LEADERSHIP

Faculty Editorial Advisory Committee

University of Utah Press Faculty Editorial Advisory Committee 

About the Press

The University of Utah Press, founded in 1949, is the oldest university press in the state. The Press has a long and distinguished history of publishing peer-reviewed books in a range of disciplines for both scholarly and general audiences, including titles in anthropology and archaeology, Utah history, Mormon studies, nature writing and the environment, Middle East studies, sustainability, creative nonfiction, and other works of significance to Utah, the region, and beyond. We publish rigorous, place-based, publicly engaged scholarship that amplifies voices engaged in critical contemporary conversations; our mission is to make new ideas, research, and creative expression accessible and widely available. As an agency of the Marriott Library at the University of Utah, we further the ideals of our parent institution by publishing books with broad societal impact, bringing important and insightful work to scholarly communities and readers in Utah and around the world.

The Press publishes between 20 and 25 titles per year by authors within the United States and from around the world and has more than 600 titles currently in print. The Press has the following active series: University of Utah Anthropological Papers (UUAP), Wallace Stegner Series in Environmental Studies, Juanita Brooks Series in Mormon History and Culture, Utah Series on Great Salt Lake and the Great Basin; Inclusive Anthropologies, National Park Readers, Transregional Middle Easts, Frameworks in Practice, the Don D. and Catherine Fowler Prize in Anthropology, and the Agha Shahid Ali Prize in Poetry.

The Press has longstanding relationships with a number of University of Utah colleges, centers, and programs, including the Tanner Lectures on Human Values, the Wallace Stegner Center for Land, Resources and the Environment at the S. J. Quinney College of Law, the Department of Anthropology, the Department of English, the Middle East Center, the Tanner Lectures on Human Values, and the Marriott Library’s Special Collections Division.

Committee Charge

1. Advise the Press director and acquisition editors on projects being considered for publication. Projects will be considered using the following criteria:

• appropriateness for the Press’s publication lists and priorities;
• the meeting of scholarly standards;
• thoroughness of peer review processes.

2. Approve projects prior to publication, with a simple majority required for approval. Projects not approved may not be published, although see Exceptions, below.

3. Support the Press in its mission to the University and serve as ambassadors for the Press to the University, to the state, and to scholarly communities worldwide.

Membership

1. Nine faculty members or administrators appointed by the President, with nominations by the Press director and by the Dean of Libraries in consultation with deans of relevant colleges. Particular expertise in subject areas published by the Press is preferred.

2. Subject-area specialists from within or outside the University, nominated by the Press director on an ad hoc basis when particular expertise is sought, and with specific term limitations. Appointment of such a specialist requires approval of a majority vote of the committee.

3. The Press director and the Dean of Libraries will serve as ex officio members. The Press director also serves as recording secretary of the committee.

4. The chair of the committee will be requested to serve by the Press director.

Term and Structure

1. Appointment will be for a three-year term, with the possibility of reappointment for additional terms by invitation. Additional one-year appointments are also possible in order to ensure that terms are appropriately staggered. Terms begin at the start of the academic year.

2. Meetings will be held three times per year, with the possibility of additional meetings, which may be replaced by an email vote. In-person attendance is preferred but the option of remote attendance will always be provided. Meetings will be called by the Press director in consultation with the committee chair and will be kept to two hours in duration.

3. A quorum in needed for a vote to occur. Votes submitted in advance of a meeting, in writing (via email), may substitute for attendance.

4. Packets describing each project to be considered for publication will be provided to committee members no less than one week prior to each meeting. Packets include a cover letter with a brief summary of the project and the acquisition editor’s recommendation, copies of the peer reviews, the author’s response, a table of contents and other sample manuscript material. The identities of the peer reviewers is CONFIDENTIAL and should not be shared unless specified otherwise in writing by the reader.

5. Committee members may publish with the Press, although may not vote on their project and must recuse themselves from discussion at the request of the committee chair or the Press director.

6. Committee members may request a complimentary copy of any Press publication for each meeting attended (or votes submitted).

7. Committee members are invited to attend all Press-sponsored events and from time to time may additionally receive copies of published reviews and other materials related to Press publications and activities.

Exceptions

1. Publication by the Press is permitted without committee approval in some instances, which include the following:

• the annual volume of the Tanner Lectures on Human Values
• the annual prize-winning poetry volume, which is selected by a finalist judge appointed by the English Department
• the Stegner Lecture, which is presented at the annual symposium of the Wallace Stegner Center for Land, Resources and the Environment
• certain titles in the Box Elder Books imprint, although the committee will be advised regarding these projects

Drafted 12/10/2025
Revised 2/5/2025
Approved 2/13/2025
Revised 4/9/2026