About the Project

Central State University aspires to be a premier institution of excellence in teaching and learning that embraces diversity and produces graduates with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to make valuable contributions in a global society.

Central State University, an 1890 Land-Grant institution, prepares students with diverse backgrounds and experiences for leadership, research and service. The University fosters academic excellence within a nurturing environment and provides a strong liberal arts foundation leading to professional careers and advanced studies. Central State University's commitment to strengthen our academic profile while increasing enrollment and the fulfillment of the 1890 Land-Grant mission are priority to the new administration. Our new learning environment must be a technology-based environment: it must be flexible and innovative. Central State Global https://www.centralstate.edu/global/ is well positioned to deliver on the new and redefined goals. Our Center for Instructional Technology Innovations CITI) provides training for faculty, the technology infrastructure for students and the standards for sound pedagogy in the online environments and enabling investments in new academic programs and program accreditation initiatives.

One such initiative is the Open Education Resources in partnership with Tennessee State University and MERLOT. MERLOT is a free and open online community and collection of teaching and learning resources designed primarily for faculty, staff, and students of higher education. MERLOT's open educational services enable teachers and learners from around the world to freely share their instructional resources and pedagogy. MERLOT's library (www.merlot.org) provides a collection of peer-reviewed online learning materials, including over 7,000 free and open etextbooks, catalogued by registered MERLOT members. MERLOT also provides a wide range of faculty development and student support services.

CSU's Affordable Learning Solutions (AL$) initiative was the model for the Central State University Open Online Library for Education (CSOOL4Ed). CSOOL4Ed provides a digital infrastructure that will improve college affordability for students with free etextbooks and educational resources. Having free and immediate access to instructional resources will enable more students to enroll and succeed in more courses as they progress toward graduation in a timelier manner.

CSOOL4Ed will enable faculty to develop online courses and programs using free and quality Open Education Resources (OER). It will also help faculty develop educational multimedia resources and open textbooks to contribute back to the OER and Open Access (OA) global movements. This project not only enhances MERLOT's infrastructure, but it will help engage other HBCUs and international partners.

CSOOL4Ed Project Director:  Dr. Arletha McSwain