In celebration of Open Education Week 2026, the Senate of College Councils and UT Libraries partnered to ask students to nominate instructors who have positively impacted their educational experience through their use of free or low-cost materials. We’ll be recognizing a few of our nominees this week as Affordable Education Champions! More information about this program can be found on our LibGuides page, as well as in our overview post about our 2026 Champions.
Today, we congratulate and thank Professor Mina Ogando Lavin, who was nominated by SPN 367D students in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. Professor Ogando Lavin is a staunch supporter of student affordability and an advocate for Open Educational Resources (OER). Her course, SPN 367D, has always been taught using cost-free materials Professor Ogando Lavin created herself.
We asked Professor Ogando Lavin what led her to select free and low-cost materials for her course. She told us:
Over the years at UT, I have learned that students in our Spanish courses come from diverse backgrounds in terms of language proficiency, interests, and financial circumstances. With this in mind, I prefer to create my own course materials so that I can tailor them to my students’ needs while also ensuring that they do not have to incur additional costs for the class.
Finally, Professor Ogando Lavin gave the following advice to instructors looking to adapt free and low-cost materials in their courses:
My advice to colleagues is that adopting affordable materials can be very rewarding. Each semester, students are relieved when they read the syllabus and realize that all course materials are available on Canvas and that they do not need to purchase expensive textbooks. It also allows instructors to update and adapt materials to reflect current events and the needs of their students. Using materials you know well and can fully control makes the teaching experience more flexible and effective—a win-win for both instructors and students.
Guest post by: Audrey Waite, OER GRA
