The Division of Digital Learning at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) has chosen Victoria Brame, Lone Star College-CyFair Librarian and Open Educational Resources (OER) advocate, as one of 10 Founding Fellows in the inaugural cohort of the Texas OER Fellowship Program.

The THECB fellowship program was created in partnership with the Institute of the Study of Knowledge Management in Education (ISKME) to support OER leadership development, institutional capacity building and sustainable open education programs across Texas.

“I am honored to be recognized as a state leader in open education,” said Brame, a former middle school teacher and high school magnet coordinator. “In my two short years at LSC-CyFair, I’ve expanded opportunities for stakeholder awareness, education and collaboration around OER.”

Brame said that utilizing OER in courses positively impacts teaching – empowering faculty to customize materials for their instructional style and course sections – and learning – removing student financial worries with improved retention and learning outcomes. In addition, OER exemplifies LSC’s core values of access and affordability to a higher education.

Already doing her part to help alleviate educational barriers course material costs can create for students, Brame has established affordable learning initiatives at LSC-CyFair including a grant program and associate degree pathway in which students do not incur textbook costs and course fees.

Now as an OER Fellow, she will receive further training in advocacy, leadership development and mentorship skills as well as strategies to grow and sustain open education throughout the state. Her cohort will also be instrumental in collaborative development of curriculum for future cohorts of the Fellowship Program that ultimately supports the success of all students.