A Chat with Erich van Rijn

It’s not surprising that nonprofit professional associations reflect their members’ needs, interests, and aspirations. But perhaps less well known is the actual scope of how many hands shape the successful realization of any association’s goals.

Dedicated publishing professionals at the Association’s member presses around the globe contribute every day to the work of our Association, in addition to advancing the outstanding work of their own presses. Led by the more than 160 individuals who currently serve on the Association’s Board of Directors and in its 20 committees and task forces, these individuals collaborate to articulate and promote the value of university press publishing and to envision, create, and support some of the Association’s most respected projects, such as informative best-practices guides like the Peer Review Handbook, Permissions FAQ, Marketing Handbook, and Business Handbook; myth-busting Ask UP posts; the inspiring Book, Jacket, and Journal Show catalog; and the enlightening Annual Meeting Program.

During US National Volunteer Week (April 21-27, 2024), we express our gratitude to all who are currently engaged in the vital work of our Association. 

Why commit thought, time, and energy to this shared work? And what can individuals who step up to serve the Association receive in return? Here are some insights from Erich van Rijn, an experienced AUPresses committee member and leader as well as Director of the University of California Press.

When did you first get involved in the work of the Association? Did someone recruit you to a role or encourage volunteering for something specific?

I’ve been involved in Association activities for almost longer than I can remember, but the first formal volunteer activity that I took part in was as a member of the Marketing Committee in 2005. The late Mark Saunders, who was then the Director of Marketing and Sales at the University of Virginia Press, approached me to ask if I would serve on the committee. An area that Mark was very interested in working on was revamping an initiative that the Association had undertaken called “Books for Understanding” to make better use of electronic outreach initiatives. In 2005, Twitter (now X) hadn’t even formally been founded yet, so this was in the very early days of digital marketing strategies. I had been doing quite a bit of work in the area of digital marketing at the University of California Press at the time, and Mark thought I would be a good fit. Little did I know at the time that it would lead to many years of collaborative work as part of several committees.

Has serving on, and chairing, Association groups impacted your work habits and/or management style?

The thing that I’ve always valued about the AUPresses community is that we are an incredibly diverse group that is a great resource for one another. I never hesitate to consult with colleagues at other presses, and I love the strong tradition of information-sharing, mentoring, and collaboration. Committee service brings press staff from a number of different backgrounds and with a host of different concerns and perspectives together. Serving as Chair of the 2018 Annual Meeting Program Committee, I realized early on that representing the concerns of a very diverse organization both in the composition of the committee itself and also in the final program that we delivered was very important. The annual meeting program aims to have something in it for everyone. That’s a puzzle that you are responsible for working with the committee to solve as the chair. This translates directly into management—you have to not just hear but listen.

Has getting involved in the work of the Association expanded your professional network?

Yes! It is an incredible way to expand your network. I am still very closely connected to people who I worked with years ago in various capacities as a volunteer for the Association. I have also been invited to work on collaborative projects that arose directly from my involvement with the various committees on which I’ve served. It’s been incredibly rewarding and valuable.

What’s the most memorable or gratifying AUPresses project you’ve worked on as a volunteer?

Years ago, when a request for committee volunteers came out, I wrote to [AUPresses Executive Director] Peter Berkery asking whether there was any committee that was focused on open access. OA had become an area of emphasis for our press’s publishing program, and I wanted to get involved in a conversation that included many members of our community. Peter wrote back saying that while there wasn’t a specific committee that focused on that work, it seemed like something the Association should explore. Eventually, with the support of the board and Kathryn Conrad, Director at the University of Arizona Press and the Association’s President, we launched an OA Task Force. That task force became a standing committee of the Association, and I think has contributed a lot to many presses’ understanding of the many challenges and opportunities of OA publishing. I think the most gratifying part of that effort was that I primarily felt like it was the engagement from all of the volunteers who served on the task force and subsequent committee that facilitated the work. Everyone was equally enthusiastic about what we were trying to accomplish.

Do you have any words of encouragement or advice for people thinking about volunteering for any AUPresses committee?

The AUPresses community is one of the most welcoming professional communities that I have ever been a part of. The committees are not just a place where much of the work of the Association gets done, but they are also places where people form connections, learn, and grow professionally.  I’m fairly late in my career at this point, but I am still learning, and my committee work is one of the places where that happens. If you have a passion for university press publishing, committee service is a really excellent way to broaden how you think about the profession and will expose you to a really diverse set of experiences and viewpoints. You’ll also meet and engage with wonderful people in the process.

Erich van Rijn currently chairs the AUPresses Financial Operations Committee. Most recently, he served on the association’s Nominating Committee (2021-2022), chaired the 2018 Annual Meeting Program Committee as well as the Open Access Task Force (2019-2021), and continued to serve as a member of the Open Access Committee when it formed in 2021.

In addition, he was co-principal investigator for the Association’s NEH Level 1 Digital Humanities Advancement grant studying open access impact on print book sales and has served on other advisory boards in the scholarly publishing ecosystem including Toward an Open Monograph Ecosystem (TOME)—a joint initiative of the Association of American Universities, the Association of Research Libraries, and AUPresses, and the Next Generation Library Publishing project—a joint project of the Educopia Foundation, California Digital Library, and Strategies for Open Science.