This spring, NIU’s Course Materials Affordability Task Force (CMAT) presented the fourth annual Affordable Course Materials (ACM) Department Awards. These awards are part of the task force’s Leading Impact Program, which supports and recognizes academic departments and individual faculty for their adoption of Open Educational Resources (OER) and low-cost materials in courses.
Starting in 2022, affordable course materials designators – for sections with zero cost or low-cost materials ($40 or less) – were implemented in MyNIU so that students can search for and filter courses with affordable materials (defined as required books, textbooks, eBooks, streaming video, CDs, or DVDs) at the time of registration.
CMAT uses course attributes to identify the departments offering the highest percentage of course sections with affordable course materials. The top three departments for the 2025-2026 academic year are:
- Departmental Achievement Award: Department of Earth, Atmosphere, and Environment with 34% of their courses designated as low or zero cost
- Departmental Honorable Mention Award: Department of Counseling and Higher Education with 27% of their courses designated as low or zero cost
- Departmental Outstanding Effort Award: Department of Communications with 22% of their courses designated as low or zero cost
In addition to receiving a plaque and digital badge, the ACM Department Awards come with monetary prizes funded by the University Libraries.
