Open Education at UFV update
Submitted by Claire Hay
Open Education Strategy
Work on developing an open education strategy to meet UFV’s needs is ongoing as part of a BCcampus funded project, the “Open Education In-Action Initiative.” On the advice of Dean’s Council, we are developing a UFV Commitment Statement on Open Education that will be accompanied by guiding principles. It is not a policy, instead it is an acknowledgement that, where possible, open education use supports students by reducing additional financial barriers.
Claire Hay, Janelle Sztuhar, and Shaun Sun have engaged with faculty councils throughout October to gather feedback on how an OE strategy can support teaching and research/scholarship at UFV. We have engaged with other stakeholders including Teaching and Learning Advisory Council, Research Advisory Council, Library Advisory Council, and others.
We are still gathering your input. If you have something to contribute, please visit our Padlet.
In developing a UFV Open Education Strategy, student voice is important. Aashima Marwaha, Open Education Strategy Student Assistant, has been working alongside UFV Student Union Society to raise awareness of open education and ZTC, and gather student input on the open education strategy. Over 100 students visited open education tabling events in the run-up to the start of Winter 2026 registration.
Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) program
UFV’s Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) program is entering its second full semester (after a pilot in summer 2025). ZTC was launched in the Fall 2025 semester with 14% ZTC course sections. Through awareness efforts directed towards faculty and students, this number has grown to 27% for Winter 2026 (380 course sections of 1417 sections) have been marked as ZTC. Thanks to the work of the Office of the Registrar, ZTC courses can be easily identified on the Browse Classes interactive timetable without an attribute search being required. This makes finding ZTC courses easy for students. UFV Bookstore is also tagging ZTC sections in the online Textbook Finder making it easy for students to find courses that do not require them to purchase resources.
It is important to remember that ZTC courses use a variety of open educational resources to support student learning. These resources may be open textbooks, open software, collated library resources available via Brightspace, and other free materials. ZTC courses may still require students to purchase lab coats, calculators, art supplies etc.
Open Education Micro Grants (OEMGP) program
Through funding from the Office of the Provost and Vice President, Academic we are excited to announce the recipients of the 3rd round of Open Education Micro Grant projects. Each of these small-scale projects provides support for OEMGP Student Assistants to work on each project alongside the faculty project lead, allowing them to apply existing and develop new skills.
- Beth Watters, School of Social Work and Human Services – SOWK 312 Workbook
- Brenna Hay, Department of Biology – Biochemistry in action: case studies for active learning
- Jason Li, Centre for Experiential and Career Education – Empower your Employability: Resources for Students’ Career Readiness
- Natasha Marriette, School of Social Work and Human Services – Resource Repository for SOWK 225
- Tara Corman & Abhijit Rao, Academic Success Centre – Student Success Module Series
- Tara & Abhi are seeking faculty input to guide the development of this module series. If you are interested, please complete this brief anonymous survey.
- Rita Dhungel, School of Social Work and Human Services – Resources for SOWK 380
SAVE THE DATE – Open Education Week 2026
Finally, we are excited to announce a series of events celebrating Open Education Week 2026. Please Save-The-Date and plan to attend. More information will follow closer to OE Week.
- Tuesday 3 March 2026; 2:30-3:30pm – Open Education Basics (online session)
- Wednesday 4 March 2026; 2:30-3:30pm – Open Education Stories (online session)
- Thursday 5 March 2026; 4:00-6:00pm – Open Education Celebration and OE Strategy Launch (in-person event)
More information
For more information on Open Education, visit these resources:
Questions, please email openeducation@ufv.ca.