Faculty Guide on Open Education Resources (OER): How to Designate a course Zero Textbook Cost

• ZTC/OER course sections are those that do not require students to purchase a textbook or lab manual or other types of course materials
• ZTC/OER designated course sections may include recommended books, library materials, or materials provided at no cost by the instructor. Students may be asked to print out materials, if the materials are provided free of charge.
• ZTC/OER designated courses need only be free of cost for textbooks. ZTC designated courses may include costs for supplies.
• Any course section meeting this criterion and listed in the CUNYfirst schedule of classes is eligible. This includes:
  • Fully Online
  • Hybrid
  • In Person
  • Online
  • Partially Online
  • Web-Enhanced
• Course sections (classes) are assigned the ZTC/OER attribute independently. Courses may have ZTC/OER designated sections as well as non-ZTC-designated sections, depending on the materials chosen by each section’s instructor.
• Courses that consist of linked sections (e.g., lecture + labs) may have the ZTC/OER designation applied to whichever sections do not require purchase of a book. A course may have a ZTC/OER designated lab section, but require a textbook for the lecture section, for example.

There are two ways to designate your course Zero Textbook Cost:

NOTE:  This procedure will designate your course/section as Zero Textbook Cost in both CUNYfirst and Akademos.

1. You can do this by going to Akademos (the BC online bookstore)
   1.  Select “Adoptions not required.”
   2.  Then select the “OER/ZTC indicator.”
   3. Click “submit” to complete the course material submission.
2. Or you can speak peaking to your department chairperson or whomever enters the schedule in the eCSP program. Let them know your course section and that your course is Zero Textbook  Cost. The department person can enter OER in the attribute or they can put Zero Textbook cost in the notes and the Registrar will add the attribute in CUNYfirst.