Q. What is the purpose of a Collaboration Cohort and why has my college been asked to participate in one? Why is the college being provided with $25K to participate?
A. The $25K that is allocated for participation in the Collaboration Cohort (per subject matter area), is meant for compensation of the staff that the college identifies to participate in the planning work of the specific cohort. This will involve reviewing the current curriculum and textbook options that are available in current OER, exploring what is available or is already being developed through the efforts of other colleges, and establishing a work plan where colleges either collaborate on the development of OER textbooks, adapt textbooks collectively, or work independently where non-duplication is determined. At the point that the work divisions are determined, then colleges can modify their original program plan financial requests (for more or less funds from the original $25K) depending upon the work that must be done with all colleges that are contributing to the cohort.
Q. What, exactly, are faculty committing to when they sign the cohort document and accept the $25k?
A. The college is agreeing to participate in the cohort by providing information about ZTC for courses that your institution may have already created, reviewing other OER/ZTC information that is available at other colleges or from other resources, and to participate in OER/ZTC curation when possible. In cases where faculty cannot contribute to collaboration on OER development, they can at minimum review and make determinations to adopt or adapt currently available resources when they are available. The $25K is meant to fund the time of the individuals to discuss available resources, share their work plan approach, and examine areas where collaboration to avoid duplication of effort is possible.
Q. Will each individual college be able to determine how to compensate the staff working in the cohort? Or will there be a standard that all colleges must follow?
A. How staff are compensated, whom to send to the cohorts and any fiscal decisions with the $25K are at the discretion of the college. The CCCCO is providing the $25K for the college to use for the purpose of participating in the Collaboration Cohorts, and it is a local decision by the college for how to best use those funds on ZTC related work. Likewise, any additional funds that are requested after the culmination of the Collaboration Cohorts is a local decision and can be spent according to the needs of the institution as long as the funds are spent specifically on ZTC Degree Grant Program related work.
Q. When you say that colleges can modify their original program plan for more or less funds from the original $25K, does this mean that the college can give back any remaining money if they choose not to participate beyond the initial cohort meetings (Feb – May)?
A. The “more or less” funds is in reference to the originally requested amount that the college submitted in the program plan in NOVA. It was the original intent of the college to complete the ZTC program pathway when they submitted the program plan in NOVA, and the work of the collaboration cohort is simply to ensure that the work being performed by multiple colleges in the same academic area will not be duplicative with other institutions. When a college agrees to participate in a collaboration cohort, they are affirming that their institution will proceed beyond the collaboration cohort to complete the ZTC program pathway in the subject matter area. There should not be any reason for a college to return funds or to not proceed forward to complete the program pathway for which they submitted a ZTC Acceleration Grant program plan.
Q. Is it expected that the textbook development work be completed prior to Summer 2024 and with only $25K available to the college?
A. No – the Collaboration Cohorts will initiate the review of resources that various college bring to the cohort and facilitate the planning of development of resources within the subject matter area. After the cohort has ended, then colleges will be able to modify their original ZTC Acceleration program plan, as needed, and can request additional funding to complete the textbook development work in a manner that avoids duplication of effort with other colleges – either by direct collaboration with other colleges’ colleagues or independently based upon the specific situation with each course and textbook development need.
Q. How much time will the collaborations take (weekly meetings, out of meeting time, etc.)?
A. The purpose of the Collaboration Cohort is, initially, to share resources and plans. Once the cohorts are established, colleges will be asked to provide information related to how currently ZTC sections achieved ZTC and their specific plans for the courses that they are planning to convert to zero. After this initial phase, the compiled information will be shared with the cohort members and next steps will be determined. In other words, the work will begin with asynchronous sharing of information – the scheduling of meetings would then follow, where warranted. At least one meeting of each cohort is likely to provide a forum for discussion. Weekly meetings are not anticipated – the funding provided is expected to greatly exceed the compensation that would be required to pay cohort participants for their time.
Q. What happens if we do not “opt-in” into a Collaboration Cohort?
A. Colleges that “opt-out” may have a challenge later trying to demonstrate how their program plan is not duplicative of the work that occurred as a result of the cohort planning and collaboration efforts. Also, they will have less time to develop their ZTC program pathway as it will still be required for students to start in Fall 2026. Colleges that wish to still create a program plan in a subject matter area where cohorts have already occurred will be required to review the planning and collaborative efforts of the Collaboration Cohort’s colleges and demonstrate how their work plan and efforts are not duplicative of the work that occurred through the Collaboration Cohort. Additionally, colleges will not have immediate access to other subject matter cohorts.
Q: If we designate a single discipline lead, is it OK to have other team members participate in the cohort?
A. Yes – the college is opting into the Collaboration Cohort, so it is the college’s discretion regarding whom to send to the Collaboration Cohort. The college can send faculty from the academic department, staff from the library, administrators, or other identified staff as deemed necessary to ensure that the current ZTC/OER assets can be communicated and work plans can be determined. Colleges are, however, expected to identify a specific person to be the college’s primary contact for the work of a specific cohort.
Q. What if the designated person for the collaboration cannot make the meeting time from my college?
A. The goal of the Collaboration Cohorts is to reduce workload by providing resources and options that reduce duplication of effort and allow “work sharing” where possible. Most likely, a college will only need to work on resources for a select number of courses and can gauge their level of involvement in the cohort accordingly. It is the college’s decision for whom they send to the cohort as long as the information obtained, and the work distribution, can be confirmed by the person who is present.
Q. If there are funds remaining from the collaboration can those be used for other ZTC-degree related activities—i.e. supporting ZTC course redesigns, professional development?
A. Yes – funds allocated to the college are to initiate the planning of ZTC program pathway development in a specific subject matter area that avoids duplication of effort with other colleges. How the college utilizes the ZTC Degree Grant Program funds is a local decision, but the funding must directly support the ZTC development purposes.
Q. How many cohorts will there be and can we have a list of all the colleges participating in each cohort?
A. The CCCCO and ASCCC OERI have identified 30 subject matter areas where formal Collaboration Cohorts are needed to support colleges in the development of their respective ZTC program pathways without duplication in a manner that can be documented to demonstrate compliance to the legislative requirement.
Q. Can colleges participate in the cohorts even if not invited?
A. Unfortunately, due to the timelines and work that must be accomplished in the cohorts, colleges that were not invited will not be able to join. However, following the cohorts’ work and reports, all colleges will have access to the collaborative planning information.
Q. Is the $25,000 used to create OER, or if ZTC already exists, can those funds be used to purchase materials (such as lab kits) to make the courses ZTC?
A. The $25K, per academic program, is available as initial funds to begin work on the ZTC pathway by participating in the Collaboration Cohort(s). It is a college-level decision for how the funds will be used, but it should align with the expenditures that were outlined in the original program plan submitted in NOVA. The example of “lab kits” would need to be better defined; however, only textbooks and lab books are required to be zero cost for students to achieve a ZTC pathway. Additional instructional materials such as goggles, gloves, shoe covers, etc. are not ZTC Degree Grant Program expenses and are not required to be provided at no-cost to students for a program to meet ZTC requirements.
Q. Who will be running the cohorts?
A. The OERI will be identifying an individual to lead each of the cohorts. A faculty member either in the discipline and/or with curriculum and OER experience will facilitate the work of each cohort.
Q: Our “content” classes are already ZTC. We were hoping to get the last few classes outside of that area converted. Should we still join the collaboration?
A. Yes! A college that already has achieved ZTC for all core requirements will first share out the OER/ZTC that they currently are using, be informed of additional OER/ZTC that other colleges might be using and explore opportunities as a professional cohort for improvements of currently existing resources (text materials, ancillaries, etc.) that can be made. After this, cohort participants can interact with other cohorts for courses that they may still need to develop in other subject matter areas. The opportunity to see and potentially collaborate on what is being created and is available state-wide (both within and outside the major) is a unique opportunity. Your college can choose whom they choose to send to the Collaboration Cohort – it can be your ZTC lead or the subject matter faculty. Often, seeing what is being developed can spark inspiration and opportunity to contribute to the improvement of available resources.
Q: What if we joined this cohort and attended the meetings, but it looked like this was becoming too much of a commitment or the meetings were scheduled at times when we had class or other committee obligations, and we wanted to step down?
A. The goal of the collaboration cohorts is to reduce workload by providing resources and options that reduce duplication of effort and allow “work sharing” where possible. Regular meetings would only be scheduled if needed to work out the details of a planned collaboration. A college that agrees to participate is agreeing to proceed forward and complete the ZTC program pathway by Fall 2026. A college cannot go to the cohort(s), use the funding to review content in the subject matter area, and then not complete the program pathway for their students. This was originally noted in the assurances when the program plans were submitted in NOVA. Most likely, a college will only need to work on a select number of course textbooks and can gauge their level of involvement in the cohort accordingly. It is the college’s decision for whom they send to the cohort as long as the information obtained and work distribution can be confirmed by the person who is present.
Q: What if other colleges were not interested in our project or did not support this idea?
A. If colleges, after reviewing the available resources and work plans, determine that they want to go a different route in the creation of their ZTC textbooks, then this is allowable as long as the work can be documented to be reasonably unique. The work plan reports from the OERI will need to demonstrate how the work was non-duplicative. The intent is not to “box” in the faculty members regarding “who” must do particular aspects of the work, but it is rather to demonstrate that the work performed by the colleges was collaborative with other institutions or that the work completed by the college was unique. Therefore, another college will not be able to dictate to your faculty the work that they must do. Instead, this is a partnership with areas of uniqueness being documented and demonstrated.
Q: What if we have very different ideas on how to develop the project?
A. In situations where significant differences exist between colleges, then unique work will be done by each college to achieve their objectives, and this will be documented by the OERI to cover the colleges and ensure that they were compliant with the grant funds.
Q: Are there any penalties when things do not work out?
A. When the colleges submitted the original program plans requesting funds to complete the program pathway, it was done with an assurance that the program pathway would be completed by Fall 2026. The Collaboration Cohorts will help facilitate collaboration toward this goal where possible, document where work is unique, and justify that the grant awards given to each institution to develop a similar major ZTC program pathway was not done blindly with duplication. Colleges need to complete the ZTC program pathway once the allocation is made – noting that the college can come back with a modified budget when/if the work plan changes because of possible work-sharing and collaboration within the Collaboration Cohort.
Q: Are our faculty/cohort attendees only committing to information sharing, discussion, and planning with the cohort group?
A. Yes, this is the work that will happen in the Collaboration Cohorts. However, your college is committed to completing the ZTC program pathway by Fall 2026.
Q. What would happen if they decide to not proceed with the cohort? Do we refund all or part of the $25k? Do we pay our faculty for their time participating with the cohort and return the remaining funds?
A. It is important to note that the Collaboration Cohorts will not be dictating work assignments to your faculty regarding the work that is needed. Instead, this is a partnership with areas of uniqueness being documented and demonstrated. If a college decides to not proceed to create the ZTC program pathway at their college after an award is made (either in cases of being awarded to participate in a Collaboration Cohort or when a college has been independently awarded), then the college might be required to return the funds.
Q. What if there are existing OER, but the texts are not acceptable to our faculty members? Will the CO fund the creation of another title for the same subject matter if it has a very different focus or theme?
A. Instructors are clearly the content experts for their courses, and we are hopeful that very positive collaboration will occur. The cohorts are being facilitated by the ASCCC OERI, so the expertise and recognition of faculty insights concerning the development of course texts and students’ needs will be honored. By instructors having the opportunity to work together, we are confident that places of mutuality, and also of diversity, regarding viewpoints and approaches to the work will be respected throughout the process. If colleges, after reviewing the available resources and work plans, determine that they want to go a different route in the creation of their ZTC textbooks, then this is allowable as long as the work can be documented to be reasonably unique. Ultimately, the college will need to produce a ZTC program pathway for the subject matter area, and the work plan reports from the OERI will need to demonstrate how the work done by the college was non-duplicative. The intent is not to “box” in the faculty members regarding “who” must do particular aspects of the work, but it is rather to demonstrate that the work performed by the colleges was collaborative with other institutions or that the work completed by the college was unique. Colleges need to complete the ZTC program pathway once the allocation is made – noting that the college can come back with a modified budget when/if the work plan changes because of possible work-sharing and collaboration within the Collaboration Cohort.
Q: If we were mostly going to adopt textbooks for our college’s proposed ZTC degrees, should we still accept?
A. Yes! Participation in the Collaboration Cohorts does not obligate your faculty to be involved in the creation of chapters of textbooks or ancillaries. The funding level, of course, would likely remain at the $25K for time of involvement in the cohort and for review of the created materials. One of the great benefits for colleges is the opportunity to glean from the work of others through the Collaboration Cohorts! Colleges that review and adopt OER that is either presently available or that is created by collaboration in the cohorts is non-duplication of effort.