Working Together
We are a community of people working at public and private higher education institutions, consortia and statewide systems who advocate, support and facilitate open educational practices. We help one another, learn from one another, and create resources for the common good. When you join the Open Education Network (OEN), you become an important part of this supportive community collaborating to make higher education more open and equitable.
Learn more about our community leaders:
Current members, learn about leadership opportunities by contacting open@umn.edu.
Not yet a member? Let’s talk. We’d love to hear about your interest in leading.
Steering Committee
Established in 2016, the Steering Committee provides essential community perspective. It offers timely feedback to the leadership team and works to support current and future membership.
Robert Awkward
Massachusetts Department of Higher Education
Bob is the Assistant Commissioner for Academic Effectiveness for the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education (DHE), directing two statewide programs for public higher education: increasing adoption, adaptation, and creation of open educational resources; and advancing and deepening the culture of learning outcomes assessment. He is also one of the principal architects of the Equity Agenda having led development of the New Undergraduate Experience, a vision document that details DHE’s aspirations for public higher education. Bob received his Ph.D. in Higher Education from the University of Massachusetts Boston.
Andrea Bearman
Private Academic Library Network of Indiana
Andrea is an instructional designer, consultant, and instructional technology coordinator. She has served on several OER committees and action teams, including the OER Action Team of Indiana for the Midwest Higher Education Compact. Andrea has developed and collaborated on many open textbooks and is finishing her dissertation on faculty perceptions of OER at small, private institutions in Indiana. She has a Master’s degree in Education from Pennsylvania State University and will graduate in 2025 with her doctorate in Instructional Technology from the American College of Education.
Anne Marie Gruber
University of Northern Iowa
Anne Marie, Associate Professor of Library Services at University of Northern Iowa (UNI), is a science and social work librarian coordinating UNI's campuswide Textbook Equity initiative, which includes OER and other forms of free/affordable materials. The common thread in these varied areas is supporting student learning and success, information literacy, and inclusion. Anne Marie also coordinates UNI's Textbook Equity Student Advisory Board and collaborates across campus to support OER advocacy, adoption, and authoring. She serves on the Iowa OER Action Team and is eager to represent small universities on the OEN Steering Committee.
Cindy Gruwell
University of West Florida
Cindy is an Associate Librarian and Coordinator of Scholarly Communication at the University of West Florida. As the liaison for the College of Health, she is responsible for instruction and collection development among other activities. In her role as coordinator, she focuses on building OER resourced courses across the campus utilizing informative workshops and providing support for the Pressbooks authoring system.
Bailey Lake
Eastern Kentucky University
Bailey is the Open Strategies Librarian at Eastern Kentucky University Libraries, where she advocates for open education and facilitates OER creation in partnership with university OER champions. She is the co-chair for the Open Educational Practices University Committee and a member of the Library Publishing Coalition’s Staffing Survey Task Force. Bailey is especially passionate about open pedagogy projects and the impact of renewable assignments on student learning.
Jennifer Pate
Texas A&M University
Jennifer is the Director of OpenEd at Texas A&M Libraries where she supports student success by leading textbook equity initiatives for her campus and supporting broader OER efforts across the A&M system. She has worked with the AACU's Institute on Open mentoring campuses through their OER Program development and is a Founding Fellow with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's OER Fellowship program. Jennifer holds an MLIS from the University of Alabama and a second master's degree in Instructional Technology and Design focused on incorporating open education practices from the University of North Alabama.
Workshop Presenters
Our workshops are facilitated by faculty and staff from member institutions with experience in implementing open education initiatives and practices.
Cheryl Casey
University of Arizona
Cheryl is the Open Education Librarian at the University of Arizona Libraries in Tucson and has been an active member of the Open Education Network since 2015. She coordinates campus OER initiatives and collaborates with a wide range of university partners. She is also a Faculty Senator and involved in library faculty governance.
Meggie Mapes
University of Kansas
Meggie (Ph.D. Southern Illinois University Carbondale) is a faculty member and Introductory Course Director in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Kansas. Her research emerges at the intersections of pedagogy and critical/cultural studies. She is an open pedagogy advocate and the author of the open textbook, Speak Out, Call In: Public Speaking as Advocacy.
Merinda McClure
University of Colorado
Merinda serves as an Open Educational Resources (OER) Lead at the University of Colorado Boulder Libraries, where she is also the Health and Human Sciences Librarian and an Associate Professor. She was a 2016-2017 OER Research Fellow with the Open Education Group’s fellowship program. She joined the Open Education Network in 2015 after participating in the Network’s inaugural summer institute. Merinda received her M.L.I.S. in 2002 from The University of British Columbia.
David Tully
North Carolina State University
David is the Librarian for Student Success and Affordability at North Carolina State University Libraries. In his role he helps lead the Alt-Textbook committee and the Open Pedagogy Incubator as well as develop additional programs, services and other forms of academic support for students and faculty, reflecting the Libraries’ and the university’s commitment to making higher education more equitable and inclusive.
Publishing Cooperative Advisory Group
The Publishing Cooperative Advisory Group is responsible for developing open textbook publishing vision and support for the Open Education Network community.
Stefanie Buck
Co-Chair
Oregon State University
Stefanie is the director of Open Educational Resources at Oregon State University. She received her MLS from the University of Hawai’i. She works closely with faculty who want to adapt, adopt or author open educational resources and helps to make these available to anyone who wants to use them.
Daniela Dutra Elliott
Leeward Community College (University of Hawai'i)
Daniela has been a faculty member at University of Hawai'i-Leeward Community College where she serves as program coordinator for the Sustainable Agriculture Program. She has worked to develop OER materials for her classes and is passionate about the opportunities OER brings to localizing materials so they are relevant to people of diverse backgrounds.
Amanda Grey
Kwantlen Polytechnic University
Amanda is an Open Education Strategist at KPU supporting faculty in sharing, creating, and using open education practices. She facilitates open education initiatives such as the Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) Initiative, the OER Grant program, and KPU's Open Publishing Suite (OPUS). As a trained librarian, Amanda has worked on open education initiatives for several institutions in British Columbia.
Jessica Kirschner
Virginia's Academic Library Consortium
Jessica is the Digital Publishing Coordinator at VIVA, Virginia’s Academic Library Consortium. In this role, she supports the publication efforts of VIVA's Open and Affordable Course Content program. Jessica began her career working in a university press and, since transitioning to librarianship, has held various positions focusing on publishing and open education.
Emily Moran
University of Wisconsin-Superior
Emily is the Instructional Designer at the University of Wisconsin-Superior. In this role, she serves as the chair of the campus OER Committee and supports instructors with adopting, adapting, and authoring OER. She received her MSLIS from the University of Illinois and her BA in English and French from Valparaiso University.
Kelly Smith
Co-Chair
Eastern Kentucky University
Kelly is the Director of Collections and Discovery at Eastern Kentucky University Libraries, and oversees EKU Libraries’ open publishing efforts, among other responsibilities. She received her MSLIS from Simmons College. Areas of interest in her library practice include: Open Educational Practices; Strengths Based Leadership; Assessment; and Library Collection Management.
Pub101 Committee
The Pub101 Committee ensures a community-driven experience for Pub101, a curriculum and orientation to open textbook publishing.
Amanda Larson
Chair
The Ohio State University
Amanda is the Affordable Learning Instructional Consultant at The Ohio State University where she creates professional development opportunities for staff, librarians, and instructors around open pedagogy and open educational practices. Previously, she was the Open Education Librarian for University Libraries at Penn State University where she coordinated affordable content initiatives across all Penn State campuses.
Melissa Chim
Excelsior University
Melissa is the first Scholarly Communications Librarian at Excelsior University where she manages the university’s scholarly publishing platform and institutional repository. She was a SPARC Open Education Leadership Fellow for their 2022-23 cohort. She is currently a part of OEN’s Ketida and Open Textbook Planner pilot program. She holds an MLIS from St. John’s University and an MA in History from Queen Mary, the University of London.
Carmen Cole
Penn State University
Carmen is the Information Sciences and Business Liaison Librarian for the Penn State University Libraries. She collaborates closely with both library colleagues and associates in her liaison areas to promote, create, and adopt open educational resources. Her current research focuses on creating and using zines as open educational materials.
Micah Gjeltema
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Micah is the Open Education & Affordable Content Librarian at the University of Minnesota. He promotes open educational practices and manages the Partnership for Affordable Learning Materials (PALM), an OER textbook incentive program.
Cindy Gruwell
University of West Florida
Cindy is an Associate Librarian and Coordinator of Scholarly Communication at the University of West Florida. As the liaison for the College of Health she is responsible for instruction and collection development among other activities. In her role as coordinator she focuses on building OER resourced courses across the campus utilizing informative workshops and providing support for the Pressbooks authoring system.
Jessica McClean
University of Texas at Arlington Libraries
Jessica is the Director of Open Educational Resources at the University of Texas at Arlington Libraries where she supports faculty in adopting and creating open educational resources and helps advance university initiatives related to affordability and open education. In this role, Jessica administers the UTA CARES Grant program, which provides financial support for faculty pursuing OER projects, and manages OER publishing on Pressbooks through Mavs Open Press.
Christine Rickabaugh
University of Arkansas
Christine is the University of Arkansas's Open Education Librarian. In her role, she works with faculty and the campus community to adopt, adapt, and create OER to meet the university's teaching and learning needs. Her research interests include evidence-based instructional practice, adult and lifelong learning, and best practices for supporting faculty in creating OER for niche disciplines.
Certificate in Open Education Librarianship Instructors
Our instructors for the Certificate in Open Education Librarianship are experienced open education leaders who offer you a supportive learning experience.
Cheryl Casey
University of Arizona
Cheryl is the Open Education Librarian at the University of Arizona Libraries in Tucson and has been an active member of the Open Education Network since 2015. She coordinates campus OER initiatives and collaborates with a wide range of university partners. She is also a Faculty Senator and involved in library faculty governance.
Kathy Essmiller
Oklahoma State University
Kathy is an Associate Professor at Oklahoma State University where, as Coordinator of OpenOKState and OER Librarian, she partners with the OSU community to support and advocate for open practices. Kathy was a 2019-2020 Open Ed Group Research Fellow. She is an alumni member of the GO_GN Global OER Graduate Network and is a co-designer of the ACRL Open and Affordability Roadshow. She was the inaugural recipient of the Oklahoma Open Education Impact Award. Her research interests include open practices, academic library publishing, instructional design and educational technology, and creativity.
Mandi Goodsett
Cleveland State University
Mandi is the Performing Arts and Humanities Librarian at Cleveland State University, as well as the OER and Copyright Advisor for the campus. Since 2017, she has served as an OhioLINK Affordable Learning Ambassador for the state of Ohio. In addition, she chairs her campus OER Committee and coordinates Cleveland State's annual OpenCon Cleveland conference, an event that celebrates open education efforts in Northeast Ohio. Mandi’s professional interests include open education, critical thinking, and distance learning.
Jeanne Hoover
East Carolina University
Jeanne is the Scholarly Communication Librarian at East Carolina University. She leads the Research and Scholarly Communication team in supporting faculty and student scholarly communication needs on campus. She is also active in state-wide OER and textbook affordability initiatives through the University of North Carolina System and NC LIVE’s Open Education North Carolina. Jeanne was a 2018-2019 SPARC Open Education Leadership Fellow.
Bryan McGeary
Penn State University
Bryan is the Learning Design and Open Education Engagement Librarian at Penn State University. He is a 2020-2021 SPARC Open Education Leadership Fellow, a facilitator for the Rebus Textbook Success Program, a graduate of the inaugural cohort of the Open Education Network’s Certificate in OER Librarianship, and co-editor of the peer-reviewed open access journal Pennsylvania Libraries: Research & Practice. He is also co-creator of the Open Pedagogy Project Roadmap.
Nicole Williams
City University of New York
Nicole is the Electronic Resources Librarian and an Assistant Professor at the City University of New York’s School of Medicine. She holds an MLIS from Rutgers University and a MALS with a concentration in Africana Studies from the CUNY Graduate Center. Nicole is an advocate of equitable, inclusive, and student-centered learning experiences, particularly those achieved through the use of open pedagogy and open educational resources.
Michael Whitchurch
Brigham Young University
Michael is the Open and Media Learning Librarian at Brigham Young University’s Harold B. Lee Library. He currently leads the OER efforts at BYU in part by chairing the BYU Affordable Course Materials Working Group and the Library Scholarly Communications Committee. He also provides strategic guidance to the software training, media production, and makerspace units of the library.
Di Zhang
Renton Technical College
Di ("Day") is the Instruction and OER Librarian at Renton Technical College. He received his MLIS from the University of Washington in 2012 and has worked in various library roles—public as well as academic—since 2008. Di received a Certificate in OER Librarianship from the Open Education Network in 2022, and the experience was extremely helpful to his role as OER Librarian. In his spare time, Di enjoys practicing martial arts and gardening with his wife and two kids.
Certificate in Open Pedagogy Instructors (Formerly Open Educational Practices)
Our instructors for the Certificate in Open Pedagogy are experienced open education leaders who offer you a supportive learning experience.
Tanya Grosz
Open Education Network
Tanya is the Director of Educational Programs for the Open Education Network (OEN). She began her career as a high school English teacher before transitioning to college-level teaching and administration and completing her Ph.D. in Education and Online Teaching and Learning. In her previous role as dean at the University of Northwestern - St. Paul, she spearheaded an open education initiative which led to creation of the first Z degree in the state of Minnesota.
Heather Miceli
Roger Williams University
Heather is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the American Association of Colleges & Universities (AAC&U), where she is researching the impact of OER adoption on student outcomes. She is very interested in the impacts Open Education Practices/Open Pedagogy can have on student achievement and how those practices can impact student confidence and anxiety. She is also interested in alternative assessment strategies. She serves on the New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) OER Advisory Committee.
David Tully
North Carolina State University
David is the Librarian for Student Success and Affordability at North Carolina State University Libraries. In his role he helps lead the Alt-Textbook committee and the Open Pedagogy Incubator as well as develop additional programs, services and other forms of academic support for students and faculty, reflecting the Libraries’ and the university’s commitment to making higher education more equitable and inclusive.
Melissa Williams
Minnesota State Colleges and Universities
Melissa is an Instructional Designer for the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. She supports open educational resource (OER) development, as well as faculty development around culturally inclusive pedagogies. Her Ph.D. in American Studies and experience teaching media and culture courses, across a variety of Twin Cities higher education institutions, inform her perspective on culturally inclusive teaching, accessible and equitable use of educational technologies, and research-based learning design.
Event Planning Committee
The Event Planning Committee identifies community needs and creates a responsive events schedule that facilitates connections between community members and supports their work.
Ginelle Baskin
Middle Tennessee State University
Ginelle is the Student Success & Open Education Librarian at Middle Tennessee State University. She leads Walker Library’s student success initiatives, including the development and oversight of the campus' open educational resources program. She earned her M.S. in Information Sciences from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Abbey Childs
Virginia Commonwealth University
Abbey (she/they) is the Open Educational Resources Librarian at Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries. They promote open and affordable course content adoption at VCU through advocacy, outreach, and education for a wide range of disciplines across both campuses of VCU. Abbey also guides faculty in the creation, identification, adoption, and dissemination of OERs and manages the VCUL Affordable Course Content Awards grant program, which provides financial support for faculty pursuing OER projects.
Stephen Krueger
Stephen is the Affordable Course Content Librarian at a large public university, where ey manages the OER grant program. Eir peer review work includes the Journal of Open Educational Resources in Higher Education, Practical Academic Librarianship, and the Open Education Global conference. Stephen has published and presented extensively on trans and gender diverse inclusion in library work, including as the author of Supporting Trans People in Libraries and co-editor of Trans and Gender Diverse Voices in Libraries.
Kate McNally Carter
University of Houston
Kate is the Open Educational Resources Librarian at the University of Houston Libraries. In her role, she works with the Head of Open Education Services to support instructors in the adoption, adaptation, and creation of OER in order to meet teaching and learning needs and advance the University’s student success goals. Her research interests include open pedagogy and the intersection of open educational practices and information literacy.
Bethany Mickel
University of Virginia
Bethany (she/her) is the Instructional Design & OER Librarian at the University of Virginia. Her work involves facilitating open education initiatives and collaborating with faculty, staff, and students on open projects. Her work also includes the development of online resources to support library instruction. With a background in instruction design, her research interests include Open Pedagogy, Universal Design for Learning, the intersectionality of information and media literacy, as well as project-based learning as a means of assessment. She is a passionate practitioner of inclusive design and pedagogy and seeks ways to make learning accessible and welcoming for all.
Nicole Swanson
Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI)
Nicole is a Senior Coordinator of Library Services and Outreach at CARLI where she supports statewide Open Educational Resources initiatives along with CARLI colleagues and the CARLI OER Committee. Initiatives include supporting Illinois SCOERs (Support for Creation of Open Educational Resources) Open Textbook Pilot grant from the U.S. Department of Education, coordinating the Illinois Course Materials Survey: Student Perspective, supporting the Open Illinois OER Commons Hub, and collaborating to develop and instruct OER programs.
Stephanie Walker
University of Massachusetts Boston
Stephanie is the Dean of University Libraries at UMass Boston. Previously, she served as the Dean of Libraries & Information Resources at the University of North Dakota, and Chief Librarian & Executive Director of Academic Information Technologies at Brooklyn College. She has also served in managerial, library IT, or IT liaison roles at Harvard University’s Countway Library, Mount Saint Vincent University (Canada), and the University of Toronto, and has held IT positions in programming, technical support, and database administration.
Yang Wu
Clemson University
Yang is the Open Resources Librarian at Clemson University, South Carolina, specializing in OER and Open Education. He has served as Chair of PASCAL, the South Carolina academic library consortium's Affordable Learning Committee, contributing editor of the OER Beyond Blog and on the Open Education Conference Communications Committee. Yang is currently an editorial advisory board member for the Journal of Open Education Resources in Higher Education and is part of an initiative by PASCAL and other organizations to start a statewide OER program in South Carolina.