Jessica McCullough

Jessica McCullough is the Director of Research Support and Curricular Technology at Connecticut College and leads a dynamic team of staff in Reference and Instruction, Instructional Technology, Digital Scholarship, and Media Services. She holds master’s degrees in both library science (MSI, University of Michigan) and Educational Technology (MAEd, George Washington University), and a bachelor's degree from Kenyon College (Spanish Area Studies).

Jessica started advocating for the use of Open Educational Resources after observing an increase in students trying to get by without purchasing textbooks and other course materials. Open Educational Resources - finding, using, creating, and sharing - is a topic that marries her interests in libraries, access to information, teaching, and technology. She initiated, and continues to support, the Open Educational Resources Program at Connecticut College which aims to achieve a broad integration of OER and Open Pedagogy by building a culture of openness that engages multiple departments and communities. In addition to outreach programs and community education, the OER grant program has saved students over $143,000 since its inception in 2019. 

Ariela McCaffery

Ariela McCaffrey is the Assistant Director of Research Support, Instruction, and Outreach at Connecticut College. She delivers OER and open pedagogy workshops to faculty and staff, assists in the development and administration of the OER grant program, and is currently working with faculty on the creation and adoption of OER for their courses. She holds master’s degrees in library science and education.

Ariela completed the SPARC Open Education Leadership Program in 2020. Ariela’s capstone project is a book chapter titled “Fostering OER Student Champions Through Hiring Practices and Collaborative Projects” published in the book Intersections of Open Educational Resources and Infomation Literacy part of ACRL’s Publishing in Librarianship (PIL) series. In addition to her work on OER at Connecticut College, Ariela is a member of the CT Coordinating Council which identifies courses across the state for OER to be developed or adopted and provides grants for faculty to convert traditional course materials to OER.