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VIVA: VIVA Open Creation Grants

Virginia's Academic Library Consortium

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

VIVA Open Creation Grants (formerly Open Course Grants) are awards of $15,000-$50,000 to empower faculty to create their own course materials that they then give their students for free. All grant projects are peer-reviewed, copy-edited, and checked for accessibility by VIVA Open Publishing, and made available with an open license to students throughout the commonwealth and beyond. 

Why?

Too often, expensive course materials are financially out of reach for students and instructors find that they have to make something work that is not a perfect fit for their course. With a VIVA Open Creation Grant, instructors can create course materials, including textbooks, lab manuals, and software, that address the availability and suitability of course materials that contribute to student success. By supporting instructors as they create materials for their courses, we ensure that Virginia students have immediate and lasting access to course materials without cost and that the course materials are in line with the pedagogical goals for their specific course and student population.  

Who?

VIVA Open Creation Grants are available to any team at a Virginia institution of higher education committed to creating high quality course materials, working with VIVA Open Publishing to bring them to fruition under an open license, and then making those materials widely available without cost. Applicants must include team members willing to pilot the new materials in a credit-bearing course at a Virginia college or university and provide a final report and assessment data that details the outcome of that pilot. Each Open Creation Grant team must include a named project manager and have the support of the department in which the course materials will be piloted. 

VIVA Open Creation Grants are intended to support a team, rather than an individual. There is a $5,000 plus FICA that each individual can receive, and with an minimum of $15,000 budget, at least 2-3 team members are required. 

VIVA Open Creation Grants are awarded during the spring semester with an expectation that the projects will take no more than two years. 

When?

The application for the VIVA Open Adopt Grant is available now. Applications will be accepted until 11:59 pm on November 5, 2025. Grant recipients will be notified in December, 2025, and initial payments will be made in March, 2026. 

How?

The VIVA Open Grant applications must be filled out online, but a pdf preview can be found, along with the application link, on the grants application and RFP page. There you will also find the RFP and the application instructions, which you are encouraged to read. 

More information can be found in the following ways: