OERu 2018 Council of Chief Executive Officers meeting report

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Group photo

The 6^th meeting of the OERu Council of Chief Executive Officers was hosted by Charles Sturt University at their Port Macquarie campus on 9 November 2018.

The meeting focused on long-term sustainability of the OERu network as the directing theme. Key outputs of the meeting included:

• Approval for the OERF to generate revenue from optional certificates of participation to support sustainability of the core infrastructure.
• Establishment of an OERu task force steered by senior leaders to improve partner engagement and ROI for network members.
• Approval of the OERu Strategic Plan: 2018 - 2020.
• Endorsement of the decision proposals arising from the 2018 International Partners' Meeting.

The OERu 2019 meeting dates were confirmed as follows:

• 8^th International Meeting of OERu Partners, Wednesday 30 and Thursday 31 October 2019 , Dublin.
• 7^th meeting of the OERu Council of Chief Executive Officers, Friday 1 November 2019, Dublin.

Key points

• The OERu Council of CEOs' meeting summary should be read in conjunction with the outputs of the 7^th International Meeting of OERu Partners, 7 and 8 November, which generated the decision proposals tabled and the agenda for this meeting.

Aims of the meeting

Setting up

The purpose of the 6th meeting of the OERu Council of CEOs was to:

• Evaluate progress with the implementation of the OERu 1st year of study.
• Approve the OERU Strategic Plan 2018 - 2021.
• Discuss strategic directions for the OERu network.
• Review recommendations and decision proposals from the 7th meeting of OERu partners.
• Review operational targets for 2019.

Agenda

Port Macquarie campus, Charles Sturt University

The meeting agenda was constructed during a breakout session comprising senior leaders during Day 2 of the preceding partners' meeting.

1. Welcome and introductions
2. Aims of the meeting
3. Review of the Terms of Reference and office bearers.
   • Terms of Reference
   • Office bearers
4. Progress report
   • OERu - 2018 Mid-year report
   • OERu learners and geographic spread
5. Sustainability of the OERu network
   • Increased revenue for OERF (possible increases in the number of contributing partners, FTE staff contributions and additional fiscal contributions)
   • Cost savings (explicit adoption of OERu outputs to save costs at partner institutions)
   • Corporate sponsorship model
   • OERu point of difference
   • Diversify categories of partners - alternate ways to achieve partner status that contribute to strategic goals of the OERu
   • Review value propositions / benefits to partner institutions (including value of learner data)
   • Review strategic goals of the OERu
6. Decision proposals
   • Establish OERu task force on partner engagement
     • Who: Phil Ker (CEO, Otago Polytechnic) volunteers plus Val Peachey (CSU), Alan Davis (Kwantlen Polytechnic University), Christine Bovis-Cnossen or Don Poirier (Thompson Rivers University) or nominees.
     • Survey OERu partners about levels of engagement with OERu in their institutions to find examples of good practice and to identify barriers (task force to action).
     • Develop explicit ROI for OERu, incorporating such considerations as social good, financial, reputation, visibility, and capability built in-house (task force to action).
     • Develop a new staff orientation module for partner institutions to use to build understanding and set expectations (task force to action).
     • Develop guidelines for partner institutions to show how they value open education: measures, rewards and recognition (task force to action).
     • Identify obstacles to institutions becoming partners and consider how to engage with institutions that might not currently be in a position to become paid-up members. Explore "soft" engagement (working group to action), noting that social good not only includes direct delivery to learners but also institutions in need of curricula to deliver to learners.
     • Consider different forms of contribution to cover the OERu membership fee; for example, allocation of staff time for active engagement with learners (working group to action).
   • Develop and share institutional action plans for OERu implementation (Jim Taylor)
     • In light of the significant progress in developing the necessary foundations of the OERu innovation partnership, including:
       1. published guidelines for transnational cross credit,
       2. current availability of micro courses,
       3. availability of a comprehensive Business Model Partner Canvas,
       4. ongoing initiatives on quality guidelines and innovation pilot projects, and
       5. demonstrated cost-effectiveness, immediate availability, and technological scalability of the OERu open source NGDLE,
     • commit to the development of institutional implementation plans that will optimise potential ROI appropriate to current institutional readiness and geographic context.
     • Sharing the insights gained from the development and implementation of such plans could well generate a much needed “Digital Learning Leadership Strategy”, which could make a significant contribution not only to achieving the goals of the OERu Strategic Plan (2018-2021) but also to “providing insurance against disruption” to individual institutions. It would also contribute to the ongoing relevance and sustainability of tertiary education.
   • Approve the OERu strategic plan 2018 - 2021
     • Refine the mission statement by articulating the value that member organisations can gain via active participation in OERu.
     • Review the overarching strategic goals (Curriculum: Professional development, Diploma / Associate degree in General Studies).
     • Expand Goal 4 by focussing on the need to achieve a fiscally sustainable and scalable OERu network via driving value for members.
   • Confirm the OERu 2019 operational priorities (Having exceeded the objectives of the "soft launch" - what next?)
     • Current capacity enables a launch rate of 3 weeks for each micro-course (based on two weeks for a pre-launch audit, plus one week to build automated email campaigns).
     • 60 micro-courses would therefore require 180 FTE weeks.
     • Prioritise available micro-courses and schedule the launch of the 1st year of study.
   • Implement recommendations for improving the letter of invitation to join the OERu and associated recruitment collateral.
   • Implement a library-based LiDA community learning hub innovation pilot for OERu.
   • Continue the development and implementation of OERu quality assurance guidelines.
   • Progress open pedagogy innovation pilots.
   • Progress first year of study in sustainability where the SDGs are explicitly mapped.
7. Risk register
   • Review the draft risk register.

Summary of meeting

The meeting was chaired by Alan Davis, President and Vice Chancellor, Kwantlen Polytechnic University and current Chair of the Executive Committee of the OERu Council of CEOs.

1. 

   

   Alan Davis, Chair of the OERu Council of CEOs
   Welcome and Introductions
   • Andy Vann, Vice-Chancellor and President of Charles Sturt University welcomed participants to the Port Macquarie campus and acknowledged country as a non-Aboriginal Australian.
   • Participants introduced themselves.
2. Confirmed the agenda and aims of the meeting.
   • Agreed to focus on long-term sustainability of the OERu network as the directing theme for the meeting.
   • Confirmed the aims stated in the agenda with one addition as follows:
     • Evaluate progress with the implementation of the OERu 1st year of study.
     • Approve the Strategic Plan 2018 - 2021.
     • Discuss strategic directions for the OERu network.
     • Review recommendations and decision proposals from the 7th meeting of OERu partners.
     • Review operational targets for 2019.
     • Review strategies for the recruitment of new partners (additional aim).
3. Reviewed the Terms of Reference and office bearers of the Council:
   • Affirmed the terms of reference with no amendments.
   • Clarified the relationship between the OERu Council of CEOs and the OER Foundation (OERF). The OERF is a registered non-profit organisation (the legal entity) governed by an independent Board of Directors. Otago Polytechnic is the sole shareholder. The OERF is committed to "open practices" (including free and open source software and transparent participatory planning) as a matter of policy. The Foundation administers two flagship initiatives: WikiEducator and the OERu. The implementation of the OERu is guided by the decisions of the OERu Council of CEOs.
   • Noted that office bearers are reviewed each year and currently do not have a fixed term.
   • Confirmed continuation of existing office bearers of the Executive Committee of Council as follows: Alan Davis (President and Vice-Chancellor, Kwantlen Polytechnic University), Chair and representative for North America; Clive Mulholland (Principal and Vice-Chancellor, University of the Highlands and Islands), representative for Europe; Robert Balfour (Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Teaching and Learning, North-West University), representative for Africa; and Phil Ker (Chief Executive, Otago Polytechic), representative for Oceania.
4. Discussed the long-term sustainability of the OERu network.
   • Emphasised the need for OERF to generate additional sources of revenue to fund central services and to support core staff (in addition to membership fees and donor funding).
     1. Agreed that the OERF will implement a process of issuing "Certificates of Participation" for a nominal fee for OERu micro-courses (suggested a fee of USD$5 for an objective item test and issue of a PDF certificate).
     2. Recommended the issuing of digital badges for participation - at no cost.
     3. Noted that the OERF does not currently have revenue sharing agreements with OERu partner institutions for centrally generated revenue from student related services. This topic to be revisited for further discussion at the next meeting of Council.
     4. Recommended that the OERF survey partners offering assessment services to gauge opinion on a royalty percentage of assessment fees as a reciprocal fee for lead generation.
     5. Agreed to trial a corporate sponsorship model for OERu micro-courses:
        • subject to the development and approval of a clear policy detailing operations and appropriate safeguards for partners and learners, and
        • working with OERu partners through their existing corporate networks.
   • Deliberated on what it would take to grow the OERu model to the scale of commercial MOOC platforms, noting that the mass market is not necessarily the only viable model when taking the long-tail effect into consideration.
     1. Agreed that the OERu should test a variety of options in the online market by adopting an agile model to adapt and refine based on what is learned from these experiments.
   • Acknowledged the complexities and challenges of implementing successful marketing strategies for the OERu when taking capacity constraints into account.
     1. Recommended that the OERu promotes cross-marketing opportunities with partner institutions by generating copy for consistent tile marketing of the OERu on partner websites (optional).
     2. Recommended that the OERu explores the development of an appropriate learner facing brand / trade name, since prospective learners don't know what "OER" is.
5. Reviewed decision proposals arising from the partners' meeting
   1. OERu task force to improve partner engagement
      • Agreed to establish an OERu task force for partner engagement chaired by Phil Ker from Otago Polytechnic. The task force will:
        1. Comprise CEO volunteers or their nominees.
        2. Survey partners about levels of engagement with OERu in their institutions to find examples of good practice and to identify barriers (task force to action).
        3. Develop explicit ROI for OERu, incorporating such considerations as social good, financial, reputation, visibility, and capability built in-house (task force to action).
        4. Develop a new staff orientation module for partner institutions to use to build understanding and set expectations (task force to action).
        5. Develop guidelines for partner institutions to show how they value open education: measures, rewards and recognition (task force to action).
        6. Identify obstacles to institutions becoming partners and consider how to engage with institutions that may not currently be in a position to become paid-up members by establishing an outreach initiative for institutions in low and lower-middle income countries.
   2. Institutional action plans
      • Agreed to invite partners to develop and share institutional action plans for OERu implementation.
      • Recommended the implementation of a consultative process that aims to optimise ROI in ways that drive value for individual partners to achieve their strategic objectives.
   3. OERu Strategic Plan: 2018 - 2021
      • Approved the strategic plan with the following amendments:
        1. Following consultation with partner organizations, refine the OERu mission statement contained in the strategic plan so that it drives value for member institutions.
        2. Expand the objectives of Goal 4 relating to achieving a fiscally sustainable and scalable OERu network to include initiatives that determine and drive value for member institutions.
        3. Re-calibrate targets as follows: 10,000 learners for 2020 and 15,000 learners for 2021 (assuming existing staffing and resourcing levels).
   4. OERu 2019 operational priorities
      • Noted that with current resource capacity, the OERF requires 3 FTE weeks work for each micro-course (two weeks for a pre-launch audit, plus one week to build automated email campaigns). 60 micro-courses, i.e. the number number of courses needed for two exit awards at the first year level, would require 180 FTE weeks of effort.
      • Recognized (as a high priority) the need for additional capacity to expedite the launch rate of courses.
      • Acknowledged Otago Polytechnic's recent secondment of 1 FTE for dedicated work on the launch of the OERu business courses.
      • Confirmed additional contributions for 2019 to support the launch of 15 micro-courses as follows:
        1. Additional cash contribution to the OERF from Thompson Rivers University to outsource support: CAD$10,000.
        2. Additional cash contribution to the OERF from Kwantlen Polytechnic University to outsource support: CAD$10,000.
        3. Internally contracted consultant from Athabasca University to support the equivalent of 5 micro-courses.
      • Suggested that OERF pitches to a sponsor now that we have approved courses for transfer credit and can clearly define output targets and deliverables for expediting the launch of the 1st year of study.
   5. Improve OERu partner recruitment collateral
      • Agreed to implement proposals to:
        1. simplify and improve the OERu formal letter of invitation to join the network, and
        2. improve the oeru.org website relating to partner recruitment by providing relevant and compelling information highlighting the benefits of active participation in OERu.
      • Lesley Brook and Dave Lane volunteered to co-ordinate this initiative.
   6. OERu innovation pilots
      • Endorsed the partners' meeting recommendations to progress the identified innovation pilot projects:
        1. Circulate a call for participation to OERu partners interested in collaborating on the assembly of micro-courses for a digital accessibility program.
        2. Circulate a call for participation to OERu partners interested in contributing to the online proctoring innovation pilot with ProctorU.
        3. Implement the LiDA community learning hub innovation pilot for OERu and community libraries.
        4. Identify candidate courses offered by partners (not necessarily OERu courses) where open boundary and open pedagogy activities could be integrated, and encourage OERu course developers to promote the inclusion of these activities.
        5. Taking market demand into account, continue mapping OERu micro-courses to the SDGs and work with relevant groups to progress OERu micro-credentials and a corresponding first year of study in sustainability.
   7. OERu quality guidelines
      • Endorsed the partners' meeting recommendations to progress the development and implementation of the quality assurance guidelines project.
   8. Risk register
      • Reviewed the updated risk register.
      • Agreed to the re-calibrated risk assessment values from the 2017 meeting.
      • Recommended the following changes and additions to the risk register:
        1. Add: Driving value for partners as a mitigation strategy for partner attrition.
        2. Add the following risks components to the register to align with the new strategic plan:
           • Data security
           • Brand promotion
           • Marketing
6. Adjourned with thanks to the hosts and OERF team for organising the 2018 OERu meetings.