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COLUMBIA (AP) - Opponents of a University of Missouri decision to revamp its academic publishing business want to enlist some of the school's 30,000 students in their fight against the proposal.

Nearly 70 professors met Tuesday to discuss their strategy. The call for student involvement came from author William Least Heat-Moon, a former English professor and a Missouri graduate.

University president Tim Wolfe decided in May to shut down the 54-year-old academic press to put the business' $400,000 annual university subsidy to better use. The university plans to replace the press with a digital publishing operation that will rely largely on student workers and be overseen by a literary journal editor.

The decision has generated significant nationwide criticism in the publishing industry, and several authors want the school to return their publishing rights.