Figure 1. How does the caption round the bend and wrap into a second or third line? How does the caption round the bend and wrap into a second or third line? How does the caption round the bend and wrap into a second or third line? [47 words]

EM—Journal

2011-2014

EM—Journal, The Eastern Michigan University Journal of Undergraduate Writing, blinkered into existence for three years, from its inaugural issue published in August 2011 until its last, which ran in August 2014. A short-lived online publication, the journal was built on Movable Type, led by one faculty advisor and fully realized by a small but dedicated team of students.

The journal’s charter, which was written and circulated in September 2010 and unanimously approved by the Written Communications Committee on November 2, 2010, articulated its purpose as follows:

EM—Journal will be a flexibly refereed online journal featuring writing produced by students of Eastern Michigan University. The journal will showcase a variety of documents (articles, essays, reports, etc.) written and designed by students in EMU's First-year Writing Program, in selected Writing Intensive courses associated with the Writing Across the Curriculum Program, and in upper- and lower-division undergraduate courses in the Written Communication major and Writing Minor.

The eight issues of the journal reflected congruity with the vision. Issue 1.1, Style, for example, featured eight multimodal projects created in an undergraduate course on writing, style, and technology, what was at the time a signature course in Eastern Michigan University’s English teacher preparation curriculum. Subsequent issues, such as 1.3 Women & Gender, and 1.4 International Economics, followed through on the journal’s aspirations related to Writing Across the Curriculum and Writing Intensive (or WI-) designated courses. Yet another issue showcased projects documented through the university’s Celebration of Student Writing (CSW), the longest continuously running writing-focused showcase event. Thus, the journal alternated between spotlighting writing by first-year undergraduates, upper-level undergraduates enrolled in English Department courses, and both undergraduates and graduate students in courses from other majors and programs of study.

EM-Journal, like so many other localized, institutional, and oftentimes digital publishing venues, inflects a longer patchwork history dating back at least as far as Edith Well’s 1950 report, “College Publications of Freshman Writing,” the first article in the first issue of College Composition and Communication. Wells introduced and analyzed results from a questionnaire she mailed to 400 English Departments, which returned 186 responses. In a section subheaded, “The Pros and Cons,” Wells summarized the four reasons “freshman writing magazines” had been discontinued: 1) “too much added burden was placed upon the staff as a result of publishing the magazine,” 2) “the students gradually lost interest in the project,” 3) “funds from the university were not available,” and 4) referring to a response from one specific department head where a publication was formalized into the curriculum, “‘Like other things that are compulsory, it aroused student resentment’” (10). Among these four causes (waning interest, service creep, funding, and resentment), the third, ultimately, compelled the editorial team to execute the sunset provision—a provision sagely suggested by Bill Hart-Davidson.

Sunset Provision

EM—Journal will operate for an initial trial period of three years after which the advisory board will discuss its design, continuation, forms of support, and possibilities for reformulation. That is, the journal must continue to serve the purposes outlined above even while it adapts to unforeseeable contingencies, including its voluntarily supported infrastructure and operations.

And so it went, EM—Journal enjoyed a three-year run before going gone on permanent hiatus.