2017 NAISA Editor Search

Dr. Jean O’Brien and Dr. Robert Warrior will complete their term as Founding Editors of NAIS: Native American and Indigenous Studies at the end of the 2019 NAISA annual meeting. To assure a smooth transition, the NAISA Council has initiated the search for their successor(s), whose appointment will be announced in mid-2018 well in advance of a four-year term beginning June 1, 2019.

Search Schedule:

Dr. Jean O’Brien and Dr. Robert Warrior will complete their term as Founding Editors of NAIS: Native American and Indigenous Studies at the end of the 2019 NAISA annual meeting. To assure a smooth transition, the NAISA Council has initiated the search for their successor(s), whose appointment will be announced in mid-2018 well in advance of a four-year term beginning June 1, 2019.


Position Description

The Editor or Editors of NAIS give leadership to the organization and production of NAISA’s scholarly journal.  The awarding-winning NAIS is published bi-annually through an agreement between NAISA and the University of Minnesota Press. Individuals or groups of two or more are welcome to apply for the editorship.


Major Responsibilities

Recruiting and receiving manuscript submissions and arranging peer review, when warranted; communicating with authors and potential authors; organizing, recruiting, and working with an editorial board; organizing and submitting copy for each bi-annual  issue of the journal in a timely way to the University of Minnesota Press; checking proofs; planning future issues; maintaining regular communication with the NAISA council, including meeting with the council at the NAISA annual meeting and reporting on the journal’s activities at the NAISA business meeting at the annual meeting; maintaining and developing professional relationships with principals and staff of the University of Minnesota Press, which maintains NAISA’s membership list and sign-up/renewal processes; receiving, processing, storing, sending out and otherwise disposing of materials the journal receives for potential review. In addition, the Editor or Editors may have opportunities to make presentations to different constituencies engaged in Native American and Indigenous studies, scholarly editing, and related issues; this could involve travel and additional time and preparation commitments. The Editor or Editors should bring to all these tasks broad scholarly knowledge, an expansive network of scholarly contacts, and energy and imagination regarding the future of Native American and Indigenous studies and of academic publishing. The Editor or Editors work independently, but make(s) a report annually to the NAISA council at the association’s annual meeting. Active NAISA membership is a basic expectation of a successful application, which is, in part, a reflection of the importance of the association’s membership in the core mission of the journal. In that spirit, the Editor or Editors offer a report at the business meeting at the annual meeting.

The University of Minnesota Press provides US$2,000 annually in stipend funding for the editorship along with its commitment to fully staffing its part in copyediting, designing, producing, and distributing the journal. The founding editors secured significant support from their home institutions before their appointment, including office space, graduate assistantships, office support, mailing expenses, supplies, and funding for receptions at the NAISA annual meeting. The founding editors have, as well, expended personal discretionary research funds for these expenses and others when institutional funds have not been sufficient.


Application

If you are interested in this position, please submit a letter that addresses your qualifications and offers a sense of your vision for NAIS, as well as your CV. 

The NAISA council will act as a search committee.  All applications are due by January 1, 2018.   The council hopes to make a decision at the conclusion of the 2018 annual meeting where interviews will take place. Candidates for the position of Editor should be prepared to attend and participate in interviews at the annual meeting. We strongly encourage candidates to discuss their intentions with their academic administrators (deans, department chairs, etc.) so that they can come to the interview prepared to articulate the institutional support they will receive if appointed to the editorship (for example, course releases, graduate and/or other student or staff support, any additional financial contribution). The new Editor will be expected to be in regular contact with the current Editors during 2018-2019 to ensure an orderly transition, taking over full responsibility on June 1, 2019.