PALSave

To address the financial pressures on families of students attending its colleges, the Private Academic Library Network of Indiana Inc. (PALNI) created its affordable learning program (PALSave), expecting to save students over one million dollars in five years.

PALSave combats rising textbook costs at the twenty-four PALNI supported institutions using free materials like open educational resources (OER) instead of expensive commercial textbooks. Within its first year after receiving a grant from Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment Inc., PALSave saved students $80,000 in 2019-20. Significantly more savings is expected as more faculty start using free textbooks. At this time, over 100 faculty members have enrolled in the Course Redesign Grants program to assist in the incorporation of the new learning materials. Year two savings is estimated to grow to over $305,000.

“The PALSave program supports faculty to adopt, adapt, and create affordable learning materials,” said Kirsten Leonard, Executive Director of PALNI. “The five-year funding from the Lilly Endowment enables PALNI to make a real difference to student success and reduce debt by supporting the implementation of course materials that are free to students and customizable by faculty. The program benefits extend beyond the students of the twenty-four PALNI colleges and universities in Indiana as faculty at other institutions use our openly available materials.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the need for access to affordable, high-quality electronic textbooks during this unprecedented time of remote learning. According to Inside Higher Ed, the pandemic and recession are driving increased interest in OER. PALSave supports this need by providing faculty the resources they need to identify and adopt zero-cost course materials. The program incentivizes faculty with stipends to write and post reviews of OER textbooks in their subject areas, and additional grants to redesign their course if the book is a good fit.

According to US News, average tuition and fees at private colleges for 2019-2020 were $36,000 and showed a steady 3% increase. Adding further pressure on Midwest colleges is the impending enrollment cliff, which forecasts a 15% decline in the number of college-age students by 2029, according to Nathan Grawe, an economist at Carleton College in Minnesota. One way private institutions can recruit and better serve students is to provide more affordable quality course materials. In addition to reducing costs for students, the PALSave program supports student performance and graduation success. Preliminary survey data from PALNI institutions reveal that most students feel zero-cost resources help their studies and grades.

Amanda Hurford, PALNI’s Scholarly Communications Director and project lead, states: “PALNI is taking a proactive approach to help students save money and learn better. We’ve been working to provide central support and lower barriers for our schools to get involved, which is important to PALNI supported institutions. Librarians and faculty have more to manage now than ever before.”

The PALSave program will continue to grow over the next four years of the grant and beyond. In addition to continuing key initiatives such as providing faculty workshops and providing Course Redesign Grants, PALSave will obtain licensed content and fund the creation of new textbooks to support course transformation. Other plans include building the PALSave OER repository and providing opportunities for faculty, instructional technologists, librarians, to connect.Progress and impact will be provided and updated on the PALSave website: https://palsave.palni.org/.

About Lilly Endowment Inc.Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based, private philanthropic foundation created in 1937 by three members of the Lilly family — J.K. Lilly Sr. and sons J.K. Jr. and Eli — through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. While those gifts remain the financial bedrock of the Endowment, the Endowment is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion and maintains a special commitment to its hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana. More information can be found at www.lillyendowment.org.

Today’s students are facing ever-increasing financial expenses with traditional textbook prices contributing to the pressure. To combat rising textbook costs and their detrimental effects on student success and retention, the Private Academic Library Network of Indiana (PALNI) launched an initiative: PALSave: PALNI Affordable Learning.

On November 5, 2018 leaders – including bookstore managers, instructional technologists, and librarians – from over half of PALNI’s supported institutions attended a workshop facilitated by the Open Textbook Network to learn how to roll out this new program on their campus. Attendees were trained to encourage the faculty adoption of open educational resources (OER) in the classroom, and in doing so maximize student success.

PALSave System Leader and University of Saint Francis Teaching and Learning Services Coordinator Andrea Cohn remarked on the workshop success and PALSave benefits: “The best takeaway from the OTN Workshop was that open educational resources really are a win for everyone involved. Faculty benefit from the ability to have complete academic freedom in customizing OER texts to fit needs, students benefit from having free access from day one to the texts in multiple formats, and administration benefits from lowered student cost of attending the university and knowing that they are addressing one of the largest social justice issues facing college students today.”

*PALSave Campus Leader and Marian University Library Director Jessica Trinoskey pulls up Creative Commons information as discussed in a session by the Open Textbook Network.*

Other campus departments, such as the campus bookstore, are onboard with the PALSave initiative. “I am most excited about the impact PALSave can have on student success. As a bookstore manager, I believe that if a student spends less on textbooks, they have more money to spend on my t-shirts,” explains Candy Pancake, bookstore manager for Oakland City University. She views PALSave as a student success partner rather than competition for sales, noting: “I had never really seen the library as having any interest in the [textbook] adoption process. But now, I have gained a great co-champion for the textbook affordability initiative I am working on.”

PALNI recently joined the Open Textbook Network (OTN) as the first step to further its initiatives for affordable education and student success across the state. OTN maintains the Open Textbook Library, and is well known for helping organizations to advance the use of open textbooks and practices on their campuses. They have had great success with their initiative: OTN members have saved their students over 8.5 million dollars!

*PALSave Campus Leader and Huntington University Library Director Anita Gray participates in a group activity during a workshop session.*

As part of PALNI, supported institutions can enjoy affiliate status in OTN, have access to a trained team to educate faculty on benefits of OER, and obtain help redesigning courses via the PALSave team, at no additional cost to the institution. Additionally, OTN staff will be coming to back to Indiana this spring to facilitate a follow-up Campus Leader Workshop (date to be announced).

For more information about PALSave: PALNI Affordable Learning or PALNI’s membership in OTN, contact PALNI Scholarly Communications Director Amanda Hurford (amanda@palni.edu) and/or view the PALSave website https://palsave.palni.org/.

PALSave Program Serves Faculty and Students amid Affordability Concerns in Private Higher Education

PALSave Campus Leaders learn how to launch cost-saving textbook program on their campus

Our Location

Internal Tools and Workspaces

Connect with Us