Bill Text: HI HR72 | 2019 | Regular Session | Introduced

Hawaii House Resolution 72 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Requesting The University Of Hawaii To Study The Feasibility Of Adopting An Open Educational Resources Initiative.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-03-14 - Referred to LHE, FIN, referral sheet 33 [HR72 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2019-HR72-Introduced.html

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	72
THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2019
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

Requesting the University of Hawaii to study the feasibility of adopting an open educational resources initiative.

WHEREAS, the cost of textbooks has risen four times faster than the rate of inflation over the last decade; and

WHEREAS, according to the College Board, the average college student now spends more than $1,200 on books and materials each year, which is a large sum for students whose budgets are already stretched thin from tuition, fees, and other educational expenses; and

WHEREAS, the high price of textbooks has caused sixty-five percent of students to skip buying required textbooks at some point in their college career; and

WHEREAS, open educational resources are online or printed materials, including textbooks and other learning content, that are free or openly licensed; and

WHEREAS, a growing number of higher education institutions are turning to open educational resources as a more affordable alternative to traditional textbooks; and

WHEREAS, these open educational resources are peer reviewed like traditional textbooks and may include sample problems and quizzes like those that publishers often bundle with traditional, printed textbooks; and

WHEREAS, most significantly, because of their open nature, these materials are much more affordable than traditional textbooks and can therefore make a higher education more accessible; and

WHEREAS, students at institutions that have adopted open educational resources have experienced a dramatic decrease in the cost of textbooks; and

WHEREAS, for example, students enrolled at a community college in Massachusetts that adopted open educational resources in three of its six required general education courses spent as little as $31 per course on course materials, compared to the national average of $153 per course; and

WHEREAS, the North Dakota University System used a $110,000 appropriation from its legislature to create an open educational resources initiative, funding system-wide faculty training and institution-level grants; and

WHEREAS, as a result of the initiative, six hundred fifty courses across the system now exclusively use open educational resources, saving the fifteen thousand students who have enrolled in the courses between $1,100,000 and $2,400,000 in textbook costs over two years, equivalent to at least ten times the amount of the legislature's initial investment in the program; and

WHEREAS, given the positive results that other jurisdictions have experienced adopting open educational resources, the State should study whether an open educational resources initiative would be successful within the University of Hawaii system; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirtieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2019, that the University of Hawaii is requested to conduct a study on the feasibility of adopting an open educational resources initiative, which may include:

(1) Open educational resources training, including training for faculty; and

(2) Individual grants for faculty to incentivize the use of open educational resources in their courses; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the study is requested to include:

(1) A strategic plan to increase the use of open educational resources;

(2) The recommended parameters of an open educational resources initiative at the University of Hawaii;

(3) The estimated cost to implement the initiative; and

(4) The projected savings to students as a result of the initiative, if any; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the University of Hawaii is requested to submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2020; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Board of Regents of the University of Hawaii and President of the University of Hawaii.