Maricopa Community Colleges has saved students more than $10 million dollars since launching the Maricopa Millions Open Educational Resources Project, according to a 2016-2017 year-end report. This amount is almost double the estimated projections when the program was first conceived five years ago.
“At Maricopa Community Colleges, our goal is to provide affordable, quality education to students,” said Maricopa County Community College District Chancellor Dr. Maria Harper-Marinick. “The Millions Project was established to amplify our objective and maximize benefits for community members. We are proud that our efforts have been so successful and exceeded our expectations.”
Dr. Harper-Marinick will give welcoming remarks and provide more information about the project on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2017 from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. at GateWay Community College (Copper Room).
In 2012, Dr. Harper-Marinick, the then-Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost of MCCCD, tasked a small group of faculty and staff to research open educational resources. As a result, the group developed the Maricopa Millions Open Educational Resources project (OER), which aspired to save Maricopa students $5 million in five years in course materials.
The Maricopa Millions project radically decreases student costs by offering low cost or no cost options for course materials. Courses designated as “no cost” have no additional cost to the student beyond fees associated with tuition. Courses designated as “low cost” have required course materials that are under $40. These charges are associated with copyrights for textbooks, printing of required materials, or online homework.
Open educational resources are teaching, learning, and research resources that are copyright-free or have been released under a copyright license that permits others to reuse, revise, remix and redistribute them. These include full courses, course modules, syllabi, lectures, homework assignments, quizzes, lab and classroom activities, pedagogical materials, games, simulations, and many other resources contained in digital media collections globally.
The Maricopa Millions project is led by Dr. Lisa Young, Faculty Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Scottsdale Community College, Dr. Alisa Cooper, English Faculty and Faculty Director of the Center for Teaching, Learning and Engagement at Glendale Community College, and Angela Christiano, Mathematics Faculty at Paradise Valley Community College.
The chairs of the OER Committee are currently developing a sustainability plan to institutionalize the program.
Learn more about the Maricopa Millions OER Project.
About Maricopa Community Colleges
The Maricopa Community College District includes 10 regionally-accredited colleges – Chandler-Gilbert, Estrella Mountain, GateWay, Glendale, Mesa, Paradise Valley, Phoenix, Rio Salado, Scottsdale, and South Mountain, serving more than 200,000 students with two-year degree, certificate, and university transfer programs.