The Journey Continues

The voting is over. Thank you to all the members who participated in this historic process. Soon we’ll know the answer to whether ACPA and NASPA are going to consolidate into a single, comprehensive association.

Both associations have members who opted to vote by paper ballot, and our polling firms need time to receive, certify and add the votes to those cast on-line. It will take around 7 business days to complete the tabulation and determine the results. Each of us who has been involved in shepherding this process agrees it is essential  that all of our members learn these results at the same time.

So on Wednesday, April 27, 2011 at 6:00 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time members of ACPA and NASPA will receive an email letter from me and NASPA president Patricia Telles-Irvin sharing the outcome of the vote. One announcement, the same initial message, to all. And then, whatever the outcome, we start the work of moving into our future.

What an exciting time this is! Thank you for being on the journey with me!

Heidi

Vote!

Folks who attended one of the consolidation discussions at the ACPA convention got to hear my “soapbox speech” about the importance of voting on the question of whether ACPA and NASPA should consolidate into a single, unified professional association. With apologies to those readers who were at one of those sessions, I am climbing back up on that same soapbox again now!

Conversations about consolidation (or unification, merger… the term has varied) with NASPA have taken place over the past 30 years, but this is the first time we have ever formulated an actual plan or been at the point of a member vote. While there are certainly more important issues facing higher education than whether ACPA and NASPA should consolidate, I can’t think of a more important question for the two associations. The plan is not perfect (what plan ever is?), and there are many details still to be fleshed out, but it gives us a basic framework of what a new association would look like. The question that each of us must answer is whether we think this framework looks like one that will best serve our profession as we move into the future – if so, vote “yes;” if not, vote “no.” The most important thing to do is to vote. We’ve waited a long time to get to the place where we can finally voice our perspectives on this issue – it’s too important for anyone to sit this out.

If you’ve already voted – great! If you have not yet voted you should have received a follow-up email with voting information from our polling firm last week. Please make yourself familiar with all of the information about the proposal and plan and cast your vote by 11:59 p.m. (EDT), Friday April 15. Remember – Voice = Vote!

Opinion Piece from George Kuh

Greetings,

I received this opinion piece from Dr. George Kuh which he requested be posted to ACPA members. It has already been shared with NASPA’s membership.

Sincerely,
Susan Salvador

It’s Time

I’ve read with interest over past months the pros and cons posted by colleagues about the proposed consolidation of ACPA and NASPA. I have friends in both camps, and have learned a good deal from their reasoned arguments. But nothing has changed the view I’ve held on this issue for at least 20 years or so. For the student affairs profession to use its educational philosophy and empirical and theoretical knowledge about students and campus environments to demonstrably influence higher education policy as well as institutional practice in a real-time, coherent fashion, the field needs to speak in one informed, respected voice. So, color me unequivocally in favor of bringing ACPA and NASPA together to form one overarching association to unify the profession. And the sooner the better. Consolidation is long overdue.

There was a time when ACPA and NASPA differed in substantive and occasionally in procedural ways about their priorities and policy positions, and how they addressed the professional development needs of student affairs staff at different points in their careers. I suspect an analysis of the topics featured several decades ago at their national and regional meetings and their governing board actions would illustrate some of these differences. I’ve been a member of and attended most national meetings of the two groups for about 35 years and no longer discern meaningful differences. This realization became all-too-clear to me years ago when trying to explain in response to the annual queries of graduate students what distinguished the two groups. I had to rely on historical artifacts to come up with examples. Of course, these mattered little to them and were not helpful as they pondered which group to join or meeting to attend.

I intend no disrespect to the histories, traditions and other cultural properties of ACPA and NASPA. They have and will continue to be important – especially to long-time members of the groups. But I fail to see today how they matter in material ways to the professional practice of student affairs or the future development of the field and its practitioners, or to institutional leaders and faculty members who look to student affairs for guidance on how to respond to issues of the day. And if some differences between the cultures of the two groups do exist as some have suggested, they do not begin to offset the influence that one recognized, well-resourced association can have in today’s crowded, noisy, policy environment where economic constraints are forcing hard choices about what to continue to support at both institutional and personal levels.

It’s comforting to hold on to the past, especially when facing uncertainty. In the present instance, consolidation puzzles some because nothing seems to be obviously broken. Another non-trivial challenge is that few analogues provide guidance for how the proposed consolidation can be achieved efficiently and effectively. I cannot begin to imagine the many details to be addressed. I admire and salute those who’ve already begun to flesh them out. Surely there will be a period during which the products and services presently offered by each organization are interrupted or are not integrated as seamlessly as we want. It will be messy with unpredictable bumps along the way, even with all the deliberations and planning that have and will continue. If you fly frequently, you’ve also experienced firsthand some such irritants, such as the computer systems of merged airlines such as Delta and Northwest failing to function as they should. I’m getting another taste of this as Continental and United work toward similar ends. But as with any other decision to bring large organizations together, people of good will can make it happen if given enough time, support and understanding.

The accomplishments of ACPA and NASPA are many and both groups have served the field and their members well. But the world order has changed. Neither staying separate nor consolidation guarantees a bright future for the profession or the millions of students and faculty at colleges and universities across the country who benefit in known and unknown ways from the contributions of student affairs staff. My bet is that coming decades will demand responses from student affairs best orchestrated by a single organization with clout and a vision for higher education and the student experience informed by clear thinking and relevant research. Speaking with one voice and acting as one unified professional body is more likely to achieve those ends in a future marked by increasing complexity, escalating demands, and stretched resources. I’m bullish on consolidation, even with all the unknowns that are part and parcel of the process and resulting structure. It’s time.

George D. Kuh is Director of the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment, Adjunct Professor at the University of Illinois, and Chancellor’s Professor Emeritus at Indiana University.