A presentation given at the Open Education 2014 conference in Washington, DC, November 2014.

1. How not to encourage open
sharing of teaching materials
at a university
University of British Columbia’s
Policy 81
Christina Hendricks, UBC-Vancouver
Open Education Conference, Nov. 2014
Slides licensed CC-BY 4.0

2. Policy 81
“… if a UBC Instructor makes his/her Teaching
Materials available for use by others, unless
that UBC Instructor places restrictions up on the
Teaching Materials …, UBC may, through its
Faculties, Departments and individual
Instructors, use, revise, and allow other UBC
Instructors to use and revise the Teaching
Materials to facilitate ongoing offerings of Credit
Courses.”
http://universitycounsel.ubc.ca/files/2014/02/policy81.pdf

3. Policy 81: “Sharing
materials does not imply
any transfer in the
ownership of copyright
by UBC Instructors.
Nothing in this policy
transfers the ownership
of any Teaching Materials
to UBC.”

4. Opt-out
© 2014 Dr. T.T.
Not to be used, copied, revised or shared without
explicit written permission from the copyright owner.
http://policy81.learning.ubc.ca/

5. Why?
• Team-taught courses, standardized
curriculum courses
• Get written permission each time use
materials?

6. UBC faculty union letter
to UBC, Oct. 2013:
The policy “acknowledges
that faculty own copyright
to material produced
during the regular course
of employment.
Yet, … [it also] truncates this right by
granting key powers to the University to
usurp this copyright.”
http://www.facultyassociation.ubc.ca/policy81.php

7. Analogy?
University like 3rd party service provider to
whom you’re granting a license to use the
content you “post” with them?
• E.g., social media, MOOC providers

8. Criticism: opt-out
UBC faculty union’s
grievance:
• Decision not to opt out
seems irrevocable
• Violates freedom of
expression: forced speech
ohave to formally opt
out to preserve IP
rights already have
http://www.facultyassociation.ubc.ca/policy81.php

9. Criticism: vagueness
What does it mean to make one’s teaching
materials “available for use by others”?

10. Criticism: academic freedom
Canadian Association of University Teachers
letter to UBC:
“Control over one’s intellectual property is a
cornerstone of academic freedom, so that
any effective loosening of that control
undermines academic freedom.”
http://www.facultyassociation.ubc.ca/policy81.php

11. Criticism: “Flexible learning”
Rationale for policy from Provost to Board of
Governors: Policy 81 is intended “to support
UBC’s commitment to outstanding teaching and
its Flexible Learning Initiative.”
UBC Faculty Union: “The policy is meant to turn
the intellectual products of faculty over to the
University for its own commercial gains ….”
http://www.facultyassociation.ubc.ca/policy81.php

12. Current status
Policy 81
Faculty union
grievance

13. Damage done already?
Policy 81
Anger/distrust
UBC’s motives
Open license?
NO WAY!

14. No (8)
29%
Yes (20)
71%
Share teaching materials w/ anyone?
“I put so much time
and effort into
preparing my
materials, I don't
feel like I just want
to give them away.”
“It doesn't seem fair to
let others benefit from
my work when I have no
job security myself”
Not compensated
for the many hours I
put in outside of
contract to develop
the materials.
Out of 28 respondents so far

15. No (5)
18%
Yes (23)
82%
Familiar w/open licenses
No (23)
85%
Yes (4)
15%
Given any materials an open
license?
Restrictions on open
licenses not enough to
keep work from being
modified or used for
commercial purposes.
My materials are often
iterations of those of
others; would need
their permission.

16. No (14)
50%
Yes (14)
50%
Policy 81 changed attitudes towards
sharing w/open license? No’s:
• 8 were sharing
already (not all
w/open
license)
• 2 not sharing
already
Yes’s: 8 said explicitly that they were
sharing and stopped b/c of the policy

17. Policy 81 won’t share
“Policy 81 is, in my view, a cynical attempt
to seize and monetize faculty teaching
materials.”
“As a result of this policy, I am
distributing fewer materials to
my students; I am unwilling to
give permissions for
individuals' requests; I put a
copyright notice on syllabi.”
“Policy 81 has made
me completely
unwilling to share any
of my teaching
material, since it can
be used to make me
redundant.”

18. “UBC is no longer an institution of higher learning or
a community of scholars. It is a corporation
interested in protecting and advertising the "brand"
and in making money. UBC cannot be trusted.”
“I was happy to share a lot of things, but … when
Policy 81 came along it became clear that UBC was
really interested in "harvesting" anything and
everything we do in order to achieve administrative
economies of scale. Watching the process unfold
has taught me to be deeply suspicious of UBC's
administrative priorities.”
Policy 81 won’t share

19. Damage done!
Christina Hendricks
Sr. Instructor, Philosophy
University of British Columbia-Vancouver
http://blogs.ubc.ca/chendricks
@clhendricksbc
Slides:http://is.gd/HendricksOpenEd2014
Slides licensed CC-BY 4.0