University Of Alaska Anchorage: UAA To Implement A ZTC (Zero Textbook Cost) Course Marking Initiative

Press release from the University of Alaska Anchorage:

December 13, 2021

Dear Faculty and Staff,

I am pleased to share an update about ongoing student success initiatives at UAA aimed
at helping students complete their education in the most affordable way possible.

Recent data from the UAA RISC surveys tells us that finances are one of the greatest barriers to student success and degree
completion. The high cost of textbooks and other course materials plays a major role
in a student’s ability to afford and complete higher education.

In order to support ongoing faculty and staff efforts to reduce course materials costs
as one component of addressing educational affordability, UAA will soon implement
a ZTC (zero textbook cost) course marking initiative. ZTC means that the required
course materials for the class (textbooks and other materials that impart course content)
are available to students free-of-charge. ZTC sections include courses: (1) using
open educational resources (OER), (2) where all materials are freely available (e.g.,
curated collections of library resources) or (3) other free to access resources (like
web resources, instructor-created, or peer-created materials).

Course marking initiatives disproportionately benefit students historically underrepresented
in higher education and help us close equity gaps in student success. This is one
of many steps in our ongoing efforts to put students first.

We know that students use many course attributes to choose which classes and sections
they take. These include things like the course modality (face-to-face or online),
instructor, and days and times of class meetings. Adding ZTC as a searchable course
attribute will allow students to consider it as an additional factor when deciding
which sections to take.

The UAA course marking initiative will involve the following steps:

To date, 13 states and dozens of other institutions have instituted course marking
initiatives, some as a result of legislation that requires it. UAF recently initiated
a similar course making system. 

Vice Provost Claudia Lampman and the Student Success Advisory Council are working to implement this new process. Feel free to contact her at cblampman@alaska.edu with any questions. You may also contact the faculty co-chairs of the UAA Textbook Affordability initiative D’Arcy Hutchings (dlhutchings@alaska.edu) and Veronica Howard (vjhoward@alaska.edu).

Thank you for all you do to help UAA students succeed!

Sincerely,Denise Runge, Ph.D., Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs 

This press release was produced by the University of Alaska Anchorage. The views expressed here are the author’s own.