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White PALSave logo against green backgroundPALNI Affordable Learning Program

Graphic that reads PALSave Textbook Creation Grants: Receive up to $6,500 for your project! With a photo of an ebook sliding out of a bookshelf filled with print books

Ebook cover for The Bible and Music depicting an illustration of a Medieval character playing a harpTextbook Creation Grants

Write, publish, share.

The PALSave Textbook Creation Grants Program funds the creation of new OER textbooks. These resources become freely available on the web, reducing costs to students enrolled in courses in the future.

“The chance first to teach a course on the Bible and music, then write a cutting-edge textbook on the topic, has been a dream come true. Writing the book has given me the opportunity to share what I have learned and what I teach, and to make it available not just for my future students, but anyone interested.” — James McGrath, Ph.D., Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University 

Applications will reopen in January 2027

We will be announcing the call for proposals for the third and final cohort in January 2027. Faculty from PALNI-supported institutions are encouraged to apply. Applicants must reside in the United States, set up a Bill.com account to receive electronic payments, and submit a completed W-9 form to obtain grants.

Funded projects

Congratulations to our current and past Textbook Creation Grant-funded authors! View the PALNI Open Press Community Catalog for grant-funded textbooks and other openly published content.

2028 cohort

Anderson University

  • Stefanie K. Leiter – “Generational Intelligence: Communications from Boomers to Gen Alpha”

Marian University

  • Rishani De Costa – “Premiers Pas”

Trine University

  • Timothy Jenkins – “Technical Documentation and Data Tools for Engineers: A Practical Guide to Reports, Presentations, Spreadsheets, and AI Tools”

University of Indianapolis

  • Dhabih Chulhai and David Styers-Barnett – “Introductory Quantum Chemistry and Spectroscopy”
2027 cohort

Franklin College

  • Kyra Noerr — “Your Exercise Science Journey: Clinical Skills, Research Tools, Professional Practice and Career Discovery”

Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College

  • Lorrie L. Dyer and Eric Hubbard; contributions by Jennifer F. Smith, Patricia Purdue, and Antonia Taylor — “The Psychology of Leadership in a Global Context”

Saint Mary's College

  • Ruth Solarte-Hensgen — "Pasaporte laboral. Curso de español para profesionales”

University of Indianapolis

  • Amy Foley and Krista Cole-Furstenberg (Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College) — “Music Therapy in Practice: A Step-by-Step Guide to the Clinical Process”
2025 cohort

DePauw University

Huntington University

Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College

Saint Mary's College

Taylor University (formerly)

University of Indianapolis

Wabash College

2024 cohort

Anderson University (formerly)

Franklin College

2023 cohort

Butler University

Marian University

About the program

PALNI's PALSave Textbook Creation Grant Program awards funding (up to a maximum of $5,000 with a cap of $6,500 per proposal) to faculty members from PALNI-supported institutions to create open textbooks.

Faculty are periodically invited to submit creation grant proposals for the courses they teach. Textbooks may cover any discipline at the undergraduate or postgraduate level. PALNI seeks proposals for textbooks geared toward specific fields of study that meet the inclusion criteria for the Open Textbook Library. 

A review committee selects projects for funding based on proposal quality, clearly defined goals, need within the current open access body of work, and adoption potential within PALNI schools and beyond. See the full rubric.

PALNI coordinates peer review, copyediting, layout, and hosting services to assist grant recipients in their textbook creation. Each textbook is also supported by a local project manager to monitor progress and answer questions throughout development. The open textbooks are published on the PALNI Open Press-supported Pressbooks platform alongside other faculty-contributed works and are ultimately submitted to the Open Textbook Library and OER repositories.

For questions about the program, or the requirements, please contact us.

Program resources (licensed CC BY)

The following resources are available to those interested in learning more about PALSave Textbooks Creation Grants and developing OER.

Get involved

Want to get involved with the PALNI Open Press without having to write a textbook? There are many ways that you can help us with our mission of disseminating the diverse scholarly, creative, and educational content from PALNI-supported institutions and their academic communities. Open publishing relies on the collaborative efforts of all of us, to support the efforts of authors who are willing to share their work without cost. Here are some ways to get involved.

Join the PALNI Open Press Advisory Board

The PALNI Open Press Advisory Board provides strategic, editorial, and policy-level guidance to ensure the service upholds high standards of quality, transparency, and alignment with library values, institutional missions, and best practices in scholarly publishing. The Board advises on the service’s publishing scope and policy, and reviews proposals. Participants serve as advocates for library publishing, contributing their expertise to strengthen its impact within scholarly communities.

Interested? Email Amanda Hurford.

Become a peer reviewer

As the PALNI Open Press expands its offerings, we are in need of subject matter experts to review the works created. You can join a pool of peer reviewers, and we will reach out to you when we are publishing a work that aligns with your area(s) of expertise.

 

Make the most of your OEN membership

As part of a PALNI-supported institution, you have a membership with the Open Education Network (OEN). The OEN works toward making open the default in education, and they have a wide variety of resources to support this goal, including the Open Textbook Library, their annual conference OEN Engage, and regular events which can be found on their Community Hub.

As members of the OEN, PALNI faculty can participate in:

  • The Open Pedagogy Learning Circle: A collaborative, resource-rich learning environment, including seven synchronous, virtual one-hour sessions every semester for seven weeks. Join the interest list to be emailed details the next time the Open Pedagogy Learning Circle is offered. The curriculum is also available openly.
  • Certificate in Open Educational Practices: In this year-long program, instructors will introduce open educational practices and help you create a personalized action plan. You’ll work in pairs, one librarian and one faculty member, collaborating to make education more equitable and sustainable through innovative pedagogy. The curriculum is also available openly.

Join the PALSave Support Team

The PALSave: PALNI Affordable Learning Program works to advance student success by funding faculty to adopt, adapt, and create zero-cost open educational resources (OER) across Indiana’s private colleges. With a new $1.34 million grant from the Lilly Endowment Inc., PALNI is launching the next phase—Strengthening the PALSave Affordable Learning Program for Greater Impact—to build on past successes in reducing textbook costs, expanding access, and empowering faculty in open education.

The PALSave Support Team meets quarterly to set and work toward goals aligned with the PALSave mission, with additional task force meetings as needed.

Interested? Email Emily Helton.