As more faculty adopt, adapt, and create OER, their work often outpaces institutional policies that formally recognize it. Many institutions still exclude OER from tenure, promotion, and review guidelines, creating a persistent “space between” meaningful practice and formal reward. In this gap, faculty must articulate the value of their OER contributions without consistent supporting evidence. While open education advocacy organizations offer guidance on describing OER work, less attention has been paid to documentation: what tangible evidence can faculty provide? This presentation addresses that need by sharing practical strategies OER program managers can implement to generate meaningful documentation of engagement with open education, including certificates, letters, usage data, and awards. Focusing on immediate, actionable approaches, this session helps make OER labor visible, support faculty recognition, and build momentum for broader institutional change.
Attendees of this session will be able to:- Understand the gap between faculty OER practices and institutional evaluation policies and explain how the “space between” impacts recognition and reward structures.
- Explore different forms of documentation (e.g., certificates, letters, analytics, awards) that can be used to demonstrate faculty engagement in OER across adoption, adaptation, creation, and advocacy.
- Consider how documentation strategies can be applied to support faculty recognition within existing tenure, promotion, and review systems.
