In just a few short months, faculty at Ohio University have converted enough required textbooks and course materials to the University’s new open resource solution to save students $600,000. This exceeds OHIO’s original goal of saving students $500,000 by fall 2018 through a partnership with Top Hat, which was first announced in fall 2017.

“Exceeding our financial goal for this project so far ahead of schedule reflects the extraordinary commitment of OHIO faculty to cost-conscious course design,” said Brad Cohen, senior vice provost for instructional innovation. “We still have a long way to go to reach our ambitious goal of converting 100 courses from high-cost textbooks to open resource solutions, but with so much early success, we are eager to scale up in the coming academic year to further ease the financial burden on our students.”

Through this partnership, OHIO faculty have had the opportunity to explore thousands of Open Educational Resources (OER) – at no cost to them or their students. Top Hat has also provided one-on-one support to help faculty find these resources and adopt them to their specific course(s).

“Student access and affordability to quality content are integral to Ohio University’s mission of educational excellence and success,” said Ohio University President M. Duane Nellis. “The University’s partnership with Top Hat provides faculty with a unique, affordable opportunity to create engaging and interactive course content that enhances the classroom experience.”

To date, OHIO faculty who have participated in this partnership have impacted 7,511 students across the University.

One such faculty member was Dr. William Condee, a J. Richard Hamilton/Baker and Hostetler Professor of Humanities and professor of theater in OHIO’s School of Interdisciplinary Arts, who single-handedly saved his students $70,000. He is currently using OER through Top Hat for his course IART 1180, “Introduction to the Arts: Objects and Events.”

Dr. Condee noted that he was dissatisfied with the textbook he had been using and worked with Top Hat to craft a course platform using Open Educational Resources.

“I have found the staff of Top Hat to be very helpful, resourceful and organized,” said Condee. “They present good ideas and options, listen very carefully to the course learning goals and strategies and the online material is very flexible—it can be tailored by each person teaching and updating the course. I applaud the University’s initiative to provide low- and no-cost text to students. Keeping higher education affordable to students and their families is vital to our democracy.”

It is anticipated that additional OHIO students will experience these benefits throughout the rest of the year as the program continues. The University’s next goal is to convert 100 courses to lower-cost textbooks and materials.

“Top Hat’s mission is to make higher education more affordable and effective, and we’re thrilled with the early results of our partnership with Ohio University,” said Mike Silagadze, co-founder and CEO of Top Hat. “OHIO’s faculty are doing an incredible job of adopting, customizing and even authoring interactive educational resources for their courses. Together, we’re improving student access to high-quality and affordable content that will ultimately raise the bar on student success in their coursework.”

For more information about OHIO’s partnership with Top Hat and to get involved or schedule a demo, visit the OHIO–Top Hat partnership web page.