Congratulations to CSU Professor Dr. Sara Froehlich, 

2025's Textbook Hero!

 

Every year the Student Government Association works with the Michael Schwartz Library to select a winner of the Textbook Hero Award. This award goes to a faculty member who put forth significant effort to replace a traditional textbook with a low-cost or open alternative, and whose efforts had a high impact on textbook costs, classroom engagement, and student achievement. 

Dr. Sara Froehlich, Assistant Professor of Practice in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, has been named this year's Textbook Hero.

One of Dr. Froehlich’s nominators said, “[Dr. Froehlich] found, vetted and adapted the listed OERs to decrease course fees for students by a significant amount, $65 per student, per semester. These free resources are in most faculty's opinions, BETTER than the paid resources that were used previously! These have really improved the quality of teaching. …She is one of the most student-centered faculty members at CSU, and her passion for teaching is exemplary.”

Co-sponsored by the Michael Schwartz Library and the Student Government Association, the Textbook Hero Award is awarded annually to encourage and reward faculty for their work to reduce textbook costs for CSU students. The criteria for this award include:

  • Amount of effort needed and spent to replace a traditional textbook with a low-cost or open alternative
  • Impact of that replacement on textbook costs, classroom engagement, and student achievement.

We applaud our faculty who are supporting open pedagogy and student success
by considering and using openly licensed materials in the classroom.

Together, we have saved CSU students over two million dollars in textbook costs.