Intellectual Property That is Educational Material: Administrative and Instructional Use

Regent Policy 5.H defines educational material and scholarly/creative works and assigns ownership of both forms of IP to the author(s) who created the works. Through this APS, and with further detail in campus and primary unit policies, the university distinguishes ownership rights to educational material, which are assigned to the author(s) without exception in Regent Policy 5.H, from usage rights, which permit specific and limited conditions for use of educational materials by the university.

With respect to administrative and instructional use of educational materials, the university has the following goals and requirements, including but not limited to:

• collect as needed, educational material for courses to support the requirements of accreditors, including tracking student learning outcomes and tracking continuous improvement
• support faculty and primary units in their efforts to advance professional development 
• support the continuity of the teaching and learning-focused missions within primary units
• protect the privacy of students and student data
• ensure appropriate acknowledgement of the intellectual contribution of faculty and staff in creating educational materials and promote appropriate use of copyrighted materials

As set forth in Regent Policy 5.H:

1. Regent Policy 5.H and APS 1014 are applicable to all units of the university, including its colleges, schools, departments, centers, and institutes, and to all university faculty, staff, and student employees.
2. This policy does not apply to works of authorship made by university employees in the course and scope of their employment in the furtherance of administrative responsibilities associated with a position, such as university staff, department chair, dean, provost, chancellor, and president, whose works are owned by the university as works made for hire.
3. This policy does not apply to works of authorship made by university employees where the development of the work is required as a part of a sponsored program or a funding agreement administered by the university. Ownership of such works are governed by the terms of the associated contract/grant, which generally assign ownership to the University of Colorado or impose on the University of Colorado other obligations that necessitate ownership by the University of Colorado.

1. Administrative Use of Educational Material

Administrative use of educational materials is use of the materials outside of instructional settings to support administrative requirements of the university, campus, and primary unit, as applicable. This type of use is primarily focused on accreditation and educational improvement activities.

1. Administrative Use: Accreditation

1. Institutional – All course-related materials, including educational materials, as determined by the requirements of the institutional accreditor, shall be stored by the primary unit at the end of each course, in a manner determined by the campus, for the duration required by the institutional accreditor.
2. Professional – All course-related materials, including educational materials, as determined by the requirements of the professional accreditor, shall be stored by the primary unit at the end of each course, in a manner determined by the primary unit/school/college, for the duration required by the professional accreditor.
3. In both cases, any student-related information will be protected as required by FERPA and other applicable laws. Further, any educational materials used in accreditation reports will be appropriately credited to the author(s).

2. Administrative Use: Educational Improvement Activities

Each campus, school/college, and primary unit may use educational material for the purposes of educational improvement activities, such as, but not limited to, individual faculty evaluation and mentoring support, activities that are part of any regular curricular development and continuous improvement process, as examples of best practices, and in support of award nominations. The educational material must be anonymized when used in general professional development settings, i.e., beyond support of the author’s professional development.

B.    Instructional Use of Educational Material

1. Instructional Use by Author(s)

The author(s) of educational material own the educational material they create and therefore may use it for instructional purposes and similarly, may permit others within the university to use their educational material for instructional purposes. Author(s) may also use their educational material outside of the university, for example, making the educational material available as Open Educational Resources (OER) and for other professional purposes.  In any case, author(s) must follow the principles for use of their educational material set forth in section III.C of this policy.

2. Instructional Use within the Primary Unit

With certain limits, educational material may be used within the instructional mission of the primary unit in which the material was developed. The following principles are applicable for such use by the primary unit:

1. Shared Use: Some educational materials are created with the intent to be used across multiple instances of a course or across different courses (e.g., training or support instructional materials for hardware or software use, lab manuals, syllabi, course learning objectives, etc.). These shared use materials are owned by the author(s) (where clearly identifiable), and their continued use is subject to the regular curricular development and approval processes of the primary unit.

1. Educational materials in a course that were not created for shared use purposes may only become shared use educational materials with permission of the author(s).
2. Author(s) may not revoke the status of their educational materials as shared use and, once granted, may not restrict use by the primary unit.
3. The primary unit shall have a process to clearly identify shared use educational materials as such.

2. Single Course Use: By default, unless otherwise modified by the primary unit through its shared governance process, educational materials associated with a single course may be used for one future instance of the course in the primary unit within one year of the initial use of the educational material in a course. Note that any single course instance may have multiple sections, and the educational materials may be used across all such sections.  

1. The primary unit, through its shared governance process, may modify (extend or limit) the default use of educational materials associated with a single course.
2. Primary unit modifications may apply to all courses offered by the primary unit, or on a course-by-course basis.

3. Responsibility:

1. It is the responsibility of the primary unit to have mechanisms for tracking the use of educational materials and maintaining compliance with this policy and primary unit rules.
2. As referenced in section III.B.1, author(s) create and own their educational materials, and may use their materials within and outside of the primary unit. As a member of a primary unit, author(s) may not circumvent overarching primary unit rules for shared or single course use of educational material within their primary unit (see section III.B.2), where exceptions are handled in accordance with primary unit policy, rules, or practice.

3. Individual Agreements regarding Instructional Use

Other instructional uses of educational materials by the primary unit not covered by this policy are to be negotiated between the author(s) and the head of the primary unit.  If an agreement is not reached, the educational material cannot be used by the primary unit.

C.    Principles Applicable to Both Administrative and Instructional Use of Educational Materials

1. Reference to Author(s)

Violation of copyright laws is subject to existing processes and penalties.  In either administrative or instructional use of educational materials, the author(s) must be clearly identified in or on the material.

1. It is the responsibility of the primary unit, in concert with the author(s), and in compliance with university branding guidelines, to establish processes for author(s) identification.
2. Any unattributed educational materials may be used without restriction but must be noted as unattributed and always remain unattributed.
3. Falsely attributing the work of others to oneself or others will be treated as plagiarism and subject to associated university policies.  

2. License Requirements at Different Institutions

When an author(s) intends to use materials that they developed at another institution in teaching a course at the University of Colorado and that are subject to license restrictions by that other institution, the author(s) must inform their primary unit of these restrictions. Regardless of limitations for instructional use beyond use by the author(s), if the educational material is used in the teaching of a course at the University of Colorado, the educational material must be available for administrative use by the University of Colorado.

3. Use After Employment

The educational material created while employed at the University of Colorado is subject to the requirements of APS 1014 after the author(s) leaves the university in accordance with the conditions specified in section III and any associated primary unit, rules, or practice.

4. Use of University’s Trademarks, Name, and Branding

While the author(s) who owns the copyright to specific educational material may use it outside of the university, any such use that includes reference to the University of Colorado name, word mark, logo, etc., must comply with university trademarks and branding guidelines. There are no restrictions on the use of material that does not contain reference to the University of Colorado name, word mark, logo, etc.

For additional guidance, see Article 14, part A of the Laws of the Regents, Regent Policy 14.A and 14.B, and APS 2025 - University Brand Identity and Logo Usage.

5. Conflict of Interest and Commitment

Regent Policy 8.A.3 requires members of the university community to avoid actual and perceived conflicts of interest related to their work and position, and to appropriately disclose actual and potential conflicts of interest. With respect to educational materials, each campus shall have a process for reporting and assessing potential conflicts of interest. See APS 5012 - Conflicts of Interest and Commitment in Research and Teaching (sections II and III.B).

6. Violation of Policy

This APS defines rights related to the usage of educational materials and permits specific and limited conditions for use of educational materials by the university. Perceived violation of this policy regarding educational material may be grieved according to campus policy.  Perceived violation of the copyright of educational materials will be treated as plagiarism and subject to the associated university policies.

1. Designation of Responsible Authority

The campus chancellor shall be responsible for campus policies and procedures related to this APS, including designating a campus official(s) who will be responsible for administering the policy.

2. Communications and Training

Reference to this APS shall be part of each appropriate employment agreement and referenced on all primary unit websites along with primary unit rules related to this APS.Additionally, the provisions of this APS shall be part of all faculty orientation programs.

3. Review of Policy

This policy shall be reviewed with faculty shared governance input according to the usual APS review cycle. Any proposed changes that impact Regent Policy 5.H shall be brought to the Regent Governance Committee in the form of proposed revisions to Policy 5.H, and when approved shall be incorporated into APS 1014. Changes to this APS that do not impact Regent Policy 5.H shall be approved by the chancellors and president.

For purposes of this policy, italicized terms used in this APS are defined below.

1. Scholarly and Creative Works – See definition in Regent Policy 5.H.5.
2. Educational Material – See definition in Regent Policy 5.H.4.  As further clarification, educational materials do not include:

1. Student identifiable information.
2. Email, chat, and other messaging between the faculty and students, or between/among students.
3. Software, whether in source code, executable code, or other machine-readable form, and other discoveries, which are discoveries whose ownership and administration are governed by Regent Policy 5.I, APS 1013 - Intellectual Property Policy on Discoveries and Patents for Their Protection and Commercialization, and any related campus policies.
4. The course taken as a whole, because student and student-faculty interactions can never be replicated.

In cases where it is not clear whether a particular work is an educational material, a scholarly or creative work, or a material owned by the university, author(s) are strongly encouraged to seek clarification from the campus official designated by their campus chancellor as required by section IV.A of this APS.

3. Author(s) - For the purposes of this policy, the university defines “author” as employees who, as part of the course and scope of their employment, develop or co-develop scholarly and creative works or educational materials. University employees who engage learners in an educational setting at the university are not necessarily the author(s) who developed the educational materials being used in that setting. To be clear about the difference, these non-author individuals are referred to generically as "faculty" in this policy.

1. Regent Laws and Policies

1. Regent Law 5, Part B:  Academic Freedom
2. Regent Policy 5.H:  Intellectual Property that is Educational Material
3. Regent Policy 5.I:  Intellectual Property Related to on Discoveries and Patents for Their Protection and Commercialization
4. Regent Policy 8.A.3:  Conflicts of Interest
5. Regent Policy 13.J: Artificial Intelligence Technologies
6. Regent Law 14, Part A:  Property
7. Regent Policy 14.A:  Use of the University Seal
8. Regent Policy 14.B:  Use of University’s Name and Marks in Advertising and Marketing by External Entities

2. Administrative Policy Statements

1. APS 1013 – Intellectual Property on Discoveries and Patents for Their Protection and Commercialization
2. APS 2025 – University Brand Identity and Logo Usage
3. APS 5012 – Conflicts of Interest and Commitment in Research and Teaching
4. APS 6012 – Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) (Coming soon)

3. Frequently Asked Questions

• Adopted:  January 16, 2003.
• Revised:  June 1, 2006; July 1, 2013; May 18, 2026.
• Last Reviewed:  May 18, 2026.