Z-Course Grant FAQ
The Z-Course Grant Program is managed by the FHSU Open Educational Resources Committee. It is designed to support the conversion of courses that currently use paid course materials into Z-courses, or courses that use zero-cost course materials. Below are some frequently asked questions about the Z-Course Grant Program.
What is a Z-Course?
What are zero-cost course materials?
What is the grant funding for?
What are the goals of the grant program?
How much funding is available?
Where does the funding come from?
What can the grant funding NOT be used for?
What’s the application process?
Can I apply for multiple awards?
Can I use generative AI to assist me in my authoring process?
Can I collaborate with others?
What’s the review process?
What do I have to do if I receive a grant?
When will the funding be disbursed?
How much time will I have to finish my project?
How will the final product be made available to students?
What about copyright issues?
Who should I contact if I have questions?
Where can I find zero-cost course materials?
What is a Z-Course?
A Z-Course is a course that requires zero cost to students for the purchase of course materials such as textbooks, course packs, subscriptions, or homework systems. Instead, Z-courses use zero-cost course materials.
What are zero-cost course materials?
Zero-cost course materials are learning resources that students can access for free. Here are some common types of zero-cost course materials:
- Open educational resources (OERs), such as open textbooks. OERs are course materials that are free and available under an open license. At a minimum, an open license allows users to make and distribute copies of the resource, activities that are not usually permitted under copyright law.
- Free but traditionally copyrighted resources, such as professional websites
- Existing library-licensed materials, such as e-books or articles. Please note that Forsyth Library’s collection does not include textbooks.
What is the grant funding for?
The grant funding is designed to eliminate costs to students for course materials. The funding will support converting courses that currently use paid resources to courses that use zero-cost course materials (Z-courses).
This can be accomplished by authoring new course materials or adapting existing open textbooks and other OERs. It can also be accomplished by curating a collection of existing zero-cost course materials. However, for a curation project to be funded, we expect a high level of effort. For example, this might include such activities as making a list of desired topics, conducting a thorough search for existing materials, evaluating multiple options for quality and accessibility to find the most best resources for students, modifying your other course content to connect with your new zero-cost materials, writing proper citations and attributions, embedding content in Blackboard, giving students multiple options for different learning styles, and providing estimated reading times for textual materials.
What are the goals of the grant program?
The goal of the Z-Course Grant is to incentivize departments with large-registration courses to convert courses so that students are not required to purchase any course materials. The Z-Course grant is funded by charging FHSU students enrolling in a Z-Course a minimal cost in lieu of requiring them to purchase commercial textbooks or other course materials. The cost-share will support grants to develop or adopt zero-cost materials, costs for maintaining the program, and operational funds to departments as an incentive to participate.
Students win because course costs are dramatically reduced. Faculty win because they receive grant funding to convert their traditional courses requiring students to purchase commercial textbooks and materials to Z-courses. Departments win because the more course sections that are converted to Z-courses, the more funding the department receives to meet their needs.
How much funding is available?
Z-Course grants will range from $500 to $5000 per course depending on the amount of original authoring or modification required to convert course materials. The OER Committee offers increased funding for projects that will result in high savings for students, projects that include ancillary materials or activities, and projects that include a plan for implementing peer review.
Where does the funding come from?
Seed funding for this grant is provided through the Foundation funding. However, the eventual goal is for the program to be self sustaining. Starting in Fall 2021, students taking courses that use zero-cost course materials will be charged a $12 Z-Course cost-share in lieu of traditional course material costs, which will be allocated as follows:
- $6 to the department to incentivize conversion and support ongoing updates and maintenance of z-courses
- The department may spend this funding as needed for operational costs, or waive the cost share if they prefer not to collect it.
- $6 to the OER program to pay for faculty grants, technology and training, or other direct program expenses.
What can the grant funding NOT be used for?
- Courses that do not use any textual course materials
- Adopting course materials that students will have to pay for
- Adopting, adapting, or creating zero-cost course materials to supplement or accompany paid course materials
- Funding Z-course projects that have already been completed
- Updating courses that already have zero course material cost to use different zero-cost course materials
- The creation or adaptation of textbooks for profit or commercial publication
- The creation or adaptation of textbooks without the accompaniment of a Creative Commons license
- Professional development or training
What’s the application process?
You can apply at any time during the academic year. First, schedule an appointment with Claire Nickerson, Learning Initiatives and OER Librarian, to discuss your proposed project. If you are still interested, please ask Claire to help you schedule a presentation to the OER Committee. The presentation should be no longer than 30 minutes, including time for questions. The applicant(s) should provide the following information in their presentation:
- The name and number of the course
- The approximate annual registration for the sections of the course that will be converted (do not count sections that will continue to use paid resources)
- A description of the paid resource(s) to be replaced, including the title, publisher, and list price of any textbooks currently being used
- The amount of money that will be saved annually (approximate annual registration for sections to be converted, times money saved per student)
- A description of the work needed to convert the course—can it be converted using existing zero-cost resources, or will conversion require adapting or authoring materials? Z-Course Grants will range from $500 to $5000 depending on the amount of original authoring or modification required to course materials.
Can I apply for multiple awards?
You may apply for multiple awards to work on converting different courses. However, we encourage you to propose and work on one project at a time, since Z-course projects can be time consuming. You can also apply for a Z-Course Grant and TILT course development funding at the same time if you are working on a new course for which you want to use zero-cost course materials.
Can I use generative AI to assist me in my authoring process?
Yes. However, the FHSU OER Committee has two requirements:
- You must specify in your grant proposal how you intend to use generative artificial intelligence. Depending on the extent to which you plan to rely on AI assistance, the OER Committee may choose to consider your proposal as adaptation or remixing rather than original authoring.
- You must disclose how you used generative AI in the final product. In a textbook, this disclosure might take the form of a preface or appendix explaining your methodology and sharing the prompts you used.
Can I collaborate with others?
Yes. If there are multiple participants collaborating on the same course, the stipend will be divided between them. However, even if one or two faculty act as the lead developers for the course conversion, the department will receive Z-course cost-share funding starting in the first semester when the course is offered at zero course material cost (unless the department chooses to waive the cost share). Therefore, all faculty in the department will benefit, even if they do not receive part of the grant stipend.
What’s the review process?
After hearing your presentation, the OER Committee will ask questions about any aspects of your proposal that may have been unclear. The Committee will then discuss the merits of your proposal (usually immediately after your presentation, so you should receive a response quickly) based on the following criteria:
- Number of students who will be impacted and the return on investment from converting the course (preference will be given to courses where all sections will be converted AND the annual registration is at least 300 students)
- Examination of existing potential zero-cost course materials before proposing to adapt or author new ones
- Level of thought and realistic planning for converting the course
- Lack of potential copyright issues with the planned course materials
What do I have to do if I receive a grant?
Grant recipients will participate in a “course conversion boot camp” with a cohort of other Z-course faculty. The boot camp will take place the week after final grades are due for the spring semester. We will schedule the dates and times of the sprint within this week in consultation with you and with other participants to accommodate your schedule as much as possible. There may also be a fall or winter boot camp depending on demand. A team of librarians and instructional designers will be on hand to provide information about best practices; assist with finding, adapting, and/or authoring course materials; and answer questions. During the boot camp, we will ask you for a completed W-9 form so we can process your grant payment.
Participants will then have twelve weeks over the summer to finish converting the course, with the goal of implementing changes in the Fall semester. If you are adopting, adapting, or authoring an open textbook, we recommend that you use Pressbooks, FHSU's user-friendly authoring platform, to author or edit your project. You can upload existing text to Pressbooks in multiple formats, apply structural elements and visual themes to help format your book, provide online access to your book, and export attractive downloadable versions for digital or print use.
If you create any new materials for the course, a PDF version must be uploaded to the FHSU Scholars Repository under a Creative Commons License that allows derivative works. We will consult with you on how you would like to present and describe your project in the Repository record.
When will the funding be disbursed?
Half of the course conversion stipend will be paid to the participant(s) at the end of the boot camp, and half when the conversion is complete.
How much time will I have to finish my project?
You may start the project as soon as you receive the award letter for the grant. However, you must implement the zero-cost course materials by the start of the Fall semester after you are awarded the grant.
How will the final product be made available to students?
In your course, you may use the course materials in any format you like and on any platform you like. If you use Pressbooks for authoring, adapting, or hosting your open textbook, an HTML version will be available on FHSU's Digital Press site. If you create any new materials, a PDF version of the final product must be uploaded to the FHSU Scholars Repository under a Creative Commons License that allows derivative versions.
What about copyright issues?
You are responsible for following applicable copyright laws. We will go over copyright basics during the Z-Course Boot Camp. However, if you have any questions about possible copyright and licensing issues related to your course materials, Forsyth Library offers copyright consultations and will be happy to advise you.
Who should I contact if I have questions?
Please contact Claire Nickerson, Learning Initiatives & OER Librarian, at x4543 or cenickerson@fhsu.edu.
Where can I find zero-cost course materials?
There is a list of OER repositories, search tools for free materials, and recommended library databases on Forsyth Library's OER Research Guide.