Please see Unit 0 for an introduction to this project that includes the Open Curriculum Project Timeline. The sections below highlight project management activities that take place in the different phases of the project.

The table in each section below collects materials (“assets”) that were developed for the pilot run of the Open Curriculum Development Project and can be reused or adapted as needed. See the Documents Overview tab of the {Course #} Deliverables for Open Curriculum Development Project spreadsheet for author- and instructor-facing documents developed for the current iteration.

Year 0: Recruitment & Project Planning

In Year 0, you will help build out the project team team, review and revise training materials, and prepare to onboard instructors. You will also select and set up a project management tracker for the entire 3-year project.

The table below has links to documentation of how we did some of the Year 0 tasks the first time we ran this project. The links access Google documents, Google folders, or Word documents unless otherwise noted. You can use them as a starting point and adapt as needed.

Year 0 problem-solving examples

• Support team roles are not hired in time to join the timeline when expected

• Statewide Open Education Program Director, Project Manager, and onboarded support team collaborate to cover gaps

• Author teams not filled out in time to join Textbook Accelerator when expected

• Project Manager continues to recruit Contributing Authors on a rolling basis
• Author team recommends Contributing Author candidates from their networks
• Refer new authors to the catchup section in Contributing Author support role

Year 1: Drafting and Development

In Year 1, you will provide hands-on project management support to 4 author teams designing textbooks in one discipline. During the Textbook Accelerator, you will meet weekly with each author team, the project leadership team, and lead whole-project meetings; meeting cadence is less frequent for the rest of Year 1. You will be the primary point of contact for author support and you will refer questions to other support team members as needed. You will ensure that by the end of year, the authors have a complete manuscript that is ready for course piloting and peer review, and meets the Open Curriculum Project’s Textbook Criteria for Success.

You will also have ongoing project management tasks:

• Support authors with task list items at the beginning of each unit and to-do list items in the {Course #} Deliverables for Open Curriculum Development Project spreadsheet.
• Run meeting agendas in the Meetings Overview tab of the {Course #} Deliverables for Open Curriculum Development Project spreadsheet; ensure that Equity Consultant, Instructional Designer, Developmental Editors, and other presenters are prepared for their upcoming topics at project-level meetings.

The table below has links to documentation of how we did some of the Year 1 tasks the first time we ran this project. The links access Google documents, Google folders, or Word documents unless otherwise noted. You can use them as a starting point and adapt as needed.

Year 1 problem-solving examples

• Authors don’t revise outline because they are finishing chapter drafts:

• Pilot Instructor recruitment relies on out-of-date outline.
• Set new target completion date for outline revisions before start of first Y2 pilot term for ongoing recruitment.

• Authors don’t have full manuscript ready for Instructional Editor in time for review:

• Deliver all completed chapters and set new target dates for additional chapters.
• Lead Author does not align content, so revision timeline becomes more critical.
• In some cases, some chapters will not receive the developmental edit at all and students will have very rough manuscripts which will impact the learning experience (misalignment, no figures or missing figure captions, missing conclusion, missing discussion questions, no H5P).

• Authors don’t have revised manuscript done for Pressbook import and accessibility checks:

• Put all in-progress content into the parking lot and start emergency final production.

• In order to pilot, manuscripts must be accessible and all chapter sections must be complete and readable (no sentence fragments or placeholder content or lists of what will be developed later).

• Alert Pilot Instructors that fall pilots may need to use a version of the manuscript in Google Docs.
• Set a hard deadline for Pilot Instructor access to manuscript and be ready for non-author Pilot Instructors to postpone pilots or drop out.
• Pilot Instructors can still design pilots with a draft manuscript.
• Reschedule fall pilots for later terms if authors are significantly delayed and the support team doesn’t have time to remediate.

Year 2: Piloting and Feedback

In Year 2, you will provide project management support to the author teams as they prepare their manuscripts for handoff to Revising Authors. You will coordinate and track manuscript review by external stakeholders. You will also provide project management support to the Instructional Designer and Pilot Instructors as they develop, deliver, and revise courses that are aligned with our textbooks and meet the Course Pack Criteria for Success.

The table below has links to documentation of how we did some of the Year 2 tasks the first time we ran this project. The links access Google documents, Google folders, or Word documents unless otherwise noted. You can use them as a starting point and adapt as needed. We have revised the model for Year 2 quite a bit, so some tasks don’t have existing templates.

Year 2 problem-solving examples

• Author teams are delayed and complete Y2 manuscript during fall of Y2.

• Based on recruitment efforts to date, determine if Y2 pilots are still possible. Each textbook must have at least one Y2 pilot in order to receive student and pilot instructor feedback and advance to Y3.
• Prepare winter/spring pilot instructors to pilot with Google Docs of the manuscript if there is not time for document formatting for PB import.
• Format Y2 manuscript for peer reviewers and workforce advisory board members and set an accelerated review timeline.
• Work with Instructional Editor to set an accelerated timeline for synthesis of feedback (must be submitted by summer term at the start of Y3).

• Authors sign up for Early Adoption pilots after piloting the Y2 textbook already.

• Authors who have already piloted a Y2 textbook are not eligible for an Early Adoption pilot stipend for the same course, as their course materials are already in course pack development. However, they are welcome to use the Y3 PB as this contributes to student savings data.
• Authors who have already piloted a Y2 textbook can receive an Early Adoption stipend for a Y3 textbook for a different course from their previous pilot.

• Authors don’t have revised manuscript done in time for Y3 Pressbook import and accessibility checks:

• Alert Early Adoption Instructors that fall pilots may need to use Year 2 Pressbook
• Set a hard deadline for Early Adoption Instructor access to revised manuscript. and be ready for non-author Early Adoption Instructors to postpone pilots or drop out.
• Reschedule Y3 fall Early Adoptions for later terms if Early Adoption Instructors want the Y3 Pressbook and authors are significantly delayed.

Year 3: Revising, Production, and Marketing

In Year 3, you will provide project management support to Revising Authors as they implement feedback and finalize textbook manuscripts. You will coordinate copyediting, uploading to Pressbooks, proofreading, and final review to ensure that our textbooks are ready for launch. You will also provide project management support to the Instructional Designer and Pilot Instructors as they finish course revisions and prepare aligned course packs to share widely. You will coordinate with other leadership team members to publicize the open curricula.

The table below has links to documentation of how we did some of the Year 3 tasks the first time we ran this project. The links access Google documents, Google folders, or Word documents unless otherwise noted. You can use them as a starting point and adapt as needed. We have revised the model for Year 3 quite a bit, so some tasks don’t have existing templates.

Year 3 problem-solving examples

• Revising Authors are not done with revisions at deadline.

• Notify affected roles of cascading lateness.
• Consider reassigning some tasks.

• Support roles are not done with work on time.

• Notify affected roles of cascading lateness.

• Early Adoption Instructors sign up but don’t meet with the Instructional Designer prior to teaching their course.

• Email Early Adoption Instructor to confirm that they adopted at least half of the textbook. Sometimes instructors change plans but don’t alert the Instructional Designer.
• If the Early Adoption Instructor confirms at least half the chapters of the textbook were used in their adoption, ask them to meet with the Instructional Designer post-pilot to prepare required deliverable:

• To receive the Early Adoption stipend, Early Adoption Instructors must share at least one openly licensed course artifact that aligns with the open textbook manuscript (examples: course map, syllabus, discussion prompts, assignments with rubrics, slide decks, etc.) This deliverable is required to issue the stipend payment.

• Major changes between Y2 and Y3 textbooks make course materials irrelevant or too misaligned to use in course packs.

• Consult with Instructional Designer to select an Early Adoption pilot to use instead for course pack development.
• Instructional Designer can consult with Pilot Instructor to move relevant pilot materials to the associated OERC Group (for example, Discussion Forum prompts or course handouts).

Licenses and Attributions for Project Management Timeline

“Project Management Timeline” by Open Oregon Educational Resources is licensed under CC BY 4.0.