Sec. 61.0668. OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES GRANT PROGRAM. (a) In this section, "open educational resource" has the meaning assigned by Section 51.451.

(b) The board shall establish and administer a grant program to encourage faculty at institutions of higher education to adopt, modify, redesign, or develop courses that use only open educational resources.

(c) Under the program, a faculty member of an institution of higher education may apply to the board for a grant to adopt, modify, redesign, or develop one or more courses at the institution to exclusively use open educational resources.

(d) For each course identified in an application for a grant under this section, the board shall select at least three persons qualified to review the curriculum of the course, as determined by the board, to evaluate the application with respect to that course. If the application is rejected, the reviewing persons must provide feedback on the application to the faculty member. The feedback may be provided anonymously.

(e) A faculty member who receives a grant under the program shall ensure that any open educational resource used in each applicable course is provided to a student enrolled in the course at no cost other than the cost of printing.

(f) A faculty member who receives a grant under the program must submit to the board for each of the four semesters immediately following the implementation of each applicable course a report that includes:

(1) the number of students who have completed the course;

(2) an estimate of the amount of money saved by a student due to the use of open educational resources in the course;

(3) a description of the open educational resources used in the course;

(4) the number of other faculty members, if any, who adopted the curriculum of the course; and

(5) any other information required by the board.

(g) A faculty member who receives a grant under the program may continue to submit a report described by Subsection (f) for a semester that occurs after the faculty member's duty to submit a report under that subsection has expired. The board may consider a faculty member's failure to submit additional reports under this subsection in evaluating a subsequent grant application submitted by the faculty member.

(h) A faculty member who is no longer employed by an institution of higher education forfeits any grant awarded under the program.

(i) The board may not award a grant under the program to a faculty member of a postsecondary educational institution other than an institution of higher education.

(j) Not later than December 1 of each even-numbered year, the board shall submit to the governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the house of representatives, and each standing legislative committee with primary jurisdiction over higher education a report on:

(1) the total number of grants distributed under the program;

(2) the number of students who completed a course adopted, modified, redesigned, or developed under the program;

(3) an estimate of the total amount of money saved by students due to the use of open educational resources in courses adopted, modified, redesigned, or developed under the program;

(4) a list of any subject areas that would benefit from the adoption, modification, or development of open educational resources; and

(5) recommendations on future steps for adopting, modifying, or developing open educational resources.

(k) The board may solicit and accept gifts, grants, and donations from any public or private source for purposes of the program.

(l) The board shall adopt rules for the administration of the program.

(m) This section expires September 1, 2021.

Added by Acts 2017, 85th Leg., R.S., Ch. 581 (S.B. 810), Sec. 39, eff. June 9, 2017.

For expiration of this section, see Subsection (e).