Discover Our Stories

Transforming Learning. Empowering Educators. Expanding Access for Every Student.

At Maricopa County Community College District, we believe that high-quality, engaging educational materials should be accessible to all. The Open Maricopa community is dedicated to providing open educational resources (OER), innovative open teaching practices, and affordable learning solutions across all ten of our colleges.

Whether you are taking your first steps or leading the way, there is a place for you in our open education community:

Beginning Your Journey: Discover high-quality open textbooks, lower course material costs, and ensure your students have zero-cost access on day one of class.
Growing as a Practitioner: Expand your teaching toolkit with interactive H5P tools, digital publishing platforms, and professional development workshops.
Creating & Customizing: Adapt, remix, or author original course content using MOD Press and MOER to align perfectly with your curriculum and reflect the lived experiences of your students.
Sharing & Collaborating: Peer-review open projects, contribute to district-wide working groups, and share your expertise across our statewide and national networks.
Advocating & Leading: Champion textbook affordability within your department, serve on steering committees, and help shape the future of open education across MCCCD.

No matter your discipline, role, or level of experience, we invite you to explore, connect, and collaborate as we build a more equitable, flexible, and engaging learning environment together.

How We Got Here

We have been working to make college more affordable for a long time. Our efforts began in the 1990s with some of the first experiments in distance and online learning.

Our progress accelerated during 2013 to 2018 with the Maricopa Millions project, which was a district-wide effort to save students money on textbooks. Today, "Open Maricopa" isn't just a project anymore. It is part of our institutional identity. We are recognized across the country for our work in making high-quality education more accessible and affordable.

If you want to dive deeper into our journey, check out the digital book: The History of Open Education in the Maricopa Community Colleges. It features stories from the faculty, staff, and students who helped make Maricopa a leader in open education.

Mission

Open Maricopa facilitates widespread use of open, low-cost, quality materials to promote student success, textbook affordability, give faculty the freedom to customize instructional content to fit their courses, and increase access to a quality educational experience.

Vision

We believe that access to high-quality, no-cost/low-cost, equitable, inclusive, and open educational practices engages students in their learning, fosters collaboration, breaks down barriers, and opens pathways to lifelong learning.

Values

Open Educational Practices are easily accessible by all students and faculty, including our dual enrollment partners. OER should be available to all students anytime, anywhere, at no cost.

Open Educational Practices are designed to be student-centered and customizable, making texts accessible and engaging.

Open Educational Practices are a catalyst for instructional practices that foster student success. Faculty can exercise creativity in adding supplemental content to enhance learning beyond the classroom.

Open Educational Practices is a community of learners and creators building relationships to share ideas and resources around open educational practices.

Open Educational Practices are clearly attributed, ensuring that all who create or remix OER are properly and clearly credited for their contributions.

Adapted from the Care Framework by Lisa Petrides, Douglas Levin, and C. Edward Watson licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

Open Educational Practices are committed to innovation, creativity, and continuous improvement.

Steering Committee

The Open Maricopa Steering Committee serves as the district-wide advisory body driving the strategic growth, sustainability, and pedagogical vision of open education across the Maricopa County Community College District.

Composed of dedicated faculty leaders, instructional designers, OER librarians, and administrative advocates from across our ten colleges, the committee brings together diverse expertise to foster a culture of open publishing, collaborative course design, and educational equity.

Co-Chairs

Faculty Coordinator, Open Maricopa: Jeremy Broyles, English and Creative Writing Faculty at MCC
OER Coordinator: Debbie Baker, Instructional Designer, Maricopa Center for Learning and Innovation

College	Steering Committee Member
Chandler-Gilbert Community College	Monica Johnson, OER Librarian, MOD Press Institutional Manager Alisa Beyer, Psychology Faculty, MOD Press Network Manager, UNSDG Open Pedagogy Faculty Fellowship Maricopa Lead
Estrella Mountain Community College	Janelle Yoder, OER Librarian Flower Darby, CTL Director
GateWay Community College	Malia Utafe, CTL Director, MOD Press Network Manager
Glendale Community College	John Gibson, Faculty, Business & Information Technology, Co-Chair GCC OER Committee Jacqui Higgins-Dailey, OER Librarian, MOD Press Network Manager, Co-Chair GCC OER Committee Jessica Parsons
Mesa Community College	Stephanie Williams, eLearning Manager, Chair MCC OER Committee Megan McGuire, OER Librarian
Paradise Valley Community College	Paula Crossman, OER Librarian, MOD Press Network Manager Angie Christiano, Math Faculty
Phoenix College	Rudy Navarro, Art Faculty, Chair PC OER Committee
Rio Salado College	Donna Tannehill, MOER Sub-Committee Co-Chair Sarah Stohr, OER Librarian
Scottsdale Community College	Matthew Bloom, English Faculty, Chair, SCC OER Committee Serene Rock, OER Librarian
South Mountain Community College	Lora Largo, Librarian