Inclusive Access and Open Educational Resources E-text Programs in Higher Education

This volume takes a comprehensive and broad look at e-text programs across a wide spectrum of programs, institutions, and policies in three parts. The first part showcases several policy papers to contextualize the discussion and highlight the reasons for IAE programs’ structure and the obstacles they face for implementation. The second part is an in-depth exploration of various case studies that provide a detailed description of IAE programs, including information about program elements, program structure, program size, and insights into how programs are operationalized, and their shortcomings and benefits to students and stakeholders. The final part is a selection of research papers that offer evidence-based support for the adoption of IAE programs in terms of student success, access, engagement, costs, and a variety of other student and institutional outcomes.

There are approximately 300 institutions of higher education that currently have some form of Inclusive Access or Open Educational Resources E-text (IAE) program in the United States, but there is little scholarship that engages on the topic of assessing these programs’ effect on student success.  The results of the research studies included in this volume will inform faculty, administrators, and policy-makers who seek to support the development, adoption, and implementation of IAE programs based on their potential positive effects on student success and other outcomes.

Tracy A. Hurley joined the School of Business at Texas A&M University-San Antonio in the Fall of 2000 while it was a System Center under the auspices of Texas A&M University-Kingsville. She received a BBA in Finance, an MBA, and a PhD in Business Administration with an emphasis in Management and a minor in Statistics from the University of Houston. Dr. Hurley is currently the head of the School of Business, an Associate Professor in Management, and MBA coordinator. She also manages the university’s e-book program and is the Chair of the Southwest Teaching & Learning Conference.