Excellence in Open Education Award
Tony Hartshorn
The recipient of the Excellence in Open Education Award is Tony Hartshorn, an associate professor in the College of Agriculture’s Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences. This award recognizes a faculty member who demonstrates significant impact in areas related to affordable and open educational resources, thus reducing student debt and minimizing barriers to education. Sponsored by the MSU Library, the award carries a $2,000 honorarium.
Through a 2021 grant, Hartshorn began authoring a textbook for his Soils course, which he uses in an open-access format, allowing students to get the information they need to succeed in a more accessible way. Though the course centers field-based experiences, this textbook and other open-access resources provide scaffolding for students. Since Hartshorn developed and began using these resources in 2021, he estimates he has saved the roughly 1,400 students who have taken his courses an estimated $210,000 in textbook costs.
“Choosing to use an open educational resource is a great way for faculty to help their students get the information they need and succeed in their learning,” wrote LRES department head Bob Peterson in nominating Hartshorn for the award. “Tony has done this admirably but has also taken it a step further. By assembling OA resources for a new textbook, he is able to provide his students customized, curated learning materials to maximize their success in his courses.”