AN ACT Relating to open educational resources; and adding a new section to chapter 28B.10 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 28B.10 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The definitions in this subsection apply throughout this section unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

(a) "Campus coordinator" means a designated facilitator to promote, assist, and support the creation of open educational resources by establishing and coordinating training seminars, creating workshops, helping faculty and staff identify available resources and funding, and cataloging and evaluating open educational resources used or created by an institution of higher education's faculty.

(b) "Open educational resources" means freely accessible, openly licensed educational textbooks, documents, materials, and media that reside in the public domain for free use and repurposing for the intention of teaching, learning, assessing, and researching.

(2)(a) Subject to availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the student achievement council shall administer the open educational resources grant pilot program for the four-year institutions of higher education. A grant received under the pilot program must be used for either (a)(i) or (ii) of this subsection, or both:

(i) Create a designated campus coordinator who will be the campus lead and centralized contact regarding open educational resources; or

(ii) Support faculty to adopt or create open educational resources for the purpose of reducing students' cost of attendance.

(b) The student achievement council shall develop an application form for the grant, a process for reviewing and selecting grant applicants, a process for awarding grant funding, and a process for the grant awardee to report back to the student achievement council on the use of the grant. The student achievement council shall prioritize applications that estimate the highest cost reduction to students, whether it be on an individual basis or across a field of study or the institution.

(c) The student achievement council shall determine how many grants may be awarded based on the funding received for the pilot program.

(d) In addition to the grant program, the student achievement council shall conduct outreach to other states and higher education agencies to identify whether there is interest in establishing a multistate open educational resources network to facilitate and establish a platform for peer review, coordinating, and sharing of open educational resources.

(e) The student achievement council shall report to the appropriate committees of the legislature in accordance with the reporting requirements in RCW 43.01.036 by December 1, 2018, on the open educational resources grant pilot program and on the outreach conducted regarding a multistate open educational resources network. The report must include information on the number of grant applications received, the number of grants awarded, and an evaluation of how the grants were used to expand the use of open educational resources. In addition, the report must include how the student achievement council conducted outreach to other states on the concept of a multistate open educational resources network and the feedback from those states.

(3) By December 1, 2018, the Washington state institute for public policy shall conduct a study on the cost of textbooks and course materials and the use of open educational resources at four-year institutions of higher education across the state and submit a report to the appropriate committees of the legislature in accordance with RCW 43.01.036. To the extent data are available, the study should address:

(a) The types of and average cost per student for required textbooks and course materials, including digital access codes and bundled items, in the state, at each four-year institution of higher education, and in specific degree programs;

(b) The use of open educational resources at four-year institutions of higher education and in specific degree programs or courses, or both; and

(c) Any other information regarding textbooks, course materials, or open educational resources that the Washington state institute for public policy deems relevant.

--- END ---