2. OpenEd17 “Unleashing Z Monster: Why the Future Is Not So Scary”
Dr. Aaron Knight, Dr. Stephen Levey, Dr. Nathan Smith, and Dr. Amy Tan

3. POLL How many have already established a Z-Degree program?
How many have begun to establish a Z-Degree program?
How many would you like to establish a Z-Degree program?

4. Timeline
: de-centralized structure, grass roots movement on OER
Fall 2017: running 27 Z-Degree courses and 2 degrees

5. Houston Community College
Who Are We?

6. We are ONE Accredited System Multiple Colleges – 27 Campuses

7. By The Numbers – Student Demographics, 2015-2016
Gender
Here’s what you need to know: we are really big, probably in the top 3 in the nation, big in geographical area (beltway 8), 800 ft faculty and 2000 adjunct faculty.
Age Group

8. From HCC Internal Survey
OER Statistics
From HCC Internal Survey

9. Textbook Costs
78% of HCC students spend over $150 per semester on textbooks. (2014-7)
45% of HCC students spend over $300 per semester. (2014-7)
26% of HCC faculty are moderately concerned about the price of textbooks. (2013-7)
51% of HCC faculty are extremely concerned. (2013-7)

10. Estimated Cost Savings to Students
Z-Degree Pilot Program, Fall 2017 (approximately 146 FTE):
$100K per semester (est. $75 per student per course)
OER: $1 million per semester

11. Timeline
: de-centralized structure, grassroots movement on OER
Spring 2015: Transform-ation: unified Instruc-tional Services
Spring 2016: capstone, SLAC present-ation to BoT, AtD grant application
Summer 2016: Kinder talks, charge from Chancellor, OER steering committee
Fall 2016: Tidewater consult, OpenEd16, faculty survey and recruitment, and budget and policy planning
Spring 2017: Kinder grant, Lumen, targeted degrees, structured schedule, faculty training
Summer 2017: hired OER Coordinator, recruited students, developed courses, OpenStax IP
Fall 2017: running 27 courses and 2 degrees, research proposal, planning for expansion

12. Z-Degree Pilot Program Fall 2017
712 duplicated enrollments, 668 students, 146 FTE
AA in Business Administration and General Studies
Located at one campus, expanding to second campus in Spring 2018
27 sections, 11 online and 16 face to face
17 courses from 12 programs
Spring 2018 will have 60 sections in the Z-Degree program: 25 online, 24 at one campus, 11 at the other; 18 courses; 15 programs

13. Institutional Governance
Instructional Materials Council
Faculty and student surveys
Cross-sectional membership
Textbook adoption guidelines
OER/Z-Degree Steering Committee
OER Coordinator
Full-time faculty position (full teaching release)

14. Surprises and Challenges
Supply and Demand
Bureaucracy/Agreements
Complexity and Communication
Free vs. Open
Intellectual Property
Training and Course Certification
Recruiting and Registering students
Steve: share our initial concerns (demand would far exceed supply); Nathan: what actually has happened: some programs are reluctant to participate while other programs are worried about being left out; initially worried that we would be overwhelmed by demand, but it turned out that the nearly all (98%!!) of the students currently enrolled were unaware of the Z-Degree program.
Amy/Steve: getting people paid through HR/paperwork; negotiating contracts/working with legal
Nathan: So many moving parts (easy to lose some details): Math course, BA degree plan didn’t match published information; Do have to use Lumen?; coordinate with online ed director - online shells and LTI difficulties; Aaron: complexity – program committee approval; communication – belief that Z-Degree will be mandated
Nathan: committed to “free” for the Z-Degree, emphasizing “open” for broader OER initiatives (in practice, courses and curriculum developed for Z-Degree will be CC-BY, but faculty are encouraged to use library resources and other freely available resources that may not be open; conversely, institution will pick up cost of Lumen Learning fee for courses in Z-Degree)
Nathan: Intellectual property policy ought to encourage creation of content (some sharing of rights between faculty and institution);
Nathan: Training and course certification was handled by Lumen Learning (some confusion with faculty who wanted to use their own materials and didn’t want to host with Lumen); working to establish a training and certification process in-house; continue to use Lumen Learning for those faculty who want that option.
Nathan: Recruiting and registering students has proved to be a huge hurdle: need to orient students to the degree, have students identify as “Z-Degree” students, and encourage them to take full schedule in Z-Degree. Difficulty in finding students who fit the plan we are offering. Working on marketing and enrollment practice – over the summer, we captured 448 names and contact info for students interested in the program; only 7.5% attended a registration and only 3% enrolled.

15. Opportunities Plan (and be flexible) Identify your champions
Use Existing structures
Coordinate with all stakeholders
Educate the students and the wider community
Research (COUP framework)
Steve: Plan (and be flexible) [really approached this initiative with intention, spent a year and a half planning, worked in small groups to diligently create definitions and policies and expectations with multiple stakeholders]
Amy: Identify your champions [leaders who can motivate, leaders can make things happen, and leaders who can mentor and support]
Amy/Steve: Coordinate with all stakeholders [in the room if possible, remarkable attendance from steering committee members/everyone attends/needs careful negotiation/coordination with the academic programs (cannot change curriculum, need their input, direction, and support, need your librarians, faculty academy, administrative support, faculty, executive leadership, institutional alignment, and focus]
Nathan: Educate the students and the wider community [what OER is, what the students need to access OERs, what they should expect, what their responsibilities are and the wider community needs to understand too]
Nathan: Research proposal under review. Looking at basic student data (retention, persistence, success, enrollment intensity, and completion), also using surveys and focus groups to collect perceptions and usage. Working with bookstore to determine realistic cost savings numbers.
Use existing structures [we used our faculty academy, librarians libguides, faculty who are already using OER, LMS, funding for professional development]

16. Sustainability and empOwERment
Integrate with our Institute for Instructional Engagement and Development (regularize training)
Identify courses in PS / marketing
Engage students to develop and offer OER seminars
Z-Core at all major campuses by Spring 2020
Possible duplicated enrollment of 14,000 students and savings of over $1 million.
Currently working from a local grant. May have a chance to continue that grant if we meet our objectives. Using existing structures allows us to sustain much of the effort internally. Goal: altering the culture at the institution so that faculty, students, and staff understand OER and embrace the value of open for education.

17. Contributors @dramytan
Dr. Aaron Knight, Dean for Social and Behavioral Sciences
Dr. Stephen Levey, Associate Vice-Chancellor for Instructional Services
Dr. Nathan Smith, OER Coordinator and Philosophy Faculty
Dr. Amy Tan, Dean English and Communications
@dramytan

18. Image Credits
Slide 2: pixabay.com Slide 7: en.wikipedia.org/wiki and pixabay.com Slide 8: maxpixel.freegreatpicture.com Slide 9: TaxCredits.com Slide 12: pixabay.com Slide 13: ccPixs.com, Slide 14: simple.Wikipedia.org, Connie Ma Slide 16: freestockphotos.biz