Open Education Librarian

Ball State University•Muncie, IN

13d•$50,000 - $52,000

About The Position

Ball State University Libraries seeks an Open Education Specialist to lead programs and services supporting the creation, adaptation, and adoption of open educational resources (OER), tools, and practices. The role will develop a robust, high-impact open textbook grant program and provide leadership and expertise in scholarly communication, authors’ rights, open access, and OER. The successful candidate will work with library colleagues, campus partners, faculty, and students to advance the strategic direction of the University Libraries and support a collaborative work environment and service culture. The position may be hired at the specialist or librarian level depending on the candidate’s degree. The University welcomes early-career candidates seeking to launch a career in open education or textbook publishing, as well as mid-career candidates seeking professional growth. Candidates are encouraged to describe how their skills and experience relate to the responsibilities, including transferable skills not specific to libraries.

Requirements

MLS, MLIS, or MIS degree from an ALA-accredited program, such as education or instructional design; other relevant degrees will also be considered.
Experience identifying, assessing, and/or using open educational resources.
Experience with teaching and/or library public service.
Academic library experience.
Effective oral and written communication skills.
Ability to collaborate with colleagues in an academic setting.

Nice To Haves

Experience with copyright, fair use, authors’ rights, publishing lifecycles, or AI-assisted tools.
Experience with OER creation and/or adoption, including software and workflows for organizing and providing access to OER.
Experience with project management, teaching, training, publishing, or editing.
Knowledge of accessibility best practices.
Experience with graphic design.
Additional advanced degrees.

Responsibilities

In coordination with the Senior Director, develop and lead open textbook initiatives through user-focused research and engagement with students, faculty, staff, and campus stakeholders.
Participate in a network of campus partners to help establish policies, priorities, and outreach for open access publishing and open textbook initiatives.
Plan, deliver, and assess open textbook initiatives, including efforts to encourage and support OER use and development, events, publications, workshops, training opportunities, and internal outreach.
Educate, support, and guide users in discovering, adopting, adapting, creating, and publishing open and accessible textbooks.
Promote and serve as a point of contact for scholarly communication topics such as Creative Commons licensing, authors’ rights, publishing models, and open access.
Collaborate with library colleagues and campus partners to assess, implement, and maintain platforms, metrics, and resources supporting OER creation and use; identify and support the needs of OER authors and adapters.
Participate in program and unit assessment; track and assess the impact of OER initiatives; evaluate procedures, processes, and program needs; and recommend improvements or changes to the Senior Director.
Align planning, priorities, goals, and services with University Libraries and university strategic initiatives, collaborating with campus partners and student organizations to align open education work with campus, state, and national directions.
Contribute to the University Libraries, university, and profession through professional organizations, presentations, committee service, publications, and other opportunities.
Keep abreast of professional literature and scholarly developments in areas of specialization and pursue relevant professional development.
Perform other related duties as assigned.

Benefits

24 paid vacation days per year.
12 paid sick days per year.
10 paid holidays per year.
Six weeks of paid parental leave.
Affordable health and dental insurance.
Long-term disability and life insurance plans.
Retirement benefits.
For eligible employees, Ball State covers 90% of undergraduate tuition for their child or children at Ball State.
Ball State covers 100% of the employee’s undergraduate tuition and 80% of graduate tuition.
Eligible new residents may access relocation incentives, including up to $5,000 cash for relocation, co-working space, access to the Ball State University Library, a one-semester Rec Fit pass, discounted athletics tickets, help connecting to local resources, potential board participation, and a six-month YMCA membership.