Dr. Leila Halawi is an associate professor with the College of Aeronautics, Department of Graduate Studies, Worldwide Campus. At Embry-Riddle, Dr. Halawi has helped developed the MMIS curriculum, including a significant part of the course content for the program. She has earned numerous certifications and awards in her field, such as being the recipient of the SAS 2020 Emerging Educator Award Recipient and Peer Reviewer Extraordinaire with MERLOT, one of the most established OER repositories

OER taps and supports one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations (Goal 4 – quality education goal). OER increases student learning while breaking down barriers of affordability and accessibility. When adopting expensive books, some students either drop or skip the class or do not purchase the book. Some students report problems with financial aid that delay the purchase. Affordable books or OER resources remove price barriers

I know that some students always struggle with the rising tuition costs. They may pay over $1200 per year for their books too. I try to use textbooks available through our Hunt Library most of the time. I help by choosing affordable books that reduce their expenses while still offering a quality learning experience. This can greatly benefit students, especially in difficult economic times and this pandemic.