“Dual Credit Courses” as defined by the Higher Learning Commission are courses taught to high school students for which the students receive both high school and college credit and involve the accredited institution’s responsibility for the quality of its offerings. 

“Dual credit enrollment” is a subset of dual credit and means enrollment of high school students in dual credit courses, pursuant to a dual credit cooperative agreement. Courses are taught by a postsecondary educational institution faculty member in which students receive both high school credit and college credit for completing the course.

“Concurrent enrollment” is a subset of dual credit and means enrollment of high school students in dual credit courses, pursuant to a dual credit cooperative agreement. Courses are taught by high school teachers during the regular high school day in which students receive both high school credit and college credit for completing the course.

“Dual enrollment” means enrollment of high school students in college courses outside a cooperative agreement between the district and postsecondary institution entered pursuant to the Kansas Challenge to Secondary School Students Act, in which a transcript is issued for credit from the institution without regard to high school credit. All modes of delivery of academic offerings and all campus locations are appropriate for dual enrollment courses including main campus, additional locations, and distance delivery.

 “Student” means:
(1) is enrolled in grades 10, 11, or 12 maintained by a school district, or a gifted child who is enrolled in any of the grades 9 through 12 maintained by a school district;
(2) has an individualized plan of study or an individualized education program;
(3) has demonstrated the ability to benefit from participation in the regular curricula of eligible postsecondary institutions;
(4) has been authorized by the principal of the school attended to apply for enrollment at an eligible postsecondary educational institution; 
and (5) is acceptable or has been accepted for enrollment at an eligible postsecondary educational institution as a degree-seeking or non-degree seeking student. 

Dual Credit Cooperative Agreements

The Kansas Challenge to Secondary School Students Act, K.S.A. 72-3220 through 72-3224, (Challenge Act) provides a means for school districts, in cooperation with eligible postsecondary institutions, to challenge high school students by procuring early college opportunities. The Kansas Board of Regents encourages all system postsecondary institutions to collaborate with local school districts and provide dual credit opportunities to high school students through cooperative agreements entered pursuant to the Challenge Act. The Challenge Act does not mandate system postsecondary institutions to offer dual credit enrollment to students in local school districts. However, if an eligible system postsecondary institution chooses not to offer dual credit enrollment with local districts pursuant to the Challenge Act, in accordance with Board policy for Off-Campus Delivery of Academic Courses and Programs, the home institution shall allow eligible system postsecondary institutions outside the institution’s service area to provide the Challenge Act opportunities with those school districts. The Challenge Act requires academic credit granted for courses successfully completed by high school students to qualify as both high school and college credit, which is defined as dual credit by the Higher Learning Commission.  Board policy requires a dual credit cooperative agreement for all dual credit courses.

“Dual Credit Cooperative Agreement” means a written memorandum of understanding between an eligible postsecondary institution and a school district entered pursuant to the Kansas Challenge to Secondary School Students Act for the purpose of offering dual credit courses to eligible students who receive both high school credit and college credit.

“Dual Credit Courses” as defined by the Higher Learning Commission are courses taught to high school students for which the students receive both high school and college credit and involve the accredited institution’s responsibility for the quality of its offerings.

 Policies are found in Chapter III, Section A of the Policy Manual.

sample Dual Credit cooperative agreement

	This fillable document serves as a sample Dual Credit Cooperative Agreement between a postsecondary institution and a school district. Institutions can customize this Agreement to meet their specific needs pursuant to the Kansas Challenge to Secondary School Students Act.
	Viewing this PDF from WSU Tech's partnership will demonstrate how Dual Credit Cooperative Agreements can be customized to meet specific needs and provide a written memorandum of understanding for eligible students to enroll in dual credit courses through the institution.

The following are resources faculty and staff members may utilize to help support OER implementation across institutions. 

Systemwide transfer Course Recommendations

These resources have been vetted through our institution's faculty representatives and are recommended for the following courses:

English Composition I

• Handbooks
  • English Composition I: Rhetorical Methods–Based  (Lumen)
  • Introduction to College Composition (Lumen)
  • Let's Get Writing (Virginia Western Community College)
  • Writing for Success (McLean) 
• Readers
  • Wichita State University’s English Readings Bank
  • Butler Community College’s Idea to Essay, 2nd ed.
  • Composition 1 Anthology (Lumen)
  • 88 Open Essays

General Psychology

• OpenStax: Psychology 2e (Spielman et al., 2023)

College Algebra

• OpenStax: College Algebra
  
• Optional: Corequisite Support woven into the text
• WeBWorK Exercises (Option for free online homework)

Public Speaking

• Exploring Public Speaking
• Stand Up, Speak Out

Statistics

• Introductory Statistics with Randomization and Simulation
• Introduction to Statistics: An Excel-Based Approach
• Online Statistics Education: An Interactive Multimedia Course of Study
• OpenIntro Statistics

KBOR OER systemwide Initiatives 

The KBOR OER Steering Committee distributed a survey to all public higher education institutions in Kansas.  The 2021 survey was created to gather baseline information on how Open Educational Resources (OER) are currently being implemented across the various colleges and universities in the state.  For more information about the survey and report go to the Publications page.

LibreTexts Commons, a key platform used by many institutions, provides an extensive library of open educational resources designed to enhance teaching and learning. Check out the Kansas LibreTexts Commons page. 

Individual OER Initiatives

Emporia State University

In Fall 2020, ESU began awarding Course Resource Affordability Initiative Grants (CRAIG) to spur faculty adoption, adaption, compilation, and creation of open educational resources. Since Fall 2020,  58 ESU faculty have received CRAIG awards resulting in more than $400,000 in textbook savings for students through Spring 2024. The Student Government Association fully supports OER efforts at ESU, holding a seat on the OER Committee since 2019 and producing resolutions in favor of OER and of CRAIG awards to spur innovation. SGA representatives sitting on the Tuition and Fees Committee unanimously approved of a $5 fee to support CRAIG funding and OER infrastructure. That fee has been approved by KBOR and has been in effect since Fall 2022.

Resources: OER Resources at ESU 

updated 10/2024

Fort Hays State University

FHSU’s OER initiative began with AASCU’s Red Balloon Initiative for innovative teaching practices in 2007-2014. As part of the initiative, FHSU formed an Open Educational Resources Committee in 2012 under the leadership of Academic Affairs and the Office of the Provost. Today that committee is co-chaired by the Dean of the Library and the Assistant Vice Provost for Teaching Innovation and Learning Technologies (TILT). In 2017, the OER committee administered a faculty survey about perceptions of OERs. In 2019, FHSU’s Faculty Senate made a resolution in support of zero-cost course materials.

In collaboration with TILT and Technology Services, the library has offered a series of mini-conferences on open access, copyright, getting started with OERs, and advanced OERs. As of February 2020, FHSU’s executive leadership team approved a new Z-Course Initiative proposed by the OER Committee that will incentivize departments with high-enrollment courses to convert them to use zero-cost course materials. The OER Committee is currently working on implementation.

Resources: Open Textbook Grant Program | FHSU Digital Press Website | FHSU Scholars Repository | Library Guide for OER

Memberships: Open Textbook Network and SPARC

Kansas State University

Since starting in 2012, The Kansas State Open/Alternative Textbook Initiative has saved K-State Students millions by providing grants up to $5000 to instructors who replace their textbook with a resource that is free to use. These resources may be open educational resources, or alternative educational resources that are not open available for use beyond the course. In order to provide greater incentive for adoption, more recently we have introduced a $10/course fee for courses that use an open or alternative educational resource and do not require students to purchase other materials. To make these fee eligible courses easier for students to identify, we have an icon that replaces the textbook icon that normally provides information about the material required by the course.

Resources: Grant Award Application | OER Course Designation

Membership: Open Textbook Network and SPARC

Pittsburg State University

Pittsburg State’s initial interest in OER began in 2015 during the Kaleidoscope Project. At this time the OER Steering Committee was formed in a collaboration between the Provost’s Office and the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology. This committee is comprised of faculty and staff representatives as well as a student representative from the Student Government Association. Since its inception, the OER Steering Committee has made great strides in increasing OER awareness and adoption across campus. In 2015, a Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) designation was added to the course schedule. In 2017, the committee began offering OpenPitt Awards for OER adoption and OpenPitt Grants for OER creation. To date, courses affiliated with the OpenPitt program have saved students over one million dollars in course materials. In 2018, OER was included in the Tenure and Promotion guidelines outlined in the KNEA/PSU contract.

Professional development for OER is also offered on the Pittsburg State campus. Library Services and the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology provide workshops on OER basics, locating OER, Lumen Learning, and Open Education Network training. OER faculty champions across campus have also provided sessions on Creative Commons, publishing OER, and using OER during Covid-19. Additionally, Pittsburg State has offered faculty panels on OER implementation and a roundtable discussing OER and Copyright.

Resources: Library Guide for OER  I  Pitt State Digital Commons  I  KCCTE Resource Library  I  Creative Commons Guide

updated 5/2022

The University of Kansas

The University of Kansas has been engaged in sustained support of OER since 2015. There is an active program of outreach and advocacy based in the Libraries, which participates in the Open Education Network (OEN) and maintains a grant program, providing funding up to $5,000 for OER adopters, adapters, and creators at KU. In Spring 2019, KU Libraries launched a Textbook Heroes initiative to recognize outstanding contributions at KU. In AY 17/18, KU was accepted to the OpenStax Institutional Partner Program. In AY 18/19, Student Senate established their own initiatives, including a resolution endorsing OER and the creation of the Student Senate Textbook Affordability Award, as well as participating in statewide OER advocacy and research alongside their Regent's institution peers. In Fall 2020, with the support of Student Senate, KU began marking no-cost and low-cost courses in Enroll & Pay and classes.ku.edu, based on the excellent examples of colleagues at PSU and KSU. KU Libraries supports the use of Pressbooks for the creation of OER.

Resources: Textbook Heroes | OER Grant Initiative | Guide to Open Educational Resources | OER at KU Handout

Memberships: Open Textbook Network, SPARC, and OpenStax Institutional Partner Program

updated 9/2024

Washburn University

Washburn University has a nascent OER project operated by its University Libraries.  The initiative is largely information and incentive based.  Educational opportunities to learn more about OER are offered by the Open Education Librarian through Washburn’s Center for Teaching and Learning, and individualized sessions with faculty.  A small grant program, designed to incentive the adoption of OER, operated by the University Libraries was launched in summer 2019.  The Faculty Senate and Student Government of Washburn University are both interested in the role OER will play at the institution in the future.

Wichita State University

Wichita State University is committed to the use of OER, with instructional designers, university libraries, and the university bookstore all helping to promote the adoption of appropriate free resources. WSU launched the Open/Alternative Textbook (OAT) initiative in Spring 2020 to promote, incentivize, and grow the use of freely available resources in classes to reduce the economic impact of textbook costs on the student body. 

The program is based on a successful model at K-State and has two components: an OAT course designation for courses using open or alternative textbooks and a grant program to support faculty developing their own no-cost educational resources. Courses with the OAT designation have a $10 course fee, which supports the initiative. Applications for course designations and grants are reviewed by the OAT committee, which consists of stakeholders from across campus.

Resources: Open Alternative Textbook (OAT) Course Designation | OAT Textbook Grant Program

Allen Community College

Allen Community College began successfully implementing OERs in the fall of 2021 with a business course. The system wide transfer course is using an OER textbook for both onsite and online classes. Investigation into other courses that would benefit from using OER materials is ongoing. There are currently three other academic areas that are considering switching to OER textbooks.

updated 4/2022

Barton Community College

Barton Community College continues to further implement OER across the institution recognizing the benefits OER can provide faculty and the support it can provide students. Most recently Barton has launched a Low-Cost Degree Pathway for Barton Online and continues to work with faculty to become OER certified.

Butler Community College

Butler Community College has recently adopted or developed several OER, including texts for Composition I and Composition II. Student savings have been significant:  the composition texts are on track to save Butler students 1 million dollars in the 2020-21 academic year.  Butler’s OER work has been supported by its OER and Textbook Affordability Teams, Nixon Library, Educational Technology, Faculty Development, and Academic Departments in the form of policy and procedures, web pages, trainings, focused meetings, and two faculty development workshops, Introduction to OER and the Butler OER Development Process.  Butler also belongs to the Community College Consortium for Open Educational Resources or CCCOER.

Resources: OER Guide

Dodge City Community College

For the past 6 years, the Openstax Anatomy and physiology textbook has been used at DCCC.  Most students download it as a PDF to their computers, but some purchase a print copy through the bookstore or through Amazon.  The major reason for doing so was the textbook being used was $200 or $100 to rent for each semester, and thus, many students did not purchase it. Most students were not reading it due to the difficulty level.  

One item that has helped with costs is not an OER, but the library subscribes to films on demand, which students can access free. This allows them access to documentaries and old newsreels, as well as scientific advances.  Whether or not a professor is using partial or complete OER resources, this is a powerful resource for students.

Fort Scott Community College

Fort Scott Community College is still in the infant stages of using OERs.  The Director of Library Services has informed and promoted to educating faculty instructors on what OERs are as well as providing some links to basic OER resources.  Instructors are being encouraged to look at OERs, consider them, and use them.  Only a few courses are currently utilizing OERs in some form including Introduction to Business, Principles of Microeconomics, Principles of Macroeconomics, College Orientation, Elements of Technical Analysis, General Chemistry I, and General Chemistry II.  In addition, the Director of Library Services was appointed as a member of the Kansas Statewide OER Steering Committee.

Garden City Community College

Garden City Community College is committed increasing access to higher education. Outside specific technical programs, all textbooks are provided either through digital textbook subscription or faculty adoption of open educational resources.  Early adopters among the faculty are using open textbooks and teaching materials in a variety of courses, including Biology, Anatomy & Physiology, Geography, Economics, Education, English Composition, and Literature. GCCC has a faculty-led working group under the direction of the Curriculum and Instruction Committee that explores policy and procedures for transitioning from traditional instructional materials to OERs and supports that transition with adequate professional development opportunities, both on campus and virtually. Faculty training in OER adoption and adaptation is available on campus from the Director of Library Services, the Director of Instructional Design, and the GCCC representative of the KBOR OER Steering Committee.

updated 9/2024

Hutchinson Community College

HutchCC is proud to provide affordable higher education and recently formalized its support of OER by establishing an Open Education Resource/Zero Textbook Cost Subcommittee. The OER/ZTC Subcommittee has since taken on projects ranging from professional development, facilitating peer mentoring for faculty interested in redeveloping courses to use OER, and tracking student textbook cost savings. Future plans include centralizing training and resources, creating a Low or No Textbook Cost course marking system, building a new OER/ZTC webpage, and providing guidance on common OER issues such as Creative Commons licensing, writing and editing skills, and instructional re-design. Currently, HutchCC offers over 80 courses that use OER or do not require a textbook, with more systemwide transfer courses being re-developed for OER each semester. During the 2023-2024 academic year, it was estimated that use of OER saved students over $300,000. 

updated 9/2024

Independence Community College

Independence CC just starting to use OERs on a very limited basis.  They have about 5 instructors using them in various forms (OpenStax to self-created).  They have started a group that is exploring what, if any, policy and procedure should be followed when moving from traditional classroom materials to OERs.  They currently have a loaner program at the bookstore, so it has not been a pressing need for them.  The bookstore is exploring some potential changes and so they may be looking at this more in the next few years.  They have faculty who are early adopters who are really liking the resources and faculty who claim they will never do this, so it is still transitioning from an informational point to a practical use.  The library director started an OER resource page on the library page to support those using OERs and for students doing research.  

Current classes that are using them:

• Psychology
• Sociology
• Biology
• Some of our Math courses

Johnson County Community College

For a year and a half, JCCC has had an OER taskforce. In that time, they’ve joined and supported CCCOER and SPARC, awarded 7 mini-grants for implementation and creation, and have conducted several consultations. As they wait to see results with the mini-grants, they’ve also taken a soft survey of OER currently in classrooms, as well as made an OER curriculum option for their Comp I instructors. The activities for this year include more mini-grants, reporting out from previous ones, multiple returning sabbatical members who left to create OER, two taskforce members completing librarian and educator Creative Commons certificate programs, conference attendance, and more professional development.

Resources: Find OER | OER and Copyright

Memberships: CCCOER and SPARC

Labette Community College

Labette Community College currently uses OER materials for General Biography, Anatomy & Physiology, World Regional Geography, both US History Survey classes, Matrix Algebra, and American Government. Most of these classes will transfer directly to Kansas universities. Some other classes, particularly in chemistry and math, use instructor-written material that is provided to students at the cost of printing.

Pratt Community College

PCC is at the opening stages of working with OER with the faculty.  The VP for instruction has included into the Director of the Learning Resource Center’s responsibilities the opportunity to share the OER message and to champion it on campus. They currently have one science faculty that is experimenting with possible OER inclusion into one of her courses. They are also working to identify adequate / reasonable sources to be able to convert their Comparative World Religion class into an OER class.

The overall status is that they are in the investigative, championing and education stage.