College of Western Idaho (CWI) is helping shape the future of affordable, accessible higher education through statewide collaboration and innovation in open educational resources (OER).
On Sept. 18, CWI joined Boise State University to co-sponsor the Opening Pathways Summit, a virtual event bringing together higher education faculty and leaders to explore new approaches to teaching, learning, and reducing textbook costs for students.
The summit welcomed more than 130 registrants from across the United States and Canada, with the majority from Idaho. The event focused on building partnerships between community colleges and four-year institutions, exploring OER, open pedagogy, artificial intelligence (AI), accessibility, and innovative course design.
For CWI, the summit provided an opportunity to share the College's growing success with OER while helping lead conversations about expanding those opportunities across Idaho. The College’s commitment to expanding OER is already having a significant impact on students.
As of Fall 2026, OER and no-cost textbook courses accounted for 40% of all CWI course sections and 55% of General Education course sections. These efforts are estimated to save students more than $500,000 this semester alone, contributing to more than $3 million in student textbook savings since 2022.
Throughout the summit, CWI faculty played an important role, including Mathematics Professor, Susan Aydelotte; Department Chair of Integrated Studies, Joel Gladd; Director of Digital Learning and AI at the Idaho State Board of Education and CWI Adjunct Faculty, Liza Long; and Assistant Dean of General Education, Greg Wilson.
These milestones reflect CWI's continued commitment to removing financial barriers, improving access to education, and empowering faculty to create engaging learning experiences.
CWI Faculty Helping Shape OER Across Idaho
A key point emphasized throughout the summit was the importance of expanding access to educational materials and the positive impact this has on ensuring students are successful from day one.
For Aydelotte, OER helps remove barriers beyond the cost of traditional textbooks, including fees associated with online homework platforms. It also ensures students have access to learning materials from the first day of class and can continue using those resources after completing their courses.
"The recent recognition of OER as a high-impact educational practice reflects what many of us have seen firsthand: removing cost barriers helps students succeed, particularly those from underserved populations," Aydelotte said.
She also showcased CWI's growing OER efforts, including faculty training opportunities to adopt, adapt, and create instructional materials. Through the College's OER Champions program, experienced faculty like Aydelotte help colleagues explore and implement open resources in their own courses.
Aydelotte also shared her experience using specific open educational resources in her mathematics courses, highlighting tools such as OpenStax, LibreTexts, and MyOpenMath to support student learning.
Beyond the classroom, Aydelotte serves as CWI's Math OER champion and OER representative to the Idaho State Board of Education's General Education Committee, helping bring faculty perspectives into statewide conversations about instructional resources.
Aydelotte's own interest in OER began several years ago following a conversation with a colleague from North Idaho College, an experience that demonstrated the value of sharing resources and ideas across institutions.
"By sharing resources and ideas, faculty can build on one another's successes instead of starting from scratch," Aydelotte said. "The Opening Pathways Summit was an opportunity to learn from others, share what is working at CWI and BSU, and encourage more instructors to explore OER for the benefit of their students."
Gladd, recognized as a pioneer in AI across the state, led an interactive demonstration exploring how artificial intelligence can support the creation and maintenance of open educational resources. He also focused on how emerging agentic AI tools are helping automate aspects of textbook management.
Gladd highlighted practical applications of AI, including improving accessibility, formatting instructional materials, and developing supplemental learning resources, both with and without the Pressbooks platform.
"It's an exciting time to be an OER creator, but it's increasingly important to steward these changes in ways that keep humans at the center," Gladd said.
Beyond the summit, Gladd has contributed to statewide conversations around AI in higher education. In 2023, he collaborated with Long to develop chapters addressing writing and AI in the open educational resource Write What Matters. He previously served as AI Lead for the Idaho State Board of Education's 2025–2026 Catalyst Initiative and currently serves on the 2026–2027 AI Catalyst Leadership Team, as well as the State Board's Teaching and Learning with Technology Committee alongside CWI Learning Management Systems Administrator, Nick Webster.
Wilson contributed to the summit through a collaborative presentation with Boise State University representatives exploring ways to reduce textbook costs across institutions. Wilson highlighted CWI's existing zero-textbook-cost degree pathways, Z-Degrees, including General Studies, Communications, Philosophy, and Studio Art. These programs build on statewide efforts launched in 2022 to make educational materials more affordable for students.
Expanding Collaboration Across Idaho
Building on CWI's existing Z-Degree efforts, summit discussions explored opportunities to connect affordable textbook pathways between two-year and four-year institutions through initiatives such as Providing Affordable Textbooks for Higher Ed (PATH).
The initiative aims to expand access to online degree pathways with affordable instructional materials, particularly for rural and place-bound students.
Attendees also participated in breakout sessions focused on General Education, nursing, and Career Technical Education (CTE), exploring course alignment, instructional materials, and opportunities for cross-institutional collaboration.
Interactive "Show + Do" demonstrations introduced practical tools and strategies, including finding Creative Commons-licensed resources, incorporating multimedia, improving accessibility, and using AI to support OER development.
Turning Collaboration into Action
The summit concluded with participants developing 90-day action plans to adopt, adapt, or create open educational materials for their courses.
Attendees also shared positive feedback about connecting with colleagues across institutions and discovering resources that made OER development feel more manageable.
As institutions build on the ideas and connections developed during the summit, CWI continues to play an important role in advancing OER and creating more accessible learning opportunities for students across Idaho.
Learn more about how CWI is making education more affordable through Z-Degree classes, which allow students to work toward their educational goals without the cost of traditional textbooks.
