Nick Shockey: The Role of Open Access in Universities

Nick Shockey

Nick Shockey began working with SPARC in early 2007 as an undergraduate and student senator at Trinity University where he passed a resolution supporting the Federal Research Public Access Act through Trinity's student government. He continued his efforts to support Open Access both nationally, aiding SPARC in its launch of the Right to Research student campaign, and locally, pushing for Open Access on Trinity's campus. Shockey was named a SPARC Innovator for his work on student outreach and advocacy.

After graduating, Shockey interned as SPARC's student outreach fellow in the summer of 2009 where he facilitated the launch of The Student Statement on the Right to Research and organized the first Open Access Student Summit, bringing in student leaders from across the country to outline a strategy for increasing student awareness and engagement in Open Access.

In August 2009, Shockey was hired full time as SPARC's first director of student advocacy where he is responsible for growing SPARC's relationship with the student community as well as managing the Right to Research Coalition, a group of local, national, and international student organizations that advocate for researchers, universities, and governments to adopt more open scholarly publishing practices. Under Shockey's direction, the coalition has grown to represent over 5 million students internationally and has facilitated student lobbying in over a hundred Congressional offices.