The University of Missouri Press Advisory Committee’s first meeting Oct. 17 in Memorial Union was a nuts-and-bolts roundtable on how the press operates.
Many of the 21 advisory members requested more information on the operation basics of Missouri Press, committee member Craig Roberts told Faculty Council Oct. 25.
Roberts, MU plant sciences professor, said that Clair Willcox, who returned as Missouri Press editor-in-chief Oct. 5, has been able to quell the requests by press authors asking for their book rights back.
Discussion at the meeting included the possibility of using Missouri Press as a teaching lab similar to The Missourian, where students and faculty work together to create product.
In recent years, Missouri Press has produced about 30 titles a year. Roberts said advisory members see greater potential.
“It’s not idealistic to think Missouri Press could be a cash cow,” he said. “The feeling is that this press went through a lot and may come out the other side greater than it was.”
The committee, which formed in September, will meet again Nov. 26.
Meanwhile, efforts continue to create a committee to examine why the University of Missouri System shuttered Missouri Press last May.
People are being solicited to be on the committee, Faculty Council Chair Harry Tyrer said Oct. 25. Its first meeting is projected to be in early February, Tyrer said.