COAPI Report on Recent Activities and Ongoing Projects, July 2020 – June 2021

COAPI Report on Recent Activities and Ongoing Projects, July 2020 – June 2021

The Coalition of Open Access Policy Institutions (COAPI) was formed in 2011 to bring together representatives from North American universities with established, faculty-led open access policies and those in the process of developing such policies. In addition to supporting its 123 member institutions in the development and implementation of campus OA policies, COAPI also advocates for a more open scholarly communication system at local, national, and international levels. COAPI is also available on Twitter, @coapioa, advertising Community Calls and tweeting out conversation during the events (using the hashtag #coapicomm).

COAPI Membership

Membership in COAPI is divided into Full and Affiliate Member tiers. Full Members have adopted an OA policy at the institutional or departmental level, whereas Affiliate Members are either interested in or actively working toward the adoption of a policy. There are no fees associated with COAPI membership: instead, prospective members are asked to agree to a set of principles that guide COAPI’s education and advocacy efforts. A list of current COAPI members is available here: https://sparcopen.org/coapi/members/

COAPI Meetings & Working Groups

In addition to maintaining an active mailing list, COAPI also convenes regular virtual and in-person meetings for COAPI members to share information, identify common needs and priorities, and get answers to questions related to all aspects of OA policy initiatives, from policy development and promotion to policy implementation and assessment. COAPI also convenes working groups to focus on specific projects from time to time. Projects completed by past working groups include:

Current active working groups are:

COAPI Advocacy

COAPI has produced several statements on matters related to the advancement of open access in the North American context. A full list is available here: https://sparcopen.org/coapi/activities/advocacy/

COAPI Activities, 2020-2021

  • Added new members, bringing our total to 123 member institutions as of June 17, 2021, and celebrated the adoption of several new OA policies.
  • Monthly COAPI Steering Committee meetings (8-member leadership group)
  • Monthly reports from the COAPI liaison to the SPARC OA Working Group.  Transitioned this position from an ex officio post to the responsibility of a Steering Committee member. Starting in July 2021 there will be 7 members of the Steering Committee.
  • The Vice Chair led a project to clean up and reorganize the COAPI Google folder; revisit our procedures documents; clean up the website a bit; and create a COAPI calendar with reminders about meetings and recruitment.
  • Chair of the Community Call Working Group created a COAPI YouTube channel.
  • A new focus on outreach led us to use Open Access Week 2020 as a pilot for promoting local events at member institutions via our Twitter account and our email list. We used a Community Call for a COAPI Open House to promote the group more broadly. A poster at ALA 2021 will also promote COAPI to non-members.
  • Hosted a series of COAPI Community Calls to facilitate more discussion and engagement both within and beyond the COAPI membership:
    • July 22, 2020 – Opportunities for OA in a COVID-19 World
    • October 26, 2020 – Funding Open During Challenging Budget Times
    • January 28, 2021 – Expanding OA Policy Beyond Faculty
    • March 30, 2021 – COAPI Open House
    • June 16, 2021 – Making Green Open Access Work for Society Publishers: A Panel Discussion: COAPI and the OA2020 US Community of Practice
    • Co-sponsored the following call:
      • May 27, 2021 – Transformative Agreements and Institutional Open Access Policies, Principles, and Strategies

Prepared by Robin N Sinn, Steering Committee Chair for 2020-2021 and Alainna Wrigley, Vice Chair for 2020-2021

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