Hello MTSU community! My name is Ginelle Baskin, and I am the new Student Success & Open Education Librarian in the James E. Walker Library. Although I am not new to MTSU, I am probably a new face for many of you. I’ve worked in the library in a variety of professional positions, but in this new role, I am excited to be leading the development of our campus’ open educational resources program. Through this program, the library hopes to encourage and support the adoption, adaptation, and creation of Open Educational Resources (OER) and other free and low-cost materials as textbook alternatives. We know that students are struggling to pay for college, and OER is one way we can help with that. Besides saving money for students, OER also improves student engagement and success, allows instructors to customize course materials to fit the specific needs of their class, and gives the opportunity to include diverse voices, viewpoints, and examples in our course materials. I’m thrilled to be taking on this new role, and I look forward to advocating for open educational practices on our campus! 

If you have any questions about the OER program, please reach out to me at Ginelle.Baskin@mtsu.edu.