On October 22, 2019, the Alma Mater Society (AMS) and other UBC sponsors hosted an event to honour the faculty, staff, and administrators who are OER Champions for UBC: the people who advocate, propagate, and support the use of Open Education Resources in their classrooms, at UBC, and in the academic world. These champions were nominated by their fellow peers, faculty, and staff. As the AMS call for nominations put it,
While “open” is the goal of OER, this does not mean the same thing as “free”; instructor time and efforts are significant costs that go into the development and adoption of OER. The UBC community members the AMS wishes to honour at this event are true champions of equitable accessibility. They know that all students at UBC should be able to utilize course materials regardless of their socio-economic standing. Each (often unpaid) hour they dedicate towards OER leads to fewer students facing the significant financial burden that accompanies accessing course materials.
