SB 17-258

Senate Bill 17-258, titled "Using Open Educational Resources In Higher Education," establishes a council within the Department of Higher Education to promote and expand the use of open educational resources (OER) in Colorado's public higher education institutions. The bill directs the department to hire an outside entity to assess how OER are currently being used and recommends ways to increase their adoption. This initiative aims to benefit students by potentially lowering textbook costs through the use of freely available materials. Since the bill has been signed, it is now law and its provisions are in effect.

Official Summary

Joint Budget Committee. The bill creates the open educational resources council (council) in the department of higher education (department). The council includes persons appointed by the executive director of the department from public institutions of higher education, the executive director of the department, the commissioner of education, and the state librarian. The bill directs the department to contract with an entity to evaluate the existing use of open educational resources by public institutions of higher education. The council must facilitate the work of the contracting entity, and, taking into account the findings of the contracting entity, recommend initiatives to expand the use of open educational resources. The council must report the findings of the contracting entity and its recommended initiatives to the joint budget committee and the education committees of the general assembly by November 20, 2017. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

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