved Quality and Risk Management: Open publishing fosters continuous improvement through feedback and transparency, raising the quality of materials. OER also strengthens institutional compliance by clarifying copyright and licensing practices, reducing legal and reputational risk.
Sustaining Academic Breadth: OER helps preserve legacy courses and niche subjects by making resources shareable across colleges. This sustains academic diversity even when local enrollment is low, aligning with the mission of broad educational access.
Recruitment, Retention, and Student Marketing: Free or low-cost materials are a competitive advantage in marketing, especially for first-gen and price-sensitive students. OER course labeling (ZTC) draws attention to affordability and aligns with MIS reporting mandates.
Expanded Reach and Visibility: Freely available OER extends the college’s impact to underserved learners locally and globally, while showcasing the institution’s commitment to equity and innovation. Open content acts as an “open kitchen,” highlighting teaching quality to students, funders, and the public. Widely shared, high-quality OER strengthens the college’s academic reputation and can attract media and philanthropic interest.

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✔️ Building the Case for OER Investment

Share Data: Cite national research showing that OER improves course performance, especially for vulnerable student populations. Share internal ZTC data: cost savings, usage rates, and GPA comparisons between OER and traditional sections.
Present Case Studies: Highlight CCC success stories (e.g., A regional/competitor college's large-scale ZTC implementation or a college's OER degrees).
Demonstrate Alignment: Map OER to institutional mission statements around equity, access, and completion. Show how OER supports strategic priorities like AB 705 implementation, Guided Pathways, and DEI-focused reform.

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✔️ Administrative Actions to Drive OER

Develop an OER-Friendly Policy: Adopt a board policy or academic senate resolution that formally recognizes OER as a strategic priority.
Fund OER Initiatives: Allocate internal or grant-based funding for pilot projects, mini-grants, and faculty stipends.
Promote Cross-Campus Collaboration: Foster collaboration among librarians, faculty, instructional designers, and accessibility specialists.
Invest in Infrastructure: Adopt platforms like LibreTexts, Pressbooks, or ADAPT to streamline content sharing.

Administrator support ensures OER can be sustained and scaled, but the true impact is measured in how these efforts change student lives. By lowering barriers to access, reducing costs, and improving outcomes, OER directly supports students’ ability to stay enrolled, succeed in their courses, and complete their programs. The following page turns to this perspective, highlighting the tangible ways OER shapes the student experience and advances equity on the ground.

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