Open/Alternative Textbook Initiative

The WSU Open/Alternative Textbook (OAT) Initiative is designed to expand the use of freely-available resources in our classes in an effort to address the rising cost of textbooks and the impact of that expense on our students. Courses with an OAT designation are visible to students in the course schedule so they can choose classes with low or no textbook costs.

Courses can be designated as either:

OAT-Z: Zero ($0) textbook or other course material costs
OAT-L: Low (under $50) textbook or other course material costs

This program has been modified from the original design. There is no longer a course fee associated with these course designations. (The OAT grant program funded by these fees is also no longer available).

Submission Deadlines:

September 30 for new Spring semester courses
February 15 for new Fall semester courses

Additional Resources

OAT Zero Cost Designation Request OAT Low Cost Designation Request

Additional information

Instructors interested in having their course designated as an Open/Alternative Textbook Zero cost course (OAT-Z) or Open/Alternative Textbook Low cost course (OAT-L) must submit the course designation form above to be approved by the OAT review committee.

Please keep the following in mind:

The designation can be applied to one or multiple sections of the same course.
An OAT-Zero cost course must have no additional course material costs and may include any of the following:
- An existing open access textbook (see Resources link below)
- Library resources (this includes e-textbooks that students can access through the library)
- High quality Open Educational Resources (OER) - workbooks, lab manuals, exercises, etc.
- Multimedia resources (e.g., audio, video, TedTalks, YouTube videos, Wikimedia Commons)
- Faculty-authored materials (e.g., websites, PDFs, educational presentation slides, lecture videos)
An OAT-Low cost course may include any of the above materials and as well as additional materials that cost no more than $50 total.