2. Testing new textbooks

The West Virginia Higher Education Commission estimated this month that an OER pilot program that launched in the spring with 34 faculty across the state’s public universities — with a “handful” more joining over the summer — saved students $250,000.

The Open West Virginia initiative, which awarded $1,000 grants to faculty who converted their classes to OER, stemmed from policy passed in December 2019, when lawmakers established the West Virginia Program for Open Educational Resources.