Press Makes 5-Year Commitment to Support AAUP Residency Program in Honor of Kathleen Keane
The Association of American University Presses is very pleased to announce the continuation of its Residency Program through 2021 with support from the Johns Hopkins University Press in honor of retiring director Kathleen Keane. The Residencies are one of the Association’s most effective professional development programs, providing opportunities for individuals to advance their own professional knowledge, to strengthen the operations of their home presses, and to create networks of professional sharing and collegiality throughout the community.
Keane is a strong believer in the value of professional development. Under her leadership at Hopkins, she ensured that press staff had access to a range of opportunities to learn and grow professionally. Her record of service and leadership within the university press community make this a fitting tribute. Keane served the Association as its President in 2009-10, on its Board of Directors, on various committees and task forces, and as a panelist on numerous sessions at the Association’s Annual Meeting. Johns Hopkins University Press has also served host to residents in the past.
The Association’s Residency Program, previously funded by the Mrs. Giles F. Whiting Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, has sponsored 114 residents since 1995. The program gives selected staff from member presses an opportunity to observe operations at an appropriate host press for up to one week. AAUP members are diverse in size, structure, resources, and geography. Residents often come from small presses remote from a strong local publishing community. Applicants sometimes request to visit presses that are experimenting with new procedures or that are strong in a particular department.
The program supports one of the Association’s strategic goals—fostering community support and collaboration among its members. From recent residents:
“No question was off limits. No staff member unwelcoming…I made meaningful connections with the talented staff and gained valuable insight into new integrated marketing strategies.”
“Their undivided attention and one-on-one time was incredibly helpful and overall just wonderful to have.”
Grantees must answer key questions in applying for a Residency:
What skills do you wish to learn or improve during the proposed residency?
How will these new or enhanced skills benefit your development as a publishing professional and/or how would they benefit your home press?
Why is the proposed host well suited to providing the desired environment?
Are these goals uniquely able to be met through this residency?
AAUP’s Professional Development Committee evaluates applications and oversees the program.
Applications for 2017 AAUP Residencies are due on May 30. More information about the program and application requirements is online.
About the Association
The Association of American University Presses is an organization of 140+ international nonprofit scholarly publishers. Since 1937, the Association advances the essential role of a global community of publishers whose mission is to ensure academic excellence and cultivate knowledge. The Association holds integrity, diversity, stewardship, and intellectual freedom as core values. Members are active across many scholarly disciplines, including the humanities, arts, and sciences, publish significant regional and literary work, and are innovators in the world of digital publishing.