For the past year there has been a conversation in student affairs about the possibility of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) and the American College Personnel Association (ACPA) consolidating into a new, single national association. The Blue Ribbon Task Force has been appointed to examine the pros and cons of consolidating the two associations and making a recommendation to the respective governing boards. As one of the 10 members of this task force, I have been part of the conversation and have heard arguments for and against this idea. A single professional association in student affairs is not a new idea: NASPA, ACPA, and the National Association of Women Deans, Administrators, and Counselors (NAWDAC) tried to unite in 1971. When it did not happen, principally because NAWDAC chose not to consolidate, the conversation did not stop. I cannot remember a national meeting when someone did not lament the need to attend both national meetings to recruit candidates for a position; present a paper or program; meet their responsibility on a commission, council, or board; sponsor a social event for their alumni; or present or receive an award.

In recent years the voices of members who want a consolidated association have grown louder. ACPA's gaining its independence from the American Association of Counseling and Development (AACD), an umbrella organization of counseling-related professions, increased the hope for one association. Most recently the financial difficulties in higher education that limit travel and diminish the number of people in student affairs who are willing to support multiple memberships, and the increased similarity of the two associations, have resurrected the possibility.