CHATTANOOGA—In just five years, more than $1 million has been kept in the pockets of students at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga by its Affordable Course Materials Initiative.
The initiative was barely more than a good idea when Rachel Fleming joined UTC as scholarly communications librarian in 2017 and was charged with taking it forward.
“What drew me to UTC was that affordability was part of the position, and I was looking for something where I knew the work that I do would make an impact for the good of students and this is very fulfilling to me,” Fleming said of the Affordable Course Materials initiative.
“One of the things librarians like to do is talk to all of the faculty and help them design what they need for their courses, and I love hearing from them about how we can do that.”
Developing more affordable course materials for UTC students is the result of collaboration between Fleming and faculty who come for help designing and preparing materials that can replace textbooks in achieving course learning outcomes. In most cases, course materials costs are completely eliminated in revised courses.
“It’s really the faculty who are doing the work of adjusting their courses,” Fleming said. “We’ve worked on courses at all levels—introductory to upper-division to graduate-level—and I’ve worked with faculty from all colleges.”
To learn more about what’s happening on campus, visit UTC Newsroom.
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