Future of Academic Publishing Is Focus of University Senate’s Spring 2009 Plenary

“Scholarly Publishing Today and Tomorrow: What You Need to Know” will be the theme of the University Senate’s Spring 2009 Plenary Session, to be held from 12:15 to 3:15 p.m. March 3 in the William Pitt Union’s Assembly Room.

David Shulenburger, who is nationally recognized for his efforts to help the academic community understand the economics of scholarly communication and to reform the scholarly communication process, will deliver the keynote address, titled “University Research Distribution: From Option to Necessity.”

Shulenburger is the vice president for academic affairs at the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges (NASULGC). Before joining NASULGC in June 2006, Shulenburger served for 13 years as the provost and executive vice chancellor of the University of Kansas, where he now holds the title of emeritus professor.

Shulenberger chaired the Board of Directors of the Center for Research Libraries from 2005 to 2007 and is currently a member of that board and the National Commission on Writing, as well as a consulting editor for Change magazine. He also has served as a faculty member at Clemson University and as a labor economist for the U.S. Department of Labor.

Following the keynote speech, Pitt Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor James V. Maher will moderate a roundtable response to Shulenburger’s talk. Panelists will be Steven L. Kanter, vice dean of Pitt’s School of Medicine; Michael J. Madison, associate dean for research and professor of law in Pitt’s School of Law; Cynthia Miller, director of the University of Pittsburgh Press; and John D. Norton, director of Pitt’s Center for Philosophy of Science and professor in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science.

The event will conclude with four breakout sessions addressing the future of scholarly journals and university presses, the roles of institutional repositories, and authors’ rights. Moderators for these sessions include Rush G. Miller, director of Pitt’s University Library System and University Librarian; Barbara A. Epstein, director of Pitt’s Health Sciences Library System; Cynthia C. Moore, associate general counsel in Pitt’s Office of General Counsel; and the four rountable panelists.

The free event is open to Pitt students, faculty, and staff. For more information, visit www.pitt.edu/univsenate/index.html.