{"id":1690,"date":"2021-04-19T12:30:38","date_gmt":"2021-04-19T16:30:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/magazine\/?p=1690"},"modified":"2021-04-27T14:21:01","modified_gmt":"2021-04-27T18:21:01","slug":"affordable-accessibility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/magazine\/affordable-accessibility\/","title":{"rendered":"Affordable Accessibility"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h4 id=\"since-textbook-prices-can-come-with-a-free-case-of-sticker-shock-rachel-fleming-is-committed-to-making-course-materials-accessible-to-all-students\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">S<em>ince textbook prices can come with a free case of sticker shock, Rachel Fleming is committed to making course materials accessible to all students.<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"892\" height=\"502\" src=\"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/magazine\/files\/2021\/03\/Rachel-Fleming-21-01-edited.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1696\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/magazine\/files\/2021\/03\/Rachel-Fleming-21-01-edited.jpg 892w, https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/magazine\/files\/2021\/03\/Rachel-Fleming-21-01-edited-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/magazine\/files\/2021\/03\/Rachel-Fleming-21-01-edited-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/magazine\/files\/2021\/03\/Rachel-Fleming-21-01-edited-380x214.jpg 380w, https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/magazine\/files\/2021\/03\/Rachel-Fleming-21-01-edited-800x450.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 892px) 100vw, 892px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>by Sarah Joyner<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap is-cnvs-dropcap-bg-dark\">TThere is no denying that 2020 turned every facet of&nbsp;life&nbsp;upside down. How we work. How we learn. How we teach.&nbsp;How we socialize.&nbsp;How we parent. How we live.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The COVID-19 pandemic&nbsp;led&nbsp;the University of Tennessee at&nbsp;Chattanooga&nbsp;to&nbsp;reconsider&nbsp;nearly every&nbsp;way it&nbsp;serves students, employees, alumni and&nbsp;the Chattanooga&nbsp;community. Some of those tremors will still be felt years from now.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But&nbsp;what changed for the better? What is worth keeping around?&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What did faculty and students&nbsp;come to understand about distance learning&nbsp;in spring semester 2020 when instruction was&nbsp;switched from&nbsp;in-person, in-class to online?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As professors quickly migrated their courses&nbsp;online format for the second half of spring&nbsp;semester 2020, more faculty started thinking&nbsp;differently&nbsp;about their course content.&nbsp;\u201cIt made faculty think: When&nbsp;students aren\u2019t in Chattanooga, they don\u2019t have internet the same way,\u201d explains Rachel Fleming.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fleming, scholarly communications librarian and coordinator of the UTC Library Affordable Course&nbsp;Materials&nbsp;Initiative, says those thoughts and actions evolved beyond ensuring internet access.&nbsp;A growing number of&nbsp;faculty were committed to making class resources and necessities more accessible to all students.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She says faculty&nbsp;are now more committed to finding ways to get students the best, most affordable resources.&nbsp;\u201cWe had a huge increase in interest that\u2019s persisted about creating affordable materials for students,\u201d Fleming adds.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since&nbsp;spring 2020,&nbsp;the UTC&nbsp;Library has had more applications than ever for help via the Affordable Course Materials Initiative.&nbsp;Through&nbsp;it, the&nbsp;library works with faculty to swap costly course materials with more affordable options\u2014existing library electronic resources, open educational resources, open access scholarship.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The&nbsp;process looks different depending on the course. It might be as simple as swapping an expensive textbook for a more affordable one. It might be a complete course&nbsp;redesign. It might be a professor making an affordable text already in use more accessible to UTC students and beyond,&nbsp;such as a<a href=\"https:\/\/scholar.utc.edu\/oer\/1\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&nbsp;free textbook created by Chris Horne<\/a>, associate professor of&nbsp;public&nbsp;administration at UTC.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Estimates&nbsp;say the&nbsp;initiative&nbsp;saved UTC students&nbsp;more than&nbsp;$550,000 within its first three-and-half years.&nbsp;\u201cStudents can\u2019t learn from a book that they can\u2019t afford,\u201d Fleming says, echoing a statement she\u2019s heard from a colleague.&nbsp;&#8220;Students do not buy books just because they don\u2019t want to buy books. They buy the books&nbsp;because they know&nbsp;it impacts their grades. The studies are out there to show this, but&nbsp;students have to make&nbsp;really hard choices about gas money and food and rent and \u2018What do I really need to succeed?\u2019\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Since textbook prices can come with a free case of sticker shock, Rachel Fleming is committed to making&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":858,"featured_media":1696,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[115750],"tags":[24370,101024],"coauthors":[100991],"class_list":{"0":"post-1690","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-spring-2021-edition","8":"tag-overflow","9":"tag-top","10":"cs-entry","11":"cs-video-wrap"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Affordable Accessibility - 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