Promoting ZTC Pathways to Students
Once you have built ZTC courses, programs, and pathways at your college, it is important to ensure that your students are aware of them. There are a variety of ways to accomplish this. For example, consider informing student advisers, registrar staff, and your financial aid office, as these are the groups that guide students through finding and registering for courses, manage reminders about course registration procedures, and can highlight ZTC programs available to students. Or involve your student government organization to engage in advocacy efforts.
The following is a list of examples and resources to help get out the word to students about your ZTC courses, programs, and pathways.
Course Marking
"Marking Open and Affordable Courses: Best Practices and Case Studies," specifically the Implementation chapter. (Although ZTC programs are not necessarily synonymous with OER course markings, their audiences and communications strategies are similar.)
Example of course marking at Hillsboro Community College: HCC Zero Textbook Cost Sections.
General Information
Cañada College resources:
Videos in English and in Spanish
Cosumnes River College resources:
Zero Textbook Costs at Cosumnes River College
Sharing ZTC Information with Students
Videos
In these videos, CCC students share how they are impacted by textbook costs, and how ZTC classes make their learning experience more engaging, relevant, and successful. Consider sharing them with students or making your own.
Chabot College student impact video
Contra Costa College CCC student perspectives on OER and ZTC
Diablo Valley College student impact video
Moorpark College student impact video
Reedley College student impact video
Ideas for Student Engagement & Advocacy from BingOER by Debbie Baker, Ed.D., at Maricopa Community Colleges, and Gracie McDonough and Paula Michniewicz, at College of Southern Nevada.
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Student-Led OER Campaigns – Raising awareness through student groups
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OER Ambassadors Program – Training students to promote OER
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Student Government Partnerships – Collaborating on affordability initiatives
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OER in Student Orientation – Educating students on free resources
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Student-Led Course Reviews – Gathering feedback on OER courses
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Textbook Cost Transparency – Publishing textbook price comparisons
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Student Stories & Testimonials – Highlighting OER impact
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OER Student Advisory Boards – Giving students a voice in OER policy
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Student OER Co-Creation – Involving students in content development
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Student-Led OER Hackathons – Hosting collaborative resource creation events
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Student-Led OER Research Projects – Encouraging research on OER’s impact
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OER-Powered Service Learning – Connecting OER with community-based projects
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OER Student Review Panels – Formalizing student feedback on OER quality
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Student-Run OER Social Media Campaigns – Raising awareness through digital outreach
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OER Student Internship Programs – Hiring students to assist with OER projects