We are proud to announce that our 2025 Textbook Mavericks honoree is Jaci Lindburg, Ph.D.,Associate Vice Chancellor for Innovative and Learning-Centric Initiatives (ILCI).
Lindburg's leadership in this area is evident throughout the University of Nebraska (NU) System, from system-wide strategic initiatives to providing guidance for individual projects at the academic unit level. Those who have worked with her consistently note her ability to identify opportunities for building initiatives and assembling the teams necessary to carry them out.
“She comes up with really good ideas because she does all the research and work to get there, and she’s also open to others’ ideas. If someone approaches her with a suggestion, she can envision how to make it happen,” said Dan Hawkins, Ph.D., director of Online Learning at UNO. Hawkins, who previously served as chair of Sociology and Anthropology at UNO, worked with Lindburg to create a zero-textbook-cost degree pathway for that department. ILCI is currently partnering with the Grace Abbott School of Social Work to create a similar pathway for that program.
Through her leadership of the Open Nebraska (ONE) Initiative, Lindburg has engaged the NU System in implementing a course-marking system to identify low-cost and no-cost course sections. Her office has also been instrumental in assessing the impact of affordable content on student success. ILCI has funded and supported two zero-textbook-cost-degree pathway projects and ensured the continued operation of the Criss Library Affordable Content Grants.
“Her leadership and financial support are vital to Criss Library's OER mission,” said Dave Richards, dean of Criss Library at UNO. “Dr. Lindburg first approached our library team in 2017 regarding an OER pilot project, and her support has been unwavering ever since. Her office’s ongoing funding has enabled us to award dozens of grants to faculty, and she has been a persistent advocate for no-cost/low-cost course materials to campus and system leaders, donors, and others. Her visionary work has saved Nebraska students millions of dollars.”
Lindburg attributes much of her success in establishing UNO as a leader in affordable content to the university's culture of innovation.
“I’ve been at UNO for 13 years, and it’s an innovative place. People are always looking to partner and asking ‘how’ later,” Lindburg said. Having served in various leadership positions, including in NU-wide Information Technology Services and Digital Learning at UNO, she has collaborated with many areas of the NU community.
“To me, when I see people championing something important, and they just need resources or help telling their story, that’s where I come in,” Lindburg explained. “I’ll go for some grants, bring people together, and ask, ‘How can we help you do your work?’”
Lindburg’s interest in affordable and zero-cost content was sparked by her background in student affairs.
“My background is in student affairs, and I think it shaped how I approach this work.” Lindburg shared. “How do we ensure that students know we care about them and are doing everything we can to help them stay enrolled and finish their degree?” Affordable content, fundamentally, is a student success initiative. By increasing access to required materials and reducing financial barriers, we can help historically underserved populations who might be more likely to face these challenges.
Highlighting the potential of Open Educational Resources (OER) to better align course materials with learning outcomes, as described by Affordable Content Grant recipient Angelika Stout, is helping faculty design more effective courses.
The results speak for themselves. In Fall 2024, the total student savings system-wide surpassed $30 million. As a student success initiative, research into how the adoption of affordable content impacts student success has been crucial. A research team, led by Julie Pelton, Ph.D., Sociology and Anthropology department chair, and Hawkins, found that OER adoption improved grade performance and reduced drop, fail, and withdrawal rates, with a particularly significant impact for first-generation and part-time students.
Lindburg points to this research as a standout moment in her work toward affordable content.
“It’s not mine, whatsoever, but of the project, the research side was stuck, and it took it about a year and a half to get it unstuck. And the moment it got unstuck was the peak of the mountain for me,” Lindburg said. “I was crying, when they spit back at us that there was double-digit impact on people staying in school, and for first-gen students, and part time students.1”
At Criss Library, we're continuing to assess impact of these adoptions on student success. Last year, a research team composed of Katie Bishop (UNMC Library), Omer Farooq and Craig Finlay (Criss Library), and Andrew Swift (UNO Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences), looked at courses impacted through the Affordable Content Grants and found that adoptions and found a significant reduction in inactivity rate among students among enrolled students. That paper is forthcoming from Journal of Academic Librarianship.
The two primary funding supporters for our grants program are Innovative and Learning-Centric Initiatives and UNO Office of General Education and Dual Enrollment under Matt Tracy, Ph.D., another great champion of OER at UNO. Without their support, the Affordable Content Grants would not be possible.
For this, and for her tireless leadership in working toward affordable content with stakeholders across the university, Lindburg is our 2025 Textbook Mavericks Honoree.
To read about previous honorees, see the following:
If you are an instructor at UNO and interested in participating in the Affordable Content Grants program, our Spring applications are now open!
- Author’s note: While Lindburg made a point of not taking credit for this, without her leadership there wouldn't have been anything to study in the first place. It is our opinion that the project is as much Dr. Lindburg’s as it is anyone’s.
