Nominated by Christine Miller, Thompson Rivers University
We are excited to present the February 2026 BCcampus Award for Excellence in Open Education to Dani Collins, Open Press Publication Manager at Thompson Rivers University.
In 2012, Dani started work as a Course Editor in the TRU Curriculum Services Department under Naomi Cloutier. Her introduction to open education came through copyediting BCcampus-funded open textbooks, where she worked with TRU and Open Learning faculty, including John Douglas Belshaw on Pre-Confederation and Post-Confederation and Christine Miller on Human Biology. These projects shaped Dani’s understanding of OER’s impact on access, affordability, and student learning.
In 2015 Dani became supervisor of editing and copyright at TRU Open Learning, managing teams responsible for editing courses and for supporting the use of third-party materials across Open Learning and the wider campus. At the same time, she continued work on open education projects, such as copyediting the International Journal of E-Learning and Distance Education. This work eventually led to Dani playing a key role in the TRU Open Press.
The TRU Open Press was founded in 2023, thanks to a three-year TRU Integrated Strategic Planning grant. The TRU Open Education Working Group (OEWG) chair and vice-chair, Brenna Clarke Grey and Marie Bartlett, secured this grant to develop open educational resources and support open educational practices at the institution. The idea for the Open Press and its publishing model was built on TRU’s long history of OER development dating back to 2007, as well as best practices and guidelines cultivated across the open education community in British Columbia and elsewhere.
At Open Press, Dani supports open education projects through practical publishing workflows, including project intake, editorial coordination, copyright and permissions review, accessibility considerations, and final publication. Dani’s small but dedicated production team — including a copyeditor, a production expert, and three co-op students — works collaboratively with inspiring faculty authors, instructional designers, editors, librarians, and students to publish OER projects according to best practices and in ways that best meet their needs and goals.
Intentionally structured to support the OER development process from conception to publication to promotion, TRU Open Press operates as a people-centred hub for OER publishing that meets OER developers where they are. By offering dedicated publishing expertise and hands-on guidance, Open Press staff free up OER developers to focus on their pedagogy and content.
“I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to work alongside such thoughtful, inspiring, and committed people,” says Dani, “and I see this work — and any recognition of it — as belonging to the community and team that make it possible!”
TRU Open Press is slated to conclude its operations on March 31, 2026. By this date, the press is expected to have completed nearly 80 OER projects, including open textbooks, multimedia learning resources, student-authored works, and open journals. Options for continuing the Open Press are currently being explored.