Jess Williams (she/her/ella) is a first-gen academic librarian doing her darndest to lead her team with empathy, be a better ally, and put students first. Jess currently serves as the Assistant Director of Teaching & Learning at Texas State University Libraries, and she is passionate about student success, organizational culture, and creating spaces that facilitate authenticity and self-expression. Jess’s background in instructional design and adaptive learning led her to become an advocate for OER. Her interests have since expanded to Open Pedagogy, the role of personal knowledge management in open knowledge, and creating inclusive learning materials.
Jess’s capstone project, One Minute to Open: An Open Educational Practices Email Marketing Campaign, was created to address information overwhelm and increase faculty awareness of Open Education at colleges and universities. Each email contains less than 260 words each so that it can be read in around one minute. The Concise Edition will benefit anyone hoping to cultivate OEP advocates across campus, while those who use email marketing software will find the Expanded Edition and User Journey particularly helpful for implementation. A how-to guide and ideas for future research using the marketing analytics are included. Each email includes small, straightforward steps to guide faculty toward the discovery, adoption, and creation of OER or Open Pedagogy. The equity, inclusion, and accessibility benefits of Open Education are emphasized in each of the editions, with the goal of cultivating advocates across campus.
