Southern Utah University

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Southern Utah University
Southern Utah University
Fall Semester 2026

Literary Journal Editing (Face-to-Face)

ENGL 4970-01

Course: ENGL 4970-01
Credits: 2
Term: Fall Semester 2026
Department: English
CRN: 31581

Course Description

This course will focus on reviewing incoming prose and poetry submissions for incorporation into the literary journal, the Kolob Canyon Review. In addition, students will review, revise, and edit creative writing drafts submitted through staff members or through creative writing classes where ongoing drafts and revision strategies are explored. Students are expected to commit to the course for both Fall and Spring semesters in order to fully contribute to the journal creation process. (Fall, Spring) [Graded (Standard Letter)] Prerequisite(s): ENGL 3010 and ENGL 3030 and ENGL 3040 - Prerequisite Min. Grade: C- Repeatable for Add’l Credit? Yes - Total Credits: 6

Required Texts

A Dash of Style: The Art and Mastery of Punctuation by Noah Lukeman (ISBN: 0393329801)

Learning Outcomes

  1. Publishing Workflow—examine and enact key stages of creating a literary journal, including reviewing initial submissions, voting on and discussing pieces for selection, copyediting pieces according to style guides, and verifying final proofs before printing
  2. Editorial Decision Making—explore how editorial teams evaluate submissions, close-reading texts for identifiable craft elements and creating acceptance and rejection rationales in group discussions
  3. Team Dynamics in Publishing—work within and modify established editorial team structures and communication protocols in order to ensure a successful literary journal
  4. Style Guide Familiarity—use both in-house style guides and the CMS manual to create a consistent style of copy-editing among all printed pieces.
  5. Cultural Impact—understand the role that literary journals play in broader culture and prepare events and publicity that bring that role to Southern Utah University, including but not limited to the major launch party
  6. Business Operations—work within an established budget and negotiate with multiple entities to ensure that the literary journal is smoothly published

Course Requirements

  • (Fall) Reading: 400 points
    • Read all submissions and respond thoughtfully to pieces on the voting spreadsheet. Staying caught up in reading and voting, taking notes on submissions, as well as contributing reasoning for the acceptance or rejection of a piece are necessary for full points. Reading grade will also depend on all submissions being read and voted on by staff members.
  • (Fall) Voting Discussions: 400 points
    • Analyze and discuss selected pieces, offering professional (kind) arguments for acceptance or rejection. Engaged participation in voting discussions, including making arguments for or against accepting pieces and contributing to classroom discourse will earn full points. 
    • Participation will be graded based on a mixture of in-class comments, comments in the voting spreadsheet, engagement with pieces through written notes, and self-evaluations
  • (Fall/Spring) Committee Work and Specialized Roles: 200 points
    • Complete specialized tasks to ensure KCR’s success. Tasks will be different between staff members, but grading will reflect overall performance in the roles given. This will be graded based on task completion, timeliness and holding to deadlines, self-evaluation, and peer-evaluation from other staff members assigned to the same/similar tasks.
  • (Spring) Editing and Proofing: 400 points
    • Edit pieces according to CMS and in-house standards and ensure proof copies are free of errors. Points will be given based on participation in the editing process, edits left on submission documents, as well as completing copy-editing on assigned pieces. As some pieces may be naturally more error free than others, grading cannot be based directly on how many edits a staff member makes; however, staff members should work to ensure they are catching a high majority of mistakes when editing.
  • (Spring) Launch Party: 400 points
    • Help plan and attend the launch party as staff for the event. Completing necessary tasks, including marketing, setup, takedown, and working the launch party will earn full points. Grading will be focused on task completion, as well as attendance of the launch party and the professionalism of the staff member throughout the launch party process.

Course Outline

(Fall) Section I—Introduction to Literary Journals / Weeks 1–6

  • Introduction to KCR, literary journals, and publishing process
  • Role Assignment
  • Close-Reading Lessons and Discussion
  • Genre Lessons
  • Voting Instructions
    • (Reading will begin during this section but be focused on in section II)

(Fall) Section II—Selection of Submitted Pieces / Weeks 7–14

  • Reading of Submitted Pieces
  • Preliminary Voting on Submitted Pieces
  • Voting Discussions
  • Final Voting and Acceptance Emails

  • (Spring) Section III—Introduction to Professional Editing / Weeks 1–2

    • Introduction to CMS
    • Creation of In-House Style Guide
    • Genre Lessons and Types of Editing Discussion (with Practice Editing Samples)

  • (Spring) Section IV—Editing and Proofing of Accepted Pieces / Weeks 3–8

    • Multiple Rounds of Copy-Editing
    • Communication with Graphic Design Department
    • Editing and Preparing Final Proofs

  • (Spring) Section V—Launch Party Preparation and Final Printing / Weeks 9–14

    • Planning and Implementing Launch Party
    • Artist Outreach and Professional Email Writing
    • Marketing Launch Party

Instructor's policies on late assignments and/or makeup work

Reading and voting on submissions is paramount to what we do at KCR, so the importance of staying on top of required reading cannot be overstated. Life happens, and sometimes you may be a week behind, but also try to be a week ahead or a few days ahead where you can be. We will give each other grace, but KCR only works if we can agree as staff to stay on top of reading, voting, and editing. Reading should be completed before voting discussions, and all pieces should be voted on within a week of deadline lapsing. Students should be reading and voting on every piece, broken up into reading lists over the course of the semester; a major portion of a staff member’s grade is dependent on all pieces being read and voted on. 

There is grace surrounding this policy, but communication with the masthead is also important should readings or other responsibilities begin to fall behind by more than a week at most.

Attendance Policy

Given the importance of group discussion and student leadership to the class, attendance is paramount. Professional communication with the masthead should also be the assumption, where attendance is not possible (sickness, etc.) and staff members may be expected to make up work that is missed. Life happens, but KCR is modeling a work environment in professional publications and fellow staff members are often leaning on you for your role. 

After a disruptive number of absences, the Editor-In-Chief and/or Instructor of Record will have a conversation with the staff member. Repeated absences or a failure of makeup work may result in the reduction of one or more grade levels. Attendance less than 70% of the class will likely result in a failing grade; however, this is likely to occur naturally, as missing a lot of class will make completing necessary tasks much more difficult. 

Course Fees

$4 per credit

AI Policy

AI assisted or written work does not have a place in KCR, and our class policies reflect this. Given KCR works with the intellectual property of our submitters, KCR does not accept AI use in any form. This includes not accepting AI submissions, but similarly includes uploading submissions to an AI platform for summary, text-to-speech programs, or anything that threatens the intellectual property of our submitters. As we deal with the creative work of SUU’s students, alumni, and faculty, it is incredibly important that we follow industry standards, respect this work, and do not contribute to it being used in training AI models. 

With the exception of grammar programs (such as Grammarly or Google docs) that may be used in the editing process, KCR staff members will not use AI assistance in editing. When AI is used, staff members will ensure the material is not read by, modified, or contributed to using large language models. 

Further, given the creative and human/collaborative aspects of KCR as a project, AI use may not be used for class assignments. Additionally, as the class aims to prepare students for professional publishing, gaining skills un-assisted by AI is incredibly important, especially given AI's severe lack of use in professional publishing more broadly. The majority of publishing will blacklist the use of AI, and keeping KCR and its staff members free of its use allows KCR staff to pursue future careers in publishing, should they want to do so. 

Content and Objections

Although KCR has firm policies in place about rejecting hateful, offensive work, we cannot control submission material or monitor it by content. This means that some pieces may make staff members uncomfortable at times. Being able to read and study pieces that make you uncomfortable is a big part of professional publishing. It is also important to KCR that submissions are read and engaged with. However, overly offensive work may be removed from the course and not considered for submission, as well as KCR providing exceptions for staff members about particularly objectionable or triggering content. As such, opting out may always be discussed with the masthead or instructor on record.

ADA Statement

Students with medical, psychological, learning, or other disabilities desiring academic adjustments, accommodations, or auxiliary aids will need to contact the Disability Resource Center, located in Room 206F of the Sharwan Smith Center or by phone at (435) 865-8042. The Disability Resource Center determines eligibility for and authorizes the provision of services.

If your instructor requires attendance, you may need to seek an ADA accommodation to request an exception to this attendance policy. Please contact the Disability Resource Center to determine what, if any, ADA accommodations are reasonable and appropriate.

Academic Credit

According to the federal definition of a Carnegie credit hour: A credit hour of work is the equivalent of approximately 60 minutes of class time or independent study work. A minimum of 45 hours of work by each student is required for each unit of credit. Credit is earned only when course requirements are met. One (1) credit hour is equivalent to 15 contact hours of lecture, discussion, testing, evaluation, or seminar, as well as 30 hours of student homework. An equivalent amount of work is expected for laboratory work, internships, practica, studio, and other academic work leading to the awarding of credit hours. Credit granted for individual courses, labs, or studio classes ranges from 0.5 to 15 credit hours per semester.

Academic Freedom

SUU is operated for the common good of the greater community it serves. The common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition. Academic Freedom is the right of faculty to study, discuss, investigate, teach, and publish. Academic Freedom is essential to these purposes and applies to both teaching and research.

Academic Freedom in the realm of teaching is fundamental for the protection of the rights of the faculty member and of you, the student, with respect to the free pursuit of learning and discovery. Faculty members possess the right to full freedom in the classroom in discussing their subjects. They may present any controversial material relevant to their courses and their intended learning outcomes, but they shall take care not to introduce into their teaching controversial materials which have no relation to the subject being taught or the intended learning outcomes for the course.

As such, students enrolled in any course at SUU may encounter topics, perspectives, and ideas that are unfamiliar or controversial, with the educational intent of providing a meaningful learning environment that fosters your growth and development. These parameters related to Academic Freedom are included in SUU Policy 6.6.

Academic Misconduct

Scholastic honesty is expected of all students. Dishonesty will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent (see SUU Policy 6.33). You are expected to have read and understood the current SUU student conduct code (SUU Policy 11.2) regarding student responsibilities and rights, the intellectual property policy (SUU Policy 5.52), information about procedures, and what constitutes acceptable behavior.

Please Note: The use of websites or services that sell essays is a violation of these policies; likewise, the use of websites or services that provide answers to assignments, quizzes, or tests is also a violation of these policies. Regarding the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), you should check with your individual course instructor.

Emergency Management Statement

In case of an emergency, the University's Emergency Notification System (ENS) will be activated. Students are encouraged to maintain updated contact information using the link on the homepage of the mySUU portal. In addition, students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Emergency Response Protocols posted in each classroom. Detailed information about the University's emergency management plan can be found at https://www.suu.edu/emergency.

HEOA Compliance Statement

For a full set of Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) compliance statements, please visit https://www.suu.edu/heoa. The sharing of copyrighted material through peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, except as provided under U.S. copyright law, is prohibited by law; additional information can be found at https://my.suu.edu/help/article/1096/heoa-compliance-plan.

You are also expected to comply with policies regarding intellectual property (SUU Policy 5.52) and copyright (SUU Policy 5.54).

Mandatory Reporting

University policy (SUU Policy 5.60) requires instructors to report disclosures received from students that indicate they have been subjected to sexual misconduct/harassment. The University defines sexual harassment consistent with Federal Regulations (34 C.F.R. Part 106, Subpart D) to include quid pro quo, hostile environment harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking. When students communicate this information to an instructor in-person, by email, or within writing assignments, the instructor will report that to the Title IX Coordinator to ensure students receive support from the Title IX Office. A reporting form is available at https://cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?SouthernUtahUniv

Non-Discrimination Statement

SUU is committed to fostering an inclusive community of lifelong learners and believes our university's encompassing of different views, beliefs, and identities makes us stronger, more innovative, and better prepared for the global society.

SUU does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, sex (including sex discrimination and sexual harassment), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ancestry, disability status, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, genetic information, military status, veteran status, or other bases protected by applicable law in employment, treatment, admission, access to educational programs and activities, or other University benefits or services.

SUU strives to cultivate a campus environment that encourages freedom of expression from diverse viewpoints. We encourage all to dialogue within a spirit of respect, civility, and decency.

For additional information on non-discrimination, please see SUU Policy 5.27 and/or visit https://www.suu.edu/nondiscrimination.

Pregnancy

Students who are or become pregnant during this course may receive reasonable modifications to facilitate continued access and participation in the course. Pregnancy and related conditions are broadly defined to include pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, lactation, related medical conditions, and recovery. To obtain reasonable modifications, please make a request to title9@suu.edu. To learn more visit: https://www.suu.edu/titleix/pregnancy.html.

Disclaimer Statement

Information contained in this syllabus, other than the grading, late assignments, makeup work, and attendance policies, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.