Image: Dr. DeLoris Hesse has received a Textbook Transformation Award from Affordable Learning Georgia for her efforts in adopting and creating open educational resources for students. As coordinator of the undergraduate anatomy and physiology program, Dr. Hesse manages course scheduling, development, and course materials for more than 700 students per year. She has adopted an open textbook for the program, offered online by OpenStax. She and anatomy and physiology instructors Rob Nichols and Leslie Pryor are also helping to create a lab manual for the OpenStax text that will be ready this summer. The open textbooks can be used for both semesters of the program, and will save students $175,000 per academic year. Affordable Learning Georgia is a University System of Georgia initiative that promotes the use of lower cost alternatives to traditional textbooks. "The adoption of open educational resources across campus is expected to save students nearly $2 million in textbook costs by the end of the current academic year," said UGA President Jere W. Morehead. "We congratulate Dr. Hesse on receiving this outstanding recognition and appreciate all of her efforts to advance this important student-centered initiative." Type of News/Audience: Faculty Program coordinator honored for contribution to affordable learning
