University of Houston Libraries

ATIP offers monetary incentives for instructors to engage with open and affordable learning materials, including: replacing a required commercial textbook with a no-cost or low-cost alternative textbook, creating and sharing an OER learning object, or replacing a traditional assignment with a renewable assignment.

ATIP aligns with the university’s strategic goal of providing a top tier, inclusive educational experience to all UH students. By removing additional costs associated with commercial course materials or subscription services, ATIP improves access to affordable education. ATIP achieves this by:

• Increasing the adoption rate of open educational resources (OER) and other materials available to students at no additional cost
• Supporting instructors in the adoption and use of OER and alternative texts, and
• Encouraging the development of high-quality and accessible learning material

Accepted Textbook Affordability proposals will replace a required traditional textbook(s) in a course with a no-cost or low-cost alternative textbook. Examples include:

• Adopting an existing open textbook
• Adopting any combination of open educational resources, library resources, or other online resources that remove the cost of textbooks for students
• Adopting existing OER and creating openly-licensed ancillary materials
• Making adaptations to existing OER, whether one resource or remixing multiple resources
• Creating learning materials such as modules, labs, exercises, etc. that allow you to teach without a required textbook

The following projects are not eligible for ATIP:

• Existing textbook alternatives or open educational practices already in use by faculty; all proposals must describe a new project
• Commercial e-text versions of an existing print textbook
• Textbook rentals

This program is not intended to support authorship and publication of new open textbooks. Those interested in publishing open textbooks can indicate their interest to oer@uh.edu to be notified of future opportunities.

Funds will be paid directly to awardees and can be used for any purpose. Previous awardees have used ATIP funds for:

• Personal stipend
• Compensation for a student assistant
• Professional development funding
• Supporting technology, e.g., software subscriptions

Because this is an incentive, not a grant, applicants will not prepare a budget. Awards will be determined by an committee of librarians and faculty based on the selection criteria.

Individuals must be on active payroll for awards to be distributed. Awards will be distributed in two parts: the first half upon acceptance to ATIP, and the second half upon the completion of program expectations, including the submission of the project report.

Group applications are encouraged, in order to facilitate collaboration and increase the impact of alternative textbooks across multiple course sections. Group applicants will be able to decide how the award will be distributed among individuals.