Into The Open: A Conversation about Affordable Education Resources, a Recap

$5000 is the estimated cost of course materials for first year students at UWaterloo, according to the Undergraduate Programs website’s cost calculator. That’s on top of tuition, housing, food, and other fees like dental and health insurance. Affording post-secondary education is harder than ever, which is why Affordability and Cost of Living is one of WUSA’s advocacy priorities. Open Educational Resources (OER) can be one piece of the puzzle. They are learning, teaching, and research materials, in any format or medium, that are in the public domain and can be used free of charge (read more about OER). 

What would you do if you had $5000 back? 

A Panel on Accessibility and Affordability 

On October 22nd, the University of Waterloo Libraries and WUSA brought together instructors and students to discuss the benefits and challenges of OER. The instructor panel was made up of Staebler Insurance Grant recipients Dr. Pejoohan Tavassoti-Kheiry, Dr. Sepehr Assadi, and Dr. Nadine Ibrahim. The student panelists were Remington Zhi, WUSA Director and former VP, and Amir Tabatabaie, Waterloo alumnus and former WUSA Student Advocacy Support Staff. 

Panelists discussed how OERs can make course materials more affordable, easier to access, and easier for instructors to update than traditional textbooks. That’s why they also align with another of our advocacy priorities, Academic/Quality of Education. However, while OERs are free for students to use, they are not free to develop. The Staebler Insurance Grant, for example, is expected to end its funding in 2027–28. The panel also highlighted challenges around funding, institutional support, peer review, licensing, and concerns regarding GenAI and data scraping. 

Next Steps Toward More OER 

Panelists encouraged instructors to consider OER for student affordability, accessibility, and greater access to knowledge. However, there is currently no campus-wide plan or commitment to open education. Individuals who strongly support it typically work independently, in different positions scattered across campus. When the university doesn’t formally recognize or invest in this work, whether through policy, active funding, or inclusion in strategic plans, it becomes much harder for open education to grow and be adopted. 

So, what can be done? Increasing OER use will take more than individual instructors choosing to create resources. We need to push for clear direction from the university to make OER a priority, along with a culture change among professors that makes developing OER an appealing project. Improving access takes care, coordination, and resources. 

Affordable Futures 

Affordability has many sides: housing, food insecurity, tuition fees, and course materials. OERs are one more way to address it. You can learn more about the strategies we’re implementing this year to improve affordability in our Annual Plan. 

Thank you to the panelists for their time and expertise, and to the University of Waterloo Libraries for providing the space and resources to make this happen. Together, we can build a more affordable future for all.