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VIVA: VIVA Open Grants Call for Proposals

Virginia's Academic Library Consortium

This guide has variable layouts and houses the majority of the "sub" pages for VIVA's website.

VIVA Open Grants Request for Proposals

VIVA Open Grants releases requests for proposals, and their associated applications for funding, for each of their grant programs once a year. The RFP describes the scope and aims of the proposals, including how applications will be reviewed. The applications include all of the sections that must be submitted for consideration. Please note that VIVA Open Course Grants also have application instructions available, and applicants are strongly advised to download the instructions as well as the RFP and application. 

 

Previous Applications and Requests for Proposals

 

About VIVA Open Grants

The VIVA Open Grants Program reduces the costs of higher education for Virginia students by eliminating the costs of textbooks and other course materials. These costs can be a significant barrier to student success, shaping everything from what majors are chosen to whether or not degrees are completed. The high cost of textbooks, technology and course materials, currently estimated by The College Board to be around $1,300 per student per year, means that students often do not purchase course materials, and academic performance suffers as a result. Barriers to curricular resources have been further exacerbated by COVID-19.

Although the need is clear, faculty who wish to design courses using open or no-cost materials have few resources available to them. The purpose of the Open Adopt Grant program is address this challenge by providing support for the time it takes to integrate existing open or no-cost materials into a course.

Grants are intended to:

  • Support faculty as they create or update a syllabus that relies on no-cost course materials.
  • Lower the cost of higher education for Virginia students and contribute to their retention and success.
  • Preserve academic freedom and provide both incentives and support to this critical work.
  • Make available syllabi and ancillary materials that rely on open materials to faculty across Virginia.

Grant Guidelines

Full or part-time faculty may apply for a grant to support the adoption of OER, including textbooks, software, test banks and ancillary materials, and library resources that replace a traditional textbook or other costly class resources. Applications must be from an individual course instructor only. Each grant recipient will receive a $2,000 award intended to support their time as they transition to open and affordable course materials, including the time required to gather assessment data and provide VIVA with any ancillary materials developed as complementary to the selected course content. Successful applications will receive 75% of the funding at the outset of the project and the remaining 25% upon completion of a final report.

Applications will be reviewed by members of VIVA’s Open and Affordable Course Content Committee and VIVA administrators.  Grants will be awarded based on:

  • Potential for student savings, including class enrollment and cost of existing course materials.
  • The use of OER (freely available and free to be modified).
  • Assessment data and ancillary materials made widely available to other education professionals.
  • Frequency of course offering, with a preference for high-enrollment, required courses.
  • Impact on educational equity and outcomes in traditionally underserved communities.
  • Commitment to continue offering the no cost course materials to students for future semesters/years.
  • Agreement to the terms of the grant and required activities.