2 The Alt-Textbook Project
David Tully
Since 2013, the NC State University Libraries has been a leader in supporting educators in developing open educational solutions for course materials. Through its flagship initiative, the Alt-Textbook Project, the Libraries has empowered instructors to enhance their teaching, expand student access to high-quality, customized learning materials, and reduce the financial burden of costly course resources. To further this work, the Libraries offers grants to faculty to support the adoption, adaptation, or creation of free or low-cost alternatives to traditional textbooks.
Faculty can apply for grants each Fall and Spring semester, with awards ranging from $1,000 to $2,500, depending on the project type. The Alt-Textbook Project is overseen by a committee which evaluates proposals based on their potential impact, prioritizing projects that benefit a large number of students, generate significant cost savings, and introduce innovative approaches—whether through new technologies, pedagogical strategies, or the development of open educational resources (OER). Feasibility within a one-year timeframe is also a key consideration.
Each funded project is supported by a dedicated Libraries liaison, who provides guidance, ensures access to necessary resources, and helps instructors successfully implement their projects.
Managing the Alt-Textbook Project
While the Libraries’ Open Knowledge Center holds overall responsibility for the Alt-Textbook Project, the work is guided and carried out by a volunteer committee of approximately 10–12 members. The committee is intentionally composed to reflect a broad range of expertise, ensuring that the diverse needs of faculty participants are well supported. Unlike formal committees, membership is not term-limited; members may join or step away at any time. What remains consistent is the committee’s commitment to maintaining a full spectrum of expertise—covering copyright, licensing, collections, course reserves, student success, and instructional design—so that applicants continue to receive comprehensive support throughout the program.
The Alt-Textbook Project began in 2013 as a Libraries-led initiative. Since 2020, it has grown into a formal partnership between the Libraries and DELTA (Digital Education and Learning Technology Applications). Both organizations now serve as co-funders, and the collaboration has been strengthened by the addition of instructional technologists to the committee—bringing valuable expertise that, while DELTA was always a close collaborator, had not previously been part of the program’s formal structure.
At various times, the committee has also benefited from the inclusion of both undergraduate and graduate students—a highly recommended practice for any OER initiative. While recruiting student participants can sometimes be challenging, their involvement brings an invaluable perspective to open education work. Student voices not only enrich the committee’s understanding of learning experiences but also help ensure that OER efforts remain relevant, inclusive, and grounded in the realities of the classroom.
Committee work includes monthly meetings and ongoing project tasks. Typically, project work involves sub-groups from the committee, who meet separately and provide updates to the full group each month. Project goals are reevaluated annually, in alignment with the priorities set by the committee at the start of each academic year. In addition, each committee member is responsible for serving as a liaison to at least one grant-awarded project each semester, ensuring direct support and communication with project teams.
What Types of Grants are Available Through the Alt-Textbook Project?
Review an Open Textbook ($250)
This grant provides funding for instructors to identify an open textbook suitable for a course in their department, evaluate its quality and relevance, and publish a review in the Open Textbook Library. Reviews must be authentic and reflect the instructor’s own insights and experiences—AI-generated or artificially produced content is not permitted.
Open Pedagogy ($1,000)
The Open Pedagogy grant supports projects that advance innovative teaching and learning by incorporating Open Educational Resources (OER) and open assignments. Funded projects engage students as active contributors to open knowledge and promote participatory, collaborative, and inclusive educational practices.
Adapt/Adopt/Create an Open Textbook ($2500)
This grant supports course redesigns that incorporate open textbooks, whether adopted as-is or adapted to better align with course topics and structure. Projects must result in either the open textbook being the required text or the elimination of a required textbook altogether. Grant recipients commit to using free or low-cost resources for a minimum of three semesters and sharing their experiences with the program in a brief presentation.
Department/Group Adoption ($2500 per instructor)
This grant supports collaborative projects in which at least two instructors adopt open textbooks for two or more courses within a one-year period. Projects may involve using existing open textbooks as assigned texts or adapting them to better align with course content and structure. For each course, the open textbook must either serve as the required text or replace the need for a required textbook altogether.
Enhancement Grant ($750)
Available exclusively to past recipients of our Open Education Grants, the Enhancement Grant supports follow-up projects that expand, refine, or build on previous work. This grant is designed to help instructors deepen the impact of their original project and continue advancing open education in their teaching.
Pressbook Contributor Grant ($400)
This grant supports instructors in documenting and sharing their open education practices to inspire and guide others. Grant recipients will contribute to an NC State collaboratively authored Community Pressbook, showcasing narratives of their open education work alongside adaptable, ready-to-use open pedagogy assignment templates.
How Proposals Are Managed & Evaluated
The Alt-Textbook Project offers two grant cycles each academic year—one in the fall and one in the spring. Deadlines are scheduled immediately after final exams to give instructors ample time to develop their proposals. Since grants are often supported by state funding, recipients must spend awarded funds by the end of the fiscal year. As a result, the program typically sees the highest volume of proposals during the spring cycle, with awards allocated for use in the following fiscal year.
The Alt-Textbook Committee reviews each proposal and reaches a consensus on which projects will receive funding, based on the criteria outlined below. These criteria are incorporated into an in-house rubric, which helps guide the evaluation process.
Grant proposals are assessed for their potential to create a significant impact on students and the broader teaching community. Reviewers consider the following factors:
Student Impact – How much students will save and how many students the project will reach.
Feasibility – Whether the project plan is realistic and achievable within the proposed timeline and budget.
Innovation – How the project introduces new approaches, fills gaps in available resources, or leverages creative uses of open tools and pedagogy.
Accessibility and Collaboration – How the project ensures accessibility and whether it brings together voices across disciplines.
Sustainability – The long-term potential of the work and how it might continue to benefit students and educators beyond the initial implementation.
Openness and Sharing – Whether the materials created will be openly licensed and widely shared.
Strategic Growth – How the project contributes to growing open education at NC State, especially in new departments or subject areas.
