Archive:Making OCW Happen

I was familiar with OCW and wished that Georgetown would start a project, but not sure how to make that happen. Then, in my second semester of freshman year, in my Introduction to Political and Social Development course, my professor made passing reference to OCW as a means of spreading knowledge to the developing world. I began a dialogue with her, framing OCW as a development tool (a personal passion of mine and her expertise). She encouraged me to research how Georgetown OCW might take place, so over the summer I wrote a 5 page "call to arms." I researched a lot about the benefits of OCW and the different forms it has taken, but, importantly, I tailored these for my particular school - as a Jesuit, internationally-focused institution, OCW aligned nicely with our goals. The end result is here [PDF warning]. One might also consider doing 1-pagers for faculty, administration, students, etc.

After passing that on to the professor, she encouraged me to meet with the Dean of my college, but I was particularly busy and did not do much for my first semester of sophomore year. I did, however, talk to professors I knew to be friendly to free culture and they all seemed excited. So, when things calmed down around November, I was able to start having meetings with people on campus armed with ~6 professors volunteering their course material and my proposal (In addition to emailing it to them, print it out! They're more likely to read it.).

As far as I can tell, Georgetown had not had a serious conversation about OCW prior to my instigation. Plenty of people were familiar with the concept, but we had not seriously considered jumping on this. So, I had to talk with lots of people. Most everyone was supportive in spirit, but it took a while to find supportive action. Because there was so much superficial support, for a while it looked like I was going to have to learn some coding, find some hosting and do an unofficial GU OCW as a proof-of-concept; the hope was that a beta project would excite the campus into substantive action more than my elevator pitches would.

Luckily, after many meetings, I did not have to do that and found official support.

Who I spoke with:


 * 1) My professors - faculty need to be willing to volunteer their material, so take the time to speak with them. Explain the benefits to their work and address any concerns they have.
 * 2) Librarians - librarians were the first free culture fighters and though they may not be the people to make OCW happen, they can often point you in the right direction.
 * 3) Faculty leaders - my big break came when I met with the head of my school's faculty. He was thoughtfully friendly to the idea and was able to recommend that I speak with the director of CNDLS, which do new media/tech and scholarship.
 * 4) Tech+Learning - most schools have a program for introducing innovative technology into scholarship and teaching. Our is called CNDLS and they are the people who are going to develop GU OCW. When speaking with these folks, assume they have some knowledge of OCW, and be aware that there are probably reasons why they have not done it already. Perhaps there isn't the money (Georgetown is a relatively poor school). Perhaps there isn't demonstrated desire (you can demonstrate desire). Perhaps there is a desire to not just copy existing OCW efforts (think hard about what the future of OCW is and how your school can innovate).
 * 5) Administration - I eventually got the guts to meet with the Dean of my school and pitched OCW to him. From his body language, I was worried he was not receptive, but he was very open to it and offered his full support to my activities. This was huge as it convinced everyone else that this was an acceptable activity.
 * 6) Student Activities Commission - I was hesitant throughout this process to have OCW within a bureaucracy, but because GU SFC is under their umbrella, I eventually tried to get some support from this organization. Although it might have worked out, CNDLS is filled with experts in this field and traditional administration is not, so use them as a last resort.
 * 7) IT/CS people - I actually did NOT speak to the techies on campus because 1) my experience suggests they are not very flexible and 2) Georgetown doesn't have a ton of them.
 * 8) Lawyers - I did NOT talk to the University counsel. I figured that it is easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission, so I wanted to involve lawyers as little as possible.
 * 9) OCW Consortium - OCWC is very willing and able to support the spread of OCW and have great resources for making the case.
 * 10) Student government - I never got around to doing this, but they could be a good resource.

There isn't a special ingredient - just determination. The process has (and I'm sure will continue to be) one of ups and downs. Just keep talking about it and meeting with stakeholders - everyone has time for a cup of coffee. Demonstrate why it will be a benefit to your school and why it is in keeping with the mission. And don't hesitate to contact me with questions -Kevin Donovan