ACT State Organizations Experience Tremendous Growth Over 50-Year Span

Gordon Stanley

Alan Tuchtenhagen

ACT state organizations have come a long way in 50 years. All 50 states are now represented through 44 ACT state organizations, which have more than 8,000 members.

“ACT state organizations have progressed with the times. They have become much more diversified in scope to address a broader agenda,” said Alan Tuchtenhagen, Wisconsin state representative and associate vice chancellor for enrollment services, University of Wisconsin-River Falls.

Russ Kreager

Sandi Oliver

State organizations were at the heart of ACT’s initial organizational structure. In 1959, ACT founders E.F. Lindquist and Ted McCarrel began organizing their professional colleagues—employees of colleges and universities—into a network that would lay the foundation for the state organizations.

The original 16 states that joined in 1959 were Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Wisconsin. By the end of the academic year, ACT had recruited three more states: Alaska, Idaho, and North Dakota.

The first state ACT coordinators were paid advisors who had direct involvement with ACT’s organization and development. Upon the company’s founding, McCarrel appointed regional directors to help state organizations promote the ACT test. In 1961, state coordinators became volunteers and served on ACT’s governing body. The role of the state coordinator evolved into that of state representative, a position that was either elected or appointed.

In 1965, ACT established a 15-member Board of Trustees, with state representatives filling eight of the positions. For the next 38 years, many of the state organizations worked primarily with postsecondary institutions. As ACT’s scope expanded to include new constituencies—secondary educators, workforce professionals, and government officials—so did the composition and role of state organizations. Early in this decade, a task force convened to redefine the role of the state organizations and, in 2004, the ACT Board of Trustees adopted the task force’s recommendations to achieve this goal.

Today, ACT state organizations are generally led by a council and executive committee consisting of a state representative, chairperson, chair-elect, past chair, and secretary. Members continue to provide advice and support to ACT. Their duties include:

• Serving as a communication link between educational institutions and ACT
• Coordinating and facilitating statewide professional development activities related to ACT’s mission
• Providing feedback on the utility and effectiveness of ACT programs and services
• Assisting ACT regional staff in identifying state service needs
• Providing input and advice on future ACT programs and services
• Identifying exemplary applications of ACT programs and services

The new structure has opened the door to opportunities for state organizations to work closely with education, business, and government professionals in their states and with ACT staff to help people achieve education and workplace success. State organizations hold annual conferences to distribute information, discuss ACT research, share expertise, and recruit new members. More than 6,000 people attend the annual conferences.

“Our state conference is a great way to find out what the needs are around the state and how ACT can help meet them. Our issues are similar to the national agenda—increasing college and career readiness so our economy can thrive—and we’ve drawn on ACT’s vast resources to show people how they can help with this challenge,” said Gordon Stanley, former Georgia state representative and director of counseling, Marist School, Atlanta.

Sandi Oliver, South Carolina state representative and vice president for Student Development Services, Midlands Technical College, Columbia, agrees that the conferences are important. “ACT has done an incredible amount of research that parallels the work we are doing in the state to increase academic rigor and address workplace competencies. The conference helps us get information into the hands of the people who can have an impact on education and the workforce.”

Overall, state representatives like the direction state organizations are now headed.

“ACT’s renewed commitment to state organizations is helping attract a new generation of volunteers,” said Russ Kreager, Minnesota state representative and director of admissions, Bemidji State College. “The people participating now are even more experienced, more knowledgeable, and more engaged than ever. ACT has created a new standard and a new culture that will allow the role of state organizations to continue to evolve.”

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