VaCora Oliver-Rainey, D.D.S., assistant professor in the Department of General Practice at VCU School of Dentistry, is one of five VCU faculty members to receive grant funding from VCU Libraries to support the development of a free digital textbook.

The Affordable Course Content Awards is a grant program that supports faculty who enhance the learning experience for students through free and/or open course materials.  

Rainey will customize small business management Open Educational Resources (OER), which are materials for teaching or learning that are openly-licensed alternatives to expensive course materials. Tailored to her Practice Management course, which is required for all third year dental students, the customized content will supplement lectures, contain assignments and provide resources on how to run a dental practice after graduation.

Rainey says the idea came when she started looking for a new textbook for the Practice Management course she planned to teach.

“In preparing the lectures and materials for the course, I was having trouble finding a textbook,” said Rainey. “I had to balance the cost with the types of textbooks and content that is useful for our students. I wanted something that would be a real resource, something the students could use beyond graduation and well into their careers.”

She couldn’t find an appropriate textbook. However, while taking a course about OERs, she had the idea of creating one herself. 

“The process was really intriguing and it made me think, ‘I should do this for my course,’” said Rainey. Once she decided to move forward with creating a digital textbook, she applied for the Affordable Course Content Awards grant. 

“I plan to use a portion of the funds to support a student worker position to help in the development of the textbook. This will be a great opportunity for mentorship and learning for students who have already completed the course,” said Rainey. “They can continue learning more about this topic in depth and help pay it forward by helping create something for future classes.”

Rainey has engaged fourth-year dental student Brian Allen and may bring on another student as they progress with the project. With hopes to complete the digital textbook by the end of May 2024, she believes it could be a resource for not only VCU dental students but all dental students across the country as well as recent graduates.

“When students graduate and start their careers, they often wish they had more information about running a business; but we are limited with the time that we have here at the dental school. I believe this resource could really help them,” said Rainey. 

The Affordable Course Content Awards program is made possible in part through funding from the Barbara Ford Endowment of the 21st Century Fund and the Friends of VCU Libraries.