Position paper: Creating a new professional association

Abstract

A reoccurring question examined by the CRLA/ NADE Working Group has been “why change?” In the full report available online (http://www. crla.net/WorkingGroupReport091007.doc) we carefully explored the pros and cons of creating a new association and provided numerous suggestions for its services and organizational structures. A better question than “why change?” is “what kind of change is demanded by postsecondary education and needed by these professionals?” Perhaps an analogy provided by Shakespeare can provide a paradigm for us when considering the future. When writing a dialogue among several of his characters in a play discussing the future, Shakespeare penned the expression “The Undiscovered Country” to describe this place. Although everyone will visit the future, no one can come back and tell others exactly what it will be like. However, all of us will walk into The Undiscovered Country as colleagues and friends. Let’s create a dynamic new association together.