UA Press not on closeout list

Deficit, director’s retirement not alarming, officials say

Mike Bieker, the new director of the University of Arkansas Press, in his office Friday morning Jan. 3, 2014 on the campus in Fayetteville.
Mike Bieker, the new director of the University of Arkansas Press, in his office Friday morning Jan. 3, 2014 on the campus in Fayetteville.

The University of Arkansas Press is not in danger of being closed despite deficits in recent years and the departure of its director, said Steve Voorhies, a spokesman for the Fayetteville campus.

The UA Press had a deficit of $1,698 in 2010 that grew into a cumulative deficit of $483,730 as of June 30, 2013, according to a summary prepared for state auditors by Donald Pederson, UA vice chancellor of finance and administration.

But university presses, by and large, aren’t profitable endeavors.

“I think they’re expected to not turn a profit,” said Voorhies. “I don’t think anyone is troubled by the deficit.”

Director Lawrence Malley retired in December and has been replaced by Mike Bieker, who was assistant director and business manager of the UA Press.

For now, Bieker is serving as interim director. But Jim Rankin, UA vice provost for research and economic development, said he plans to hire Bieker as director.

Malley wanted to keep his retirement quiet and it wasn’t formally announced, Voorhies said. Malley didn’treturn a telephone message seeking comment.

Malley had been at the UA Press for 14 years, and Bieker has been there 10 years.

The UA Press’ deficit came up during an internal investigation of a multimillion-dollar deficit in the university’s Advancement Division.

In a May 28 email to Pederson, Kathy Ward, regional manager for the UA System’s Internal Audit Division, wrote that Malley was told to “live within his budget,” which is about $1 million.

“He then repeated that we are attempting to ‘shut down the Press,’” wrote Ward.

Rankin said Malley didn’t think it would be possible to operate the UA Press within its budget. Malley wanted the university to contribute another $150,000 annual subsidy to the UA Press. That would be in addition to a $250,000 subsidy that the UA Press has received from the university since 1998.

“There was never any intention to shut down the press,” Rankin said.

He said Malley’s retirement had nothing to do with the UA Press not getting additional money.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette obtained emailsand other investigation documents through a request under the state’s Freedom of Information Act.

Rankin said the UA Press will likely make a profit this year, after which it will look at reducing the cumulative deficit.

The fiscal 2014 budget will be balanced primarily through cost-cutting, Bieker said. With Malley and another employee leaving this year, the number of staff members has dropped to seven and will remain at that level through the fiscal year, which ends June 30.

Malley’s annual compensation was $132,621, said Voorhies, while Bieker’s annual compensation is $61,682. Voorhies said Bieker’s new salary hadn’t been determined as of Friday.

Among the investigative documents released to the Democrat-Gazette was a “proposed” budget for fiscal 2014 that showed $650,849 in total UA Press salaries, based on nine employees.

BEYOND THE PAGE

Founded in 1980 by the poet Miller Williams, the UA Press is the book-publishing division of the university. It publishes books by authors and academics across the country - and many from Arkansas. Despite the name, there was never a time when the UA Press actually printed books. The printing is contracted out.

“Over the years, the press has garnered a reputation for publishing the poetry of former U.S. poet laureate Billy Collins, as well as several books by former President Jimmy Carter,” according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture. “By the 1990s, UA Press had established itself as one of the leading publishing houses for American poets.”

Fans say the UA Press has done much to preserve Arkansas’ history on the printed page. But there may bea larger market for the UA Press beyond printed books, said Bieker.

About 6 percent of the UA Press’ books have been digitized. Bieker said he believes the percentage could be increased to 20 percent with no detriment to the sale of printed books.

“You can sell a digital book to someone in India as easily as you can in Indiana,” said Bieker. “We’re selling those books everywhere in the world. The more content we have that’s digitized, the better it’s going to be for our sales picture.”

The fiscal 2014 “proposed” budget showed $1 million in revenue and $1 million in expenses. Of the revenue, $538,645 would come from sales of UA Press books and $125,000 from distribution of non-UA Press titles.

The cumulative deficit of $483,730 at the end of fiscal 2013 is small compared with a $4.38 million deficit in 1998, when then-Chancellor John A. White attempted to shut down the UA Press, citing what he called its inability to turn a profit.

White heard from hundreds of people, many of whom said university presses usually operate at a deficit, but more than make up for it in the amount of prestige they earn for the universities. University presses are an important venue for researchers, scholars and writers who otherwise might not get published, UA Press defenders said.

White said the UA Press could stay open but would be limited to a subsidy of $250,000 a year.

Shortly afterward, the Tyson Foundation of Springdale gave a $1 million endowment to the UA Press, contingent on UA continuing the $250,000 annual contribution and the UA Press staying at the Fayetteville campus.

According to the “proposed” budget for fiscal 2014, income from the Tyson gift will provide $37,255 this year.

When the gift was announced, Tyson Foods spokesman Archie SchafferIII called the $1 million a “quasi-endowment,” meaning the UA Press could use both interest and principal if needed.

Malley arrived a year later, setting his sights on running a break-even operation.

Peter Givler, former executive director of the Association of American University Presses, explained the colliding ideologies in an article for the organization.

“The difficulty of keeping the right financial balance has plagued university presses from the beginning,” he wrote. “Every university press has at one time or another found itself running out of money, and virtually all have recovered, battered but wiser. University presses have proven themselves skilled at survival in their quixotic mission of being simultaneously academic idealists and market realists.”

Several university presses have been closed only to reopen and resume operations a few years later, wrote Givler. Among those were Vanderbilt University Press in Nashville, Tenn., and Northwestern University Press in Chicago.

GOAL IS SCHOLARSHIP

Many people, even on college campuses, don’t understand the role of university presses.

“We’re a university department just like any other department,” said Bieker. “Our goal is to put scholarship out. We’re funded with the mission of advancing scholarship, contributing to the culture of Arkansas, the region and the world.”

Bieker said the UA Press will be more involved with UA faculty members and publishing their work in the future.

Rankin said the UA Press will focus on publishing more “revenue-generating books.” He mentioned two such works - Arkansas: A Narrative History, 2nd Edition by Jeannie M. Whayne, Thomas A. DeBlack, George Sabo III and Morris S. Arnold; and John McDonnell, The Most Successful Coach in NCAAHistory by Andrew Maloney and John McDonnell.

Arkansas: A Narrative History sold 1,507 copies in the past six months, taking in $47,500 in sales. The John McDonnell book sold 2,524 copies over the past year and took in $46,469. The gross margin on those titles is about 70 percent, so each added about $33,000 to the bottom line, said Bieker.

Rankin said it was his decision not to approve Malley’s request for additional funding. Rankin said it’s common for people in the seven departments under him to request additional funding.

“They’re living within their budget,” said Rankin. “We’re looking at ways to do things differently. We just need to figure out what changes we need to make.”

Rankin said the UA Press has done “a very good job in making its current budget work.”

Voorhies said Malley, in his retirement, may serve as an editor-at-large for the UA Press.

“It would let him continue to work on titles that he’s interested in,” said Voorhies. “We’re hoping it would help him stay connected with the press.”

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 11 on 01/05/2014

Upcoming Events