The OE Consortium is pleased to announce the addition of 3 new institutional members, also members of CCCOER. We extend our warmest welcome to you all!
Northern Essex Community College, located in Haverhill, Massachusetts just north of Boston, is a two-year higher education institution with full-time and part-time programs of study that are designed to help students transition to baccalaureate programs at other colleges. The values that Northern Essex Community College holds as an institution include student engagement, collaboration, personal and professional growth, respect, diversity, access and opportunity, and excellence. As an organization, Northern Essex Community College is committed to being “green” and is part of the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment to transform the college towards “total climate neutrality.” If you are interested in working in a higher education setting, Northern Essex Community College has offered part-time job opportunities in the past.
Northern Essex Community College initiated the Textbook Task Force in 2012 to facilitate a relationship of open communication between faculty, students, and the bookstore to ensure access to required course materials for all students through initiatives such as the Financial Aid Lending Library, Library Reserves, and Open Educational Resources.
Established in 1924, North Central Texas College (NCTC) is the oldest continuously operating public two-year college in the state. From its roots as a small, rural “junior” college -an extension of the local public schools actually- NCTC has grown and matured into a comprehensive, full-service community college of truly regional scope, serving students from six major campuses located across its service area. In fall 2014 the college had over 10,000 students enrolled with 34% taking at least one online course and 14% enrolled in only online or hybrid courses.
North Central Texas College (NCTC) is a Rural Information Technology Alliance (RITA) grant participant. The grant is part of the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grant program, a multi-year initiative to expand targeted training programs for unemployed workers, especially those impacted by foreign trade, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Labor. Along with this project, the college will develop or expand a range of IT programs that will be available at all RITA grant colleges, onsite, online, or hybrid. The online and hybrid courses are to be made available via an OER repository. Additionally NCTC is a Canvas Learning Management System (LMS) client that was selected in late fall 2014 by the vendor to participate in their beta rollout of Canvas Commons. Commons is a Learning Object Repository (LOR) that allows faculty to share content within the college and between other Canvas institutions across the world. More on Canvas Commons is available at: http://www.canvaslms.com/news/press-releases/instructure-introduces-canvascommons
Athens Technical College is a growing, vibrant institution dedicated to providing high quality educational programs and the support services students need to achieve their educational and career goals. Enrollment exceeds 10,000 students annually with students hailing from nearly 90 counties in Georgia, more than a dozen states throughout the United States, and over 10 different countries. Students can choose from more than 130 associate degree, diploma, and technical certificate programs offered by their Business, Education, and Humanities division; Life Sciences and Public Safety division; and Technology, Engineering, and Math division. Aiming to meet the needs of the community and business, the college has experienced a remarkable 133% growth in enrollment over the past 12 years.
In 2013, Athens Technical College (ATC) along with Albany and Atlanta Technical College, received a TAACCCT grant to develop Engineering Technologies programs. Written into that grant was support for OER and the development of a repository of content, primarily OER. This grant helped launch discussions about OER content and became a fundamental component of building an OER community at ATC. To date, Athens Technical College holds monthly brown bag discussions with faculty on OER related topics, participated in Open Access Week, and relevant national conferences (OSCON, Opensource Conference), OpenEd, and presented at local and regional conferences on OER. See the links below for more information about these members.