Four USC Columbia faculty members have been recognized by University Libraries with 2024 SCoer Awards.

Nicola Waldron from the College of Arts and Sciences and Toni Williams from the College of Education received Track One awards to assist with the adoption of open educational resources (OER) and library-licensed resources, while Leah McClimans and Lauren Sklaroff, both from the College of Arts and Sciences, are the inaugural recipients of Track Two awards, given to faculty members who have prior experience with affordable learning materials and can serve as mentors for Track One honorees.

Open educational resources – high quality, openly licensed teaching, learning and research materials available at no cost to students – benefit students and faculty alike. While they can save students hundreds or even thousands of dollars a year in textbook costs, they allow faculty to customize course materials to fit their teaching needs more than traditional textbooks typically can.

Given annually by University Libraries, the SCoer Awards recognize and support faculty who use open educational resources in their classrooms. To date, USC faculty who have worked with the Libraries to adopt affordable learning materials have saved students more than $3 million in textbook costs.

To participate in the program, Track One honorees attend a workshop hosted by University Libraries to help them identify or create OER materials for their courses. They commit to switching from the use of a traditional textbook to an OER or library-based resource in one of their classes and are recognized with a certificate and a $1,000 award. Track Two honorees are recognized for their existing use of OER materials and agree to serve as affordable learning advocates and to create resources for other instructors interested in transitioning to the use of affordable learning materials.

Award recipients are selected by USC Student Government representatives and University Libraries staff.

“Students are craving more affordable learning opportunities in higher education more and more every day,” says Student Body president Patton Byars, who served on this year’s selection committee. “The 2024 SCoer Faculty Award winners embody USC’s commitment to learning access and opportunity for all students and as Student Body President, I commend the winners for their hard work in creating accessible learning solutions on our campus.”

Scholarly Communications Librarian and Assistant Head of Acquisitions Amie Freeman, the SCoer Award coordinator, adds “Revising a course to use new course materials is an enormous undertaking. I am pleased that the Libraries has the opportunity to support and thank faculty who are committed to providing students with equitable access to learning materials.”

Meet this year’s winners:

 

Track One

Nicola Waldron

Instructor, Department of English
College of Arts and Sciences

“I know from personal experience how book costs can prevent equal learning. I borrowed all my undergraduate books from my university library! I also have a freshman student in the family starting at USC this fall so will experience price shock and textbook buying first-hand.”

Toni Williams

Associate Professor, Department of Teacher Education
College of Education

“As an educator, I am always reflecting on how I can make my courses more engaging for students as I develop a challenging curriculum.  I am drawn to the opportunity to learn new things. Participating in this program will allow me to develop new skills as well as improve existing ones.  Creating a variety of resources to help my students will ensure that they can make connections to the content and engage in the learning.”

 

Track Two

Leah McClimans

Professor of Philosophy and Director of Undergraduate Studies, Women’s and Gender Studies
College of Arts and Sciences

“I have been using no-cost materials that the library licenses and owns since 2013. It has made teaching so much easier I can't believe everyone doesn't do it…. Using this library service has often felt like a secret; I don't know anyone else who uses it. I think it's important that more people realize that it's available and understand how using it can make teaching easier and more accessible.”

Lauren Sklaroff

Professor of History and Women's and Gender Studies
College of Arts and Sciences

“I have transitioned to supplying my students with all of the resources necessary for these courses using library databases such as Project Muse, JStor and others. I also utilize online newspaper collections so that students can do primary research for their projects. I provide ebooks when necessary and have relied on texts and open access materials that do not require to make any purchases….Part of the reason that students enjoy the course is because they can take it from any location and have the documents, videos, and assignments readily available….I am happy to share the resources I use with others, as I find that students have tremendous success in these courses. They also become more familiar with the library and all of the wonderful collections that are available to them.”