MTSU Mondays: Sloane, Reish named Fulbright Scholars; grants offset textbook costs

Here is the latest news from Middle Tennessee State University.

Faculty earn Fulbright awards

MTSU faculty members Mary Ellen Sloane and Gregory Reish have earned spots in the Fulbright Scholar Program for the coming academic year.

Sloane, a 17-year librarian who works in the James E. Walker Library for the College of Basic and Applied Sciences, will begin her three-month Fulbright research in September to Rwanda.

She will be based at the Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund where she will assess the range of past and currently covered research fields by the organization and plan for the development of the library in the new DeGeneres Campus.

Reish, director of MTSU’s Center for Popular Music within the College of Media and Entertainment, will travel in January for five months to Xalapa, Mexico, and the University of Veracruz where he will teach classes in the host university's North American Studies Program — which focuses on the U.S.-Mexico relationship.

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The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Programs offer U.S. faculty, administrators and professionals grants to lecture, and/or conduct research in a wide variety of academic and professional fields, or to participate in seminars.

The program awards more than 1,700 fellowships each year, enabling 800 U.S. scholars to go abroad and 900 visiting scholars to come to the United States.

“I will plan for a library at DFGF’s new Ellen DeGeneres Campus by applying library science research methodologies in the areas of public services, library instruction, and collection development,” she said.

Meanwhile, Reish returns to Veracruz after a trip there for research and music in 2016.

“My host university friends are excited because they have never had a music specialist there before. It has always been historians and political scientists. I am not going to be teaching music students but a class in U.S history, and culture — but through the lens of music,” Reish stated.

This will be Reish’s second Fulbright experience, the first taking him to Italy 25 years ago.

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Textbook cost reduction

Prices of textbooks has risen in recent years. But a group of MTSU faculty and staff is using grant money from Open Educational Resources to offset costs for students.

Since 2019, that group has used $100,000 of that grant money to save 2,500-plus students more than $150,000.

Erica Stone, assistant professor of English and OER steering committee member, said 42% of students surveyed either had delayed access to traditional materials or were unable to afford them at all.

Students surveyed said they prioritized purchases, sometimes forgoing books for electives or general courses to spend money on a textbook for a class in their major.

MTSU students are expected to budget an average of $1,240-$1,440 for books and supplies per academic year. However, the average college student will spends around $415 due to costs.

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To combat this issue, MTSU faculty members are using information already available free to the public or writing and publishing their own materials. In total, more than 70 faculty members in 25 different courses used OER in the most recent academic year.

Stone said that the free materials are just as high-quality as their expensive counterparts.

OER materials are available to students on the first day of class, ensuring students don’t fall behind..

The steering committee is applying for more grants and continuing to encourage faculty and staff to earn certification so they have comprehensive knowledge of how to find and utilize OER materials.

Walker Library is working to make resources available for more students and recently hired a new chair of user services to act as the point person for OER. Plans are in the works to add another point person.

Reach reporter Nancy DeGennaro at degennaro@dnj.com. Keep up with restaurant news by joining Good Eats in the 'Boro (and beyond) on Facebook and follow Murfreesboro Eats on TikTok.

This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: MTSU Mondays: Sloane, Reish earn Fulbrights; grants offset book costs