MEMBER NEWS: Modesto Jr. College presents  ZTC/OER Faculty Award to Dr. Brennan

Modesto Junior College presented its annual ZTC/OER Faculty Award to Dr. Jessica Brennan, a child development professor who has been one of the strongest supporters of Zero Textbook Costs and Open Educational Resources at the college for the past three years.

In addition to adopting the OER philosophy and incorporating ZTC into all her courses, Dr. Brennan has advanced the philosophy in her dept. She is awaiting word on a proposal that would fund five new ZTC degrees and certificates in Child Development.

The ZTC/OER Faculty Award was established in 2022 to honor the work of an exceptional faculty member who has gone above and beyond in support of the Institutional efforts around ZTC and the use of OER.

The 2022 recipient was Professor Rob Stevenson who was instrumental in the development of MJC’s first Zero Textbook Cost Institutional Plan and has supported these efforts both directly through the Academic Senate and behind the scenes by mentoring faculty involved with ZTC efforts on campus.

A Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) course is one for which students are not required to buy a textbook. There may be a materials fee associated with the course such as a calculator or art supplies, but students do not need to buy any books. Open Educational Resources (OER) are free resources that instructors curate or create on their own to teach their courses.

See video.