Welcome

Introduction

In 2003 The Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Margaret Sheil accepted a recommendation from the Director that the University of Wollongong Press be relaunched and be put on a new basis. This relaunch combines three new elements:

A close relationship between the University Press and Halstead Press, a small, long-established Sydney publisher;
A new Management Committee and Editorial Board, the later broadly representative of campus research strengths; and,
A business plan emphasising the role of the Press in "show-casing" the University's research capacities.

Latest Release

UOW Press are proud to announce the release of Backyard: Culture and Nature in the Suburbs by Lesley Head with Pat Muir, which will be launched on Friday 5 October 2007 at 4.30pm UniShop in the UniCentre (building 11) at the University of Wollongong.

Click here to view invitation

About UOWP

The University Press recognised that the problems of selecting manuscripts, determining editorial and design standards, as well as providing adequate marketing and commercial distribution were beyond its capacity. Halstead Press was seeking to expand its academic publishing activities and sought to find a partner from an existing university press. The possibilities for combining these two different but linked initiatives resulted in the decision to form a joint publishing venture. Mr Matthew Richardson and Professor Sheil signed an agreement in 2003 to establish a close relationship between the University and Halstead for an initial three-year trial period. The agreement provides that Matthew join the three person Management Committee (to oversee the commercial and strategic decisions), while an independent Editorial Board has been established to provide recommendations about the submitted manuscripts. After three years we will review this arrangement.

History

The University Press has existed for over two decades - in that time a range of scholarly monographs and edited conference papers have been published. During much of this time commercial distribution was handled by an agent. These arrangements worked reasonably well, but were dependent on the commitment of enthusiastic academics to the idea of a University Press. With the growth of the University's research reputation, an increase in interest in the Press and the reorganisation on many university presses the time had come to revise the Press' role. In 2003 the University decided to provide additional resources to the Press, the Faculty of Arts agreed to give some administrative assistance and a commercial and strategic plan were developed.

University of Wollongong
Wollongong NSW 2522 Australia
Telephone +61 2 4221 3555