The University of North Texas is preparing an open access policy for consideration by faculty. To facilitate this initiative, UNT "will become the first public university in the state to begin a focused discussion on an open access policy" when it hosts an Open Access Symposium in May. The Symposium "is intended to move UNT and other academic institutions in Texas forward in consideration of institutional open access policies."
Here's an excerpt from the press release:
Sponsored by UNT's Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, the College of Information and UNT Libraries, the symposium may be the catalyst to position UNT as a state leader in open access, said Dr. Martin Halbert, dean of the UNT Libraries.
Before becoming the dean last fall, Halbert was director of digital innovations for the libraries at Emory University in Atlanta, where the Faculty Council approved a motion last year to allow the Library Policy Committee and Center for Faculty Development and Excellence to embark on a series of open access conversations with faculty groups before developing an open access/rights retention policy for the university. . . .
Organizers of the Open Access Symposium said they hope that the draft of an open access policy for UNT, which will be written by a committee created by the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, will be ready for campuswide discussions soon. The policy will draw from policies already adopted by other universities, including Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Kansas.
