After serving on her college’s research and faculty development committee, Clark noticed academic projects undertaken during sabbaticals or with support from university grants were often unfinished.
“I realized there must be so many manuscripts sitting in dusty bottom drawers of desks, and one reason for that is because no one teaches faculty how to publish,” Clark said.
Knowing how to turn academic projects into published works is especially vital for younger faculty in the humanities, who need publications in order to receive tenure and promotions. And before Pines Press, Whitworth faculty had to go to large academic presses or face the daunting process of pitching to for-profit presses to get their works printed.
“Because we are an academic press, we’re keenly focused on the content and its quality while considering the value its publication will bring to the region and its stakeholders,” Bathgate said. “Having a publisher affiliated with your university helps the institution share its scholarship and promote the kinds of work it believes in or feels is important to spread to the community.”
The opportunity to name a new print imprint doesn’t come along often, and Clark was reluctant to name it simply after the college. Instead, she and her colleagues came up with Pines Press, which draws inspiration from the campus’ iconic Ponderosa Pines. The imprint’s logo of a pinecone flanked by book pages is symbolic of the seeds of learning that Bathgate and Clark hope germinate as a result of their press’ publications.
Pines Press is expected to publish its first project early next year.