Background | How to apply | Award levels | Eligibility | Expectations | Review criteria
Background
The Miller Open Education Mini-Grant Program, inspired by the Miller Faculty Fellowship Program, was created to promote the growing number of instructors utilizing Open Educational Resources (OER) at Iowa State University. Similar to the Miller Faculty Fellowship Program, these grants aim to support faculty development through the use of new and innovative resources in the classroom. This mini-grant program is co-sponsored by the Iowa State University Library, the Center for Excellence in Learning & Teaching (CELT), and the Office of the Senior Vice President and Provost (SVPP).
The goal of the Open Education Mini-Grant Program is to encourage instructional innovation at Iowa State by providing instructors with the time and resources they need to redesign their courses around the use of OER. Examples of OER currently in use at Iowa State can be seen in the profiles of our Iowa State University OER Trailblazers.
How to apply
The call for Miller Mini-Grant Proposals for 2025 has closed. Please check back in spring 2026 for the next round of proposals.
Award levels
The award levels outlined below provide guidance for applicants on the amount of funding that may be approved for different types of proposals.
| Award Level | Award Range | Expectations |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1: Adopt | $1,000 | Locate, evaluate, and adopt an existing Open Educational Resource for your course(s). |
| Level 2: Adapt | $1,500 - $4,000 | Adapt, update, or combine existing Open Educational Resources into a new resource. |
| Level 3: Create | Up to $10,000 | Create an original Open Educational Resource for your course. |
| Level 4: Open Pedagogy | Up to $5,000 | Integrate open pedagogy into a course to support student learning. |
Note: The funds from this grant may be spent on any item that the PI deems necessary. This can include personal awards and compensation, with some limitations. All expenses should be clearly articulated and justified in the budget section of the proposal and must align with the project's objectives.
Eligibility
To be considered for this grant, proposals must meet the following criteria:
- Submitted by one or more Iowa State University employees with teaching responsibilities.
- The proposal includes the intent to use an Open Educational Resource in a credit-bearing course.
- Instructors may only submit one (1) proposal per academic year.
- The PI(s) agree to the expectations listed below.
This grant may NOT be used for:
- The adaptation or creation of a resource for commercial publication.
- The adaptation or creation of educational resources without the accompaniment of a Creative Commons license.
- The release of a resource under a Creative Commons license that includes a "No Derivatives" provision.
Expectations
All grant recipients must:
- Attend an orientation workshop to meet other grant recipients and discuss the timeline expected for awarded projects.
- Spend their awarded grant funds for their projects by the start of the next fiscal year (e.g. July 1, 2025 for grants awarded in 2024).
- Complete projects and use resources in a credit-bearing course within 2 years from the award date (i.e. May 2026 for grants awarded in 2024).
- Assess the grant project's impact on Iowa State students and submit a Mini-Grant Final Report [DOC] following the completion of the project.
- Showcase the outcomes of the project on the Iowa State University OER Trailblazers website.
For adoption projects:
- Complete and submit a review of the OER to be adopted using the Open Textbook Library Review Criteria.
For adaptation/creation projects:
- Publish completed OER under a Creative Commons license that allows modification.
- Publish OER created through a grant in an open, editable format. Text-based OER created through the grant must be published through the Iowa State University Digital Press.1
For open pedagogy projects:
- Meet with support staff to develop your open pedagogy course design around best practices to support freedom of student expression.
Review criteria
The proposals will be reviewed by a subcommittee made up of representatives from the Open & Affordable Education Committee, CELT, the University Library, and faculty. Reviews will be based on a rubric covering the following areas:
- Cost Savings (Projected)
- Clarity of Objectives
- Overarching Impact of Project
- Student-centered Design
- Quality of Assessment Plan
- Feasibility of Project Plan and Timeline
Priority will be given to projects submitted by applicants who have not received a previous Miller Open Education Mini-Grant, or those who have not received a Mini-Grant in the past 2 years.
1. Mini-grant recipients may receive permission to publish their text-based projects elsewhere if they have sufficient reason for doing so. For example, a Statistics OER with a heavy emphasis on code may be better served by Jupyter Notebooks than the ISU Digital Press' software.