Dear New England Colleague, With renewed support (Links to an external site.) from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE (Links to an external site.)) is engaged in efforts to increase the adoption of Open Educational Resources (OER). OER – freely licensed, remixable teaching and learning resources – offer a promising solution to the perennial challenge of delivering high levels of student learning at lower cost. But OER offer much more than just cost savings. Well-designed, openly licensed materials center students and energize educators in ways that enable more responsive teaching and customized learning. Click here (Links to an external site.) to read NEBHE's newly released policy report to learn more about what states in the Northeast are doing to develop flexible and responsible Open Education policies. Seeking nominations To support this work, NEBHE is establishing a pilot Open Education Community of Practice (Links to an external site.) composed of eight regionally represented faculty members interested in the pedagogical benefits and development of OER. I write to seek your nominations (Links to an external site.) and assistance sharing this opportunity with your faculty members. About the Community of Practice Community members will participate in a series of webinars, workshops and facilitated discussions to build awareness and confidence in leveraging the licensing structures of OER and offer both faculty and students opportunities to engage in more authentic, equitable and culturally relevant teaching and learning experiences. Each community member will revise or develop a renewable learning resource utilizing open licensing structures to integrate into their fall 2021 course. A description of the Community of Practice, including more detail concerning the commitment and application, may be found by clicking here (Links to an external site.). Please feel free to reach out directly if you have any questions. We wish you a happy and healthy holiday season. | 
