Collaborative work is the heart of university presses. Authors and publishing professionals work together to advance knowledge, joining with a vast network of reviewers, booksellers, freelancers, translators, librarians, teachers, and students in the essential project of understanding the world.
University Press Week 2025 gratefully acknowledges the daily contributions of all members of this global community. Let’s celebrate our shared strength and power when we #TeamUP!
Make sure to check out blog posts from other university presses in the Association of University Presses’ (AUP) UP Week blog tour and browse the #TeamUP gallery and reading list here.
Since 2022, the entire UIP staff has met annually in Champaign, IL for our all-staff retreat. While there are a ton of variables in university press publishing and in our lives, this event has remained constant — a dedicated space where we can #TeamUP. Each year, the retreat committee works to bring together an agenda that will acknowledge, educate, and enrich. Below is our 2025 agenda with some notes.
Travel Day – Monday, September 8
*About one half of our staff works outside of the Urbana-Champaign area. From Chicago to New Orleans, Manhattan to Portland, our staff comes from all across the country to gather the second week of September.
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Day 1 – Tuesday, September 9
Morning:
8:00-9:30 Department breakfasts
9:45-12:00 Department meetings
*Each department has formal time to discuss pressure points, celebrate achievements, and make a plan for how they want to approach the rest of the season, year, etc.
Box Lunch
*Just like an elementary school field trip! Only with more quinoa and kale.
Afternoon:
1:30-3:30 Reporting from departments/committees
3:30-5:00 Activities: Board games or Spurlock Museum tour
*The committee tries to select group activities that will appeal to most of the group. Some years that looks like a service activity (sorting apples at the local food bank or sewing cat toys for elderly felines, for example), a tour of a local attraction (Krannert Center for the Performing Arts or Japan House, to name a few), or testing the skills (and competitive nature) of your colleagues over board games.
Dinner on your own
*This time block allows for some un-agenda-ed fun. Some departments go ax throwing, some colleagues catch up at dinner, and some folks go home and rest up for the next day of activities.
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Day 2 – Wednesday, September 10
Morning:
7:30-8 Meditation session
*New this year! An excellent guided meditation by acquisitions editor Dominique Moore.
7:30-8:30 Breakfast
8:30-12:00 Topics-based meetings
*This year we created a mini conference, where staff members could engage in smaller panel discussions on suggested topics, such as conferences, AI, the federal impacts of university press publishing, and more.
Box Lunch
60-90 minutes down time: unscheduled activities
*Some space throughout the day was a request from last year’s retreat. Staff members used this time to explore campus, meet with their committee, or catch up on some emails.
Afternoon:
2:00-4:00 Big ideas session
*Also new this year! As a thought exercise, the staff was divided into groups of 5-7 people to discuss a pie-in-the-sky idea that they would present to the larger group. Some topics included increasing press awareness in the community, ways to expand internships or educational opportunities, ways to increase income, and more.
Evening picnic – Lake House at Crystal Lake Park
*This is our final hurrah before going our separate ways. Staff is invited to bring their families and it is always such a delight to end our time together with the addition of dogs and babies.
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Travel Day – Thursday, September 11
We hope you enjoyed this sneak peak of our annual retreat. Does your press have an annual retreat? What do you do? If you don’t already, try it with your staff and see what comes out of it!