Virginia's Academic Library Consortium

Open & Affordable Community Forum

VIVA hosts an annual Open & Affordable Community Forum, featuring presentations from community members and opportunities for networking and discovery. The forum features existing and emerging issues in the field of open education, open pedagogy, and open educational resources.

The forum is held in October or November of each year. 

Current Forum

The 2025 Open and Affordable Community Forum will be held on November 14, 2025 at Reynolds Community College. Learn more about the 2025 Forum.

We are currently accepting proposals for sessions at the forum and for inclusion in the Virginia OER Showcase at https://bit.ly/25oacforum-app.

Presentations from Previous Forums

Presentations from VIVA Events are available on

Presentations are organized into collections corresponding to the forum at which they were delivered. To search previous Open and Affordable Community Forums, visit:

Previous Open and Affordable Community Forum Agendas

Committee Chair

Liz Thompson
James Madison University

Institutional Representatives

Amber Gruszeczka (12/31/26)
Old Dominion University

Mark Hamilton (12/31/25)
Liberty University 

Paula Kiser (12/31/25)
Washington & Lee 

Joanna Lee (12/31/26)
George Mason University

Bethany Mickel (12/31/25)
University of Virginia

Lynn Riggs (12/31/25)
Reynolds Community College

Nicole Wilson (12/31/26)
James Madison University

Ex Officio

Jessica Kirschner
VIVA