Publishing Advisory Group Navigates Complex Landscape

The Publishing Cooperative Advisory Group is a standing group created by the Open Education Network (OEN) in 2023 to support our community’s evolving interests and initiatives in publishing open educational resources. 

In its first two years, the eight-member Advisory Group has taken a visionary, strategic, and action-oriented approach to recognize the community’s publishing needs and develop pathways to address them together.

Looking forward, the group’s work will likely include providing open publishing support in a changing socio-political environment, addressing generative A.I. and its impact on intellectual property rights, emphasizing ethical use of open materials, and offering practical guidance on new accessibility standards.

Stefanie Buck of Oregon State University and Kelly Smith of Eastern Kentucky University are co-chairs of the group, and collaborate with six additional members that reflect the diverse backgrounds, experiences, and opinions represented in the OEN community. In addition, Karen Lauritsen and Jamie Witman, with the Open Education Network team, support the group.

Christina Trunnell of Montana State University served with the group during its inaugural two years. “The Advisory Group genuinely considers how best to serve open publishing for institutions and consortiums of all sizes, as well as diverse levels of knowledge and resources,” she says. “By having diverse representation in the group, it helps to ensure that the work being done is inclusive and considered. Fresh perspectives and questions help make us all better.”

Trunnell is one of two members who will complete terms in January 2025. At that time, she and Christina Rhiehman-Murphy of Penn State University will vacate their seats, and three new members will begin. Looking back on their time with the group, both value the collaboration, thoughtful planning, and rich discussion. 

Trunnell specifically recalls her involvement in Tea Time, OEN’s monthly chat about publishing, as a standout experience. 

“Collectively, I feel like we each learned things and had moments of greater awareness of what was impacting members of the community,” Christina says in retrospect, adding that she particularly enjoyed participants’ questions and feedback.

The group’s efforts also centered on completing major revisions to the OEN’s Publishing Toolkit. Working collaboratively, members created two separate toolkits to serve distinct audiences: the OER Publishing Project Toolkit for staff who support faculty authors, and the OER Publishing Program Toolkit for open educational resource (OER) program managers. 

“OER publishing is a complex landscape,” Trunnell noted. “What this group ended up with is a wonderful set of resources that are very inclusive, approachable, and will be great tools for publishing.”

As the group extends its sincere appreciation to Trunnell and Riehman-Murphy, it also welcomes the arrival of three new members in January: Emily Moran of the University of Wisconsin-Superior, Jessica Kirschner of Virginia’s Academic Library Consortium (VIVA), and Amanda Grey of Kwantlen Polytechnic University.

“One of the things I love about open ed is the ability to give and share to make others’ lives easier,” Grey said. “Joining groups like these gives me the opportunity to get out of the day-to-day routine and think about open ed on a larger scale. Not only am I able to share my experiences with others, but I often walk away with sparks of new ideas as well.” 

Grey hopes her strengths, particularly in connectedness and individualization, will help her support the group’s goals, enabling her to see the larger open education picture without losing sight of the individuals involved and affected. 

As the group continues to evolve with new members and priorities, Trunnell believes it will continue to be a place for self-care and human connection. She encourages Grey, Kirschner, and Moran to lean on Advisory Group co-members as they take on their new roles. That’s because, through it all, our relationships are a priority. “I believe this group, and the OEN’s work to support each other and the connections that we’ve built together, will continue to be an anchor for open publishing and OER in the coming years,” she says.