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University Press Diversity Fellowship Program, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA

Posted February 21, 2018

Employment Opportunity

The University Press Diversity Fellowship Program seeks to increase diversity in scholarly publishing by providing year-long fellowships in the acquisitions departments of four university presses — the University of Washington Press, Duke University Press, MIT Press, and the University of Georgia Press — with the support of the Association of University Presses and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. 

The Fellowship

Through this year-long, full time entry-level position, fellows will be immersed in the acquisitions department of a leading scholarly press, working closely with senior acquisitions editors, authors, and projects through the entire acquisitions process. Through this apprenticeship, they will acquire deep and specialized knowledge of how editors identify emerging areas of scholarship, work with authors to develop manuscripts, manage the process of peer review and revision, present projects for approval, and represent them through each stage of publication. Fellows will also work with other press departments including marketing, design, manuscript editorial, and production on behalf of specific book projects, and may take on additional projects to gain a deeper understanding of these other publishing areas. 

Fellows will attend the Association of University Presses annual conferences at the beginning and end of their year-long program, where they will have the oppor-tunity to participate in workshops, meet with the other fellows in their cohort, and network with staff from uni-versity presses across North America. Fellows will be able to take advantage of all of the professional development opportunities for junior staff at the participating presses, including a series of monthly workshops designed specifically for this program. 

Responsibilities

Responsibilities include screening manuscript proposals; researching competing books, potential course adoptions, areas of growth in emerging fields, and potential expert peer reviewers; contacting peer reviewers and tracking reviews; writing book descriptions; assisting with contract requests, production cost estimates, and financial projections for projects; guiding authors on manuscript formatting, art preparation, and permissions; preparing materials for internal editorial approval and launch meetings; representing their press and interacting with book buyers and authors at academic conferences, and attending in-house acquisitions, editorial review, press committee, transmittal, and launch meetings.

Requirements

  • B.A. or B.S.
  • Commitment to using an understanding of the diversity of human experiences in developing, recruiting, and marketing manuscripts and books.

Preferred

  • M.A., M.S., or Ph.D.
  • Evidence of superior academic achievement, either in fields relevant to diversity or in fields that correlate to the major lists of the participating presses.
  • Commitment to pursuing a career in academic publishing.
  • Sustained personal engagement with low income communities and/or communities within the US that are underrepresented in publishing and a demonstrated ability to bring the understandings gleaned from such engagement to the daily work of academic publishing

Compensation

Fellows will be compensated with a salary and benefits package equivalent to that of a full-time staff person in an entry-level acquisitions position at each of the participating presses.

Application

Process Applicants must be citizens, nationals, or permanent residents of the U.S., or individuals granted deferred action status under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program.

Applications will be considered in coordination with the four partner presses on the grant. Please be sure to complete an application with the university website for each press you’d like to consider your application. Include a cover letter describing your interest in the program and your qualifications and experience that meet the requirements outlined above, along with a copy of your resume. If you’re applying for the fellowship at more than one press, please use the same cover letter.

Deadline

Search committees will begin reviewing applications after March 15, 2018. Selected fellows will be notified by April 14, 2018, to begin the year-long fellowship on June 1, 2018.

University of Washington Press: follow this link and search for job number 152934.

Duke University Press: follow this link and search for job number 401384774.

MIT Press: follow this link and search for job number 15648.

University of Georgia Press: follow this link and search for job number S00514P.

All four participating presses are Equal Opportunity/ Affirmative Action employers. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, protected veteran or disabled status, or genetic information.