Adopting Open: Promoting Faculty Interest

To promote faculty interest in OER, Millersville University’s Open Education Working Group and Center for Academic Excellence began by studying research on factors that influence faculty involvement and motivation on campus. Our group wanted to develop a comprehensive approach that would draw on research strategically. An article from Liberal Education titled “Beyond Carrots and Sticks: What Really Motivates Faculty” (Wergin, 2001) proved to be critical to our work. In the article, Wergin reviewed 40 years of research and identified four common factors that motivate faculty on collegiate campuses: community, autonomy, recognition, and efficacy. Reflecting on the article, we could see how the different motivational factors were represented within the working group. To motivate faculty to consider adopting OER, however, we needed to consider how to leverage each of these factors more broadly. Here are some ways these factors played out in our efforts to promote OER across campus.