The University of Baltimore Institutional Profile
Mission:
The University of Baltimore offers career-focused education for aspiring and current professionals, providing the region with highly educated leaders who make distinctive contributions to the broader community.
Number of students served:
The University of Baltimore is an anchor institution for the city of Baltimore that joins a coalition of city-based universities that provide essential elements- good jobs, local investments and innovative solutions to today’s challenges. The University of Baltimore (UBalt) serves a student population comprised of minoritized ethnic groups (68%), first generation students (59% of student population in 2021) and the majority of our student population is Pell-eligible.
Project Description
Current Readiness
UBalt’s OER work began in 2016 with the messaging of cost savings as a way to achieve equity of access to course materials. This aligned OER with the university’s strategic plan through student success and enhanced affordability, and is supported collaboratively through the Center for Excellence in Learning, Teaching, and Technology (CELTT) and the Robert L. Bogomolny library (Strategy 2.2d, 2.4a). As CELTT and the RLB library continued to collaborate on OER initiatives, the global conversation around OER and cost savings evolved to address the shift made by commercial textbook publishers and the opportunity OER presents for localized course materials. Aware of these developments and that equity is a multi-faceted concept, CELTT and the library shifted our OER messaging and faculty engagement with OER to address not just equity of access, but also equity of representation, participation, and outcomes. Throughout the course of these initiatives, we have collaborated and been supported by the state university system’s Kirwan Center for Academic Innovation. This state-level connection has helped elevate our work to connect with other institutions within our system and move discourse from local OER initiatives to potential state-wide collaborations.
Current OER efforts on campus include a Pressbooks.EDU publishing platform that delivers OER content digitally and in print, the group applying for the DOERS3 Equity through OER Rubric project, and faculty representation from all three colleges that organically developed prior to our participation in the AAC&U’s 2021 Institute for OER. This cross-institutional cohort connects faculty, instructional designers, administrators, and librarians through a common understanding around educational best practices.
Project Lead and Team Members
The DOERS3 project cohort at The University of Baltimore consists of faculty and staff whose responsibilities specifically include OER initiatives and projects and have committed to collaborate with campus OER champions as well as the wider campus community:
Stakeholder Engagement Plans
The DOERS3 group is currently connected to faculty representation from two of the university’s three colleges. The open representative position is in the process of being filled. Faculty representatives enthusiastically support the work the DOER3 group plans on accomplishing, and faculty engage in regular outreach efforts within their colleges to disseminate and support OER initiatives. Our group views collaborative and sustained faculty engagement with our equity strategies as essential for long term adoption and implementation. Dr. Leiby’s membership in the DOERS3 group not only demonstrates a programmatic commitment to equity through course revision, but it also creates a template for other courses and programs to engage in equity strategies with OER as a conduit. Dr. Leiby’s collaborative development of an OER-based curriculum for IDIS302 Ethical Issues in Business & Society – an upper-level ethics course required of all UBalt undergraduates – reinforces the likelihood that all students will have at least one opportunity during their collegiate career to engage with OER, setting the stage for increased familiarity, substantive demand, and broader uptake across the university. Prior to Dr. Leiby’s engagement, program-level adoption of OER included IDIS101 First Year Seminar which is designed for first year students and did not connect with upper division transfer students. Through Dr. Leiby’s membership and engagement, all UBalt students now have the opportunity to engage with OER.
Our current senior administration continues to enthusiastically support our OER initiatives and the mission and goals of the DOERS3 group. Like many institutions, The University of Baltimore is also experiencing transitions at the senior leadership level that could undoubtedly affect our OER work. In preparation for these changes, our OER team has created an initial sustainable OER process that will be bolstered through the equity rubric work project.
Defining Success
Our OER work has always been aligned with the university’s strategic plan, and the opportunity to participate in the DOERS3 Equity through OER Rubric Project will help us identify equity gaps in our work and continue to champion OER initiatives through a unified framework and campus community. We value the role OER plays in creating more equitable access and lowering financial barriers to course materials, but also understand the role OER can play in addressing equity of participation, equity of representation, and equity of outcomes that support a more sustainable educational ecosystem.
Case Study
Mission:
The University of Baltimore offers career-focused education for aspiring and current professionals, providing the region with highly educated leaders who make distinctive contributions to the broader community.
Number of students served:
- Total enrollment: 3,710
- Undergraduate: 1,605
- Graduate: 1,365
The University of Baltimore is an anchor institution for the city of Baltimore that joins a coalition of city-based universities that provide essential elements- good jobs, local investments and innovative solutions to today’s challenges. The University of Baltimore (UBalt) serves a student population comprised of minoritized ethnic groups (68%), first generation students (59% of student population in 2021) and the majority of our student population is Pell-eligible.
Project Description
Current Readiness
UBalt’s OER work began in 2016 with the messaging of cost savings as a way to achieve equity of access to course materials. This aligned OER with the university’s strategic plan through student success and enhanced affordability, and is supported collaboratively through the Center for Excellence in Learning, Teaching, and Technology (CELTT) and the Robert L. Bogomolny library (Strategy 2.2d, 2.4a). As CELTT and the RLB library continued to collaborate on OER initiatives, the global conversation around OER and cost savings evolved to address the shift made by commercial textbook publishers and the opportunity OER presents for localized course materials. Aware of these developments and that equity is a multi-faceted concept, CELTT and the library shifted our OER messaging and faculty engagement with OER to address not just equity of access, but also equity of representation, participation, and outcomes. Throughout the course of these initiatives, we have collaborated and been supported by the state university system’s Kirwan Center for Academic Innovation. This state-level connection has helped elevate our work to connect with other institutions within our system and move discourse from local OER initiatives to potential state-wide collaborations.
Current OER efforts on campus include a Pressbooks.EDU publishing platform that delivers OER content digitally and in print, the group applying for the DOERS3 Equity through OER Rubric project, and faculty representation from all three colleges that organically developed prior to our participation in the AAC&U’s 2021 Institute for OER. This cross-institutional cohort connects faculty, instructional designers, administrators, and librarians through a common understanding around educational best practices.
Project Lead and Team Members
The DOERS3 project cohort at The University of Baltimore consists of faculty and staff whose responsibilities specifically include OER initiatives and projects and have committed to collaborate with campus OER champions as well as the wider campus community:
- Carey Miller: Director of Student Success and Retention and participant/supporter of OER initiatives since 2016
- Sarah Lausch: CELTT Instructional Designer
- Rebeccah Leiby: Hoffberger Ethics Fellow
- Michael Shochet: Associate Director for Reference and Faculty Affairs, and participant/supporter of OER initiatives since 2016
- Jessica Stansbury: CELTT Director of Teaching and Learning
Stakeholder Engagement Plans
The DOERS3 group is currently connected to faculty representation from two of the university’s three colleges. The open representative position is in the process of being filled. Faculty representatives enthusiastically support the work the DOER3 group plans on accomplishing, and faculty engage in regular outreach efforts within their colleges to disseminate and support OER initiatives. Our group views collaborative and sustained faculty engagement with our equity strategies as essential for long term adoption and implementation. Dr. Leiby’s membership in the DOERS3 group not only demonstrates a programmatic commitment to equity through course revision, but it also creates a template for other courses and programs to engage in equity strategies with OER as a conduit. Dr. Leiby’s collaborative development of an OER-based curriculum for IDIS302 Ethical Issues in Business & Society – an upper-level ethics course required of all UBalt undergraduates – reinforces the likelihood that all students will have at least one opportunity during their collegiate career to engage with OER, setting the stage for increased familiarity, substantive demand, and broader uptake across the university. Prior to Dr. Leiby’s engagement, program-level adoption of OER included IDIS101 First Year Seminar which is designed for first year students and did not connect with upper division transfer students. Through Dr. Leiby’s membership and engagement, all UBalt students now have the opportunity to engage with OER.
Our current senior administration continues to enthusiastically support our OER initiatives and the mission and goals of the DOERS3 group. Like many institutions, The University of Baltimore is also experiencing transitions at the senior leadership level that could undoubtedly affect our OER work. In preparation for these changes, our OER team has created an initial sustainable OER process that will be bolstered through the equity rubric work project.
Defining Success
Our OER work has always been aligned with the university’s strategic plan, and the opportunity to participate in the DOERS3 Equity through OER Rubric Project will help us identify equity gaps in our work and continue to champion OER initiatives through a unified framework and campus community. We value the role OER plays in creating more equitable access and lowering financial barriers to course materials, but also understand the role OER can play in addressing equity of participation, equity of representation, and equity of outcomes that support a more sustainable educational ecosystem.
Case Study
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