One of Penn State University Press's oldest and most-viewed journals recently published its first issue under new University editorial leadership.
The "Journal of General Education" (JGE) is now edited by Maggie Slattery, director and assistant dean for General Education; and Laura Cruz, research professor, Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence. Slattery and Cruz took over editorial duties last fall at JGE, which is the only academic journal that focuses on the scholarship around general education.
First published in 1946 at the State University of Iowa, the journal was acquired from the University of Chicago Press in 1961 and was the first journal to be published by Penn State University Press.
"It has long felt significant to me that press's first journal was 'Journal of General Education,'" said Julie Lambert, journals manager at Penn State University Press. "In my time at the press, I've seen the journal passed between multiple editorial teams at different universities and I could not be more thrilled to have it land back home at Penn State. As an undergrad, it was my own gen-ed courses that sparked my interest in scholarly publishing, and these foundational courses continue to be integral to a student's collegiate journey. The heart of the press's mission is to disseminate scholarship that advances higher education, and JGE contributes significantly to the conversations, innovations and commitments at the center of undergraduate education."
Slattery has more than 10 years of experience leading in general education spaces at Penn State and brings that expertise to her first academic journal editorship role at JGE. Cruz has served as the editor of five other teaching and learning journals, spanning over 25 years.
Slattery and Cruz's first edited issue of JGE, which also features a new cover design for the journal, was recently published to coincide with the Association for General and Liberal Studies (AGLS) annual conference held in late September. Many of the journal's contributors are actively involved with AGLS, and JGE partners with AGLS to offer access for its members and discounts for institutions.
"We've been working hard to get the journal back in people's minds," Cruz said. "We were the plenary speakers at last year's AGLS conference, where we announced that we would be helping the Press refresh the journal and publish more frequently. We're happy with the momentum we've built so far and hope to continue receiving high-quality submissions."
In addition to publishing more frequently, Slattery said the journal will publish spotlight issues, such as an upcoming issue with three entries from scholars at Ohio State University showcasing viewpoints such as administrative, student and faculty perspectives. Another special issue coming out soon will focus on high-impact practices that align with experiential learning.
Cruz said as editors they have three major objectives:
- Help audiences see that the scholarship of general education should be thought of as a cohesive body of scholarship, like its other counterparts in academia
- Show that doing general education well requires many participants, beyond students and faculty, such as staff, academic advisers and administrators
- Explore how scholarship can help support and advocate for general education and be a part of visioning for the future
Slattery said it was also important for the journal to foster the conversation nationally in a changing landscape, where the value of general education is questioned, and degree return on investment is scrutinized.
"We want to help articulate what people already inherently know but don't have the data to prove, or the data is unclear: that general education creates students who are more nimble and prepared for a changing workforce," Slattery said. "It provides foundational learning for degrees, but also helps students as their career paths change, because nobody stays in the same job forever. This provides us with a platform to lead in that space."
To celebrate JGE's refresh, the article "The State of General Education: Shifting the Focus to Meaning Making and the 'Writerly'" by Paul Hanstedt, vice chancellor for Academic Affairs and Innovation at the University of Minnesota Rochester, will be available to read for free for the next six months. The Penn State community can access JGE and all other Penn State University Press journals on the Scholarly Publishing Collective when connected to a Penn State network.
