In 2018, the Houston Area Open Educational Resources Consortium began thanks to the initiative and efforts of San Jacinto College professor Tonja Conerly, who called upon other Houston area colleagues. The first meeting took place Thursday, July 26, 2018, at Houston Community College, with Professor Conerly and Houston Community College’s Dr. Nathan Smith partnering to maintain this organization. HAOER strives to improve Houston area schools and higher education institutions by increasing knowledge about affordable learning options through OER.
The mission of the HAOER is to harness the power of open education to improve teaching, learning, and completion. Any faculty or staff member at any Houston area institution with a focus on education is eligible to be a member.
Current Leadership
Name: Victoria Brame
Institution: Lone Star College
Title: Chair 2023-2024
Email: Victoria.Brame@lonestar.edu
Victoria Brame is a former K-12 teacher/administrator and now a second-career librarian at Lone Star College-CyFair. She holds a B.A. in History and Composite Social Studies from Trinity University, an M.A. in Teaching from Trinity University, and a Master of Library Science from Texas Woman’s University. Victoria serves on several institutional committees working to spearhead LSC’s first major OER initiative. Outside of work, she enjoys travel, live music, games, rock climbing, swimming, scuba diving, and being a dog mom.
Name: Charlene Stubblefield
Institution: Prairie View A&M University
Title: Vice Chair 2023-2024
Email: cjstubblefield@pvamu.edu
Charlene Stubblefield is an Executive Director at Prairie View A&M University in the Center for Instructional Innovation and Technology Services. She has 15+ years of corporate technology experience. Charlene has a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, Master of Education in Educational Technology, and is currently pursuing a doctorate in Educational Leadership. She is a board member of the Texas Digital Learning Association (TxDLA) and on the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board – Learning Technology Advisory Committee.
Past Leadership
Name: Kate McNally Carter
Institution: University of Houston
Title: Former Chair 2022-2023
Email: kmcarter@uh.edu
Kate is an Open Educational Resources Librarian at University of Houston. Working with the OER Coordinator, she supports instructors in the adoption, adaptation, and creation of OER, and assists with the oversight of the UH Libraries OER incentive programs. She holds a B.A. in English Literature from UH and an M.S.L.S. from University of North Texas. Previously, she worked as a Research & Instruction Librarian at UH-Clear Lake and has been involved with the HAOER Consortium since 2019. When she’s not spending her free time reading, she enjoys running, hiking, doing yoga, and experimenting with new recipes.
Name: Tonja Conerly
Institution: San Jacinto College
Title: Former Co-Chair and Founder 2018-2020
Email: Tonja.Conerly@sjcd.edu
The Houston Area Open Educational Resources Consortium was founded in 2018 through the initiative and efforts of San Jacinto College professor Tonja Conerly, who called upon other Houston area colleagues. The first meeting took place Thursday, July 26, 2018, at Houston Community College, where Professor Conerly and Dr. Nathan Smith from HCC became partners to maintain this organization.
Name: Nathan Smith
Institution: Houston Community College
Title: Former Co-Chair 2018-2020
Email: nathan.smith2@hccs.edu
Nathan Smith is a philosophy instructor and the OER coordinator at Houston Community College. He received a Ph.D. at Boston College and a doctoral degree from the University of Paris IV – Sorbonne. He has published in early modern philosophy and open education topics. He is the secretary for the New Mexico-Texas Philosophical Society and a co-founder of the Houston Area OER Consortium.
Name: John Lane
Institution: University of Houston
Title: Chair 2020-2021
Email: lanej@uhd.edu
John Lane is responsible for overseeing the daily operations of 16 full-time staff members, which include instructional support activities, training support services, instructional television operations, digital signage, and media services. He actively engages information technology leadership by developing long-term technology plans and facilitating course management system application administration and support. Lane also oversees the operations of the Technology Teaching and Learning Center and collaborates with other directors and managers to improve services. He partners often with the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence (CTLE) to create faculty professional development programs and initiatives.
Name: Sam Weehunt
Institution: University of Houston-Downtown
Title: Chair 2021-2022
Email: weehunts@uhd.edu
Samuel Weehunt, evening reference librarian, is the leader of the UHD library OER group and one of the library’s liaisons to the Marilyn Davies College of Business. He enjoys being a librarian because he’s able to help people. During his free time, Sam likes to run, watch college football and NBA basketball, and spend time with his daughter. He highly recommends the TV series “The Expanse” and trying out the video game Stardew Valley.