What begins with a single conversation can transform an entire system. This session traces how the College of Southern Nevada sparked a statewide open education movement — one relationship at a time.
Early outreach to sister institutions across the Nevada System of Higher Education grew into monthly cross-campus collaborations, bringing together faculty, librarians, and administrators from Las Vegas to Reno. What once felt like vast distance began to shrink.
Those community-driven connections laid the groundwork for a statewide OER symposium, bringing Nevada's higher education community together for the first time — and that momentum carried forward into policy, culminating in NSHE's commitment to expanding access to zero-cost and low-cost course materials systemwide.
If you're working in isolation or looking to build bridges across your state system, Nevada's story offers a practical roadmap for turning grassroots energy into lasting impact.
Attendees of this session will be able to:- Identify strategies for initiating cross-institutional OER collaborations within a state higher education system.
- Describe how consistent community building and monthly convenings can advance a statewide open education agenda.
- Recognize the role of grassroots faculty and staff efforts in driving systemic policy change around course material affordability.
- Apply lessons from Nevada's statewide OER journey to develop or expand open education initiatives at their own institution.
- Articulate the connection between statewide OER coordination and improved student access to zero-cost and low-cost course materials.
