Congratulations to Linda Bruslind for winning the 2018 Open Education Award. Dr. Linda Bruslind, Microbiology, senior instructor II and lead advisor in the Department of Microbiology in the College of Science received an award by Extended Campus for development of an online textbook, "Introduction to Microbiology". This online textbook helps to remove barriers to student success byprovidiong a free/open version text. The Open Education Award recognizes those who develop open textbooks or reusable digital components that help remove barriers for students and support the land grant mission of the university. Linda spearheaded the effort to replace a textbook that costs students more than $200 to buy new, and over $100 to buy used. She successfully replaced the textbook with her own FREE open version written by herself, titled Introduction to Microbiology, that covers exactly what she teaches in her course. Linda received positive feedback from students after using this open textbook for the first time during a summer 2017 course, and because it’s an open textbook, she was able to make minor changes based on their feedback. This is a significant cost savings for students.