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Innovative Practices

Implementing a Z-Course Program at Fort Hays State University

Author
  • Claire Nickerson orcid logo (Fort Hays State University)

Abstract

In 2018, the Fort Hays State University (FHSU) Open Educational Resource (OER) Committee proposed a Z-Course Program to track and incentivize the use of zero-cost course materials. It included a course-marking initiative, the implementation of a small cost-share fee to students to fund the program and incentivize departments to offer Z-courses, and a Z-Course Grant Program for faculty who wanted to convert their courses. The proposal was approved in 2020 and implemented beginning in 2021. Since then, the course-marking and fee implementation have been streamlined, and the committee is working on qualitative assessment.

Keywords: OER, Z-Course, Course Marking, Course Designation, Grant Program

How to Cite:

Nickerson, C., (2025) “Implementing a Z-Course Program at Fort Hays State University”, Journal of Open Educational Resources in Higher Education 3(1), 157-178. doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/joerhe.17969

Rights:

CC-BY 4.0

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Published on
2025-01-10

Peer Reviewed

 Open peer review from Elizabeth Batte

Scope, Objectives, Content

The scope of z-courses and the objective to educate on their process aligns with JOERHE. The content overall is really good. I would like to see more previous research cited and more discussion on feedback from awardees of the internal grant. 



Organization

The article is very well organized and adheres to section guidelines.



Approach and Conclusions

The discussion and conclusions needs more. It needs more direct feedback from the team who implemented the internal grant at minimum. Ideally, I would like to see feedback presented from faculty who were awarded the z-course grant about the impacts it made on them choosing to go open.



Writing Style, References

The writing style is clean and easy to understand. References are strong, but I would like to see more of them throughout the paper, not just the literature review.



Application

Overall, yes, but I think it would be more impactful to readers if they could present evidence of the internal grant directly encouraging faculty to change their course and its impact on their decision-making in the future. What is the sustainability of this program?



What are the stronger points/qualities of the article?

The literature review is strong and they are clear about their process in creating the internal grant system.



What are the weaker points/qualities of the article? How could they be strengthened?

Nearly no references outside of the literature review.



Peer Review Ranking: Scope
relevant

Peer Review Ranking: Clarity
Very clear

Peer Review Ranking: Contribution
contributes

Peer Review Ranking: Research Assessment
sound

Note:
This review refers to round of peer review and may pertain to an earlier version of the document.