National Association of College and University Residence Halls
The National Association of College and University Residence Halls Incorporated is an international organization made up of eight regions. The eight regions cover the entire United States and parts of Canada. Previously it has also covered parts of Mexico and The Bahamas. NACURH brings together students who live in residence halls on college campuses to share ideas, resources, and best practices in order to improve their residential communities.
Mission and vision
Mission
"As an organization, NACURH creates environments that empower, motivate, and equip residence hall leaders by providing them with skills and resources in order for them to excel and positively impact their campus communities.."Vision
"The National Association of College and University Residence Halls, NACURH Incorporated, seeks to create a network of civically engaged students sharing common experiences through residential leadership opportunities."History
In 1954, Iowa State University, the University of Colorado, the University of Missouri and the University of Northern Iowa formed the Midwest Dormitory Conference. The conference was the brainchild of Iowa State's Student Residence Hall Government, which felt that such an organization was needed to encourage the exchange of ideas and information. All four schools sent delegations to the first conference, which was held in the same year. In 1955, the name of the group was changed to the Association of College and University Residence Halls. By 1957, the organization had expanded to 11 institutional members.A similar organization, the Inter-Mountain Residence Hall Association, merged with ACURH in 1961, necessitating a name change to the National Association of College and University Residence Halls. The association was split into two "associate" regions, the Midwest Association and the Inter-Mountain Association, based on the two original groups. By 1963, the organization had expanded to 26 institutional members.
In 1964, the Pacific Association, the North Atlantic Association and the South Atlantic Association were all created "on paper" to allow for possible future growth of the organization. In this same year, the National Residence Hall Honorary was also created by NACURH. By 1963, the organization had expanded to 41 institutional members.
In 1968, the Great Lakes Region was split from the Midwest Association of NACURH, bringing the number of regions to six. By this time, 130 schools were officially affiliated with NACURH, tripling the number of members from 1967. NACURH's mailing list also officially included member schools or contacts in all fifty states, plus several Canadian schools. The National Information Center was also created in 1968.
In 1971, NACURH incorporated as a 501 non-profit under Oklahoma law, granting the organization and its associate regions non-profit incorporation. This change in tax status meant that the regional associations became regional affiliates.
In 1980, the Midwest Affiliate was again split between the new Southwest Affiliate and the Midwest Affiliate. This brought the total number of affiliate regions to seven. Institutional membership had also increased to 135.
In 1991 the North Atlantic Affiliate was split wholly to form two new regions for NACURH, the Central Atlantic and the North Eastern regions. This brought the total number of affiliate regions to eight, the current number. Additionally, the 1991 conference held at Arizona State University was record-breaking in terms of the number of delegates present, at 2,188.
In 1997, NACURH and its Affiliates gained tax-exempt status.
In 2016, NACURH Executives passed an amendment to the NACURH Policy Books. This amendment would un-affiliate NACURH from the various state associations/organizations/groups that existed around the country. In doing so, it was decided that NACURH and its affiliates would not fund, participate, coordinate, recognize, set aside time for state business, or conduct business with state level associations, groups and organizations or similar. As well, NACURH would prohibit state level associations and organizations from receiving benefits and services from corporate partners and sponsors. Furthermore, NRHH would no longer provide their benefits and services to state level associations and organizations.
At the 2019 annual business meeting, many regions voted to strike international affiliates from their regional charters. This decision was made due to the fact that though many regions claim to represent various international affiliates, many regions have not had any international colleges/universities affiliated in the past 3 years+. Regions with currently active/affiliated international colleges/universities would be allowed to keep these affiliates in their charters. Any international colleges/universities that may wish to affiliate with NACURH whose state/province/country is not explicitly stated in any region's charter, may apply for affiliate membership and then discuss with NACURH Executives to find which region would be the best fit for them.
In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, NACURH hosted its first-ever entirely virtual annual conference. The conference was planned to be hosted at University of Dayton which was then moved to be entirely virtual for fears of the spreading virus impacting those attending the conference from all around the country.
Strategic planning
In 2014 through 2015, NACURH formed a strategic planning commission led by members of the Boards of Directors per a resolution passed in May 2014. The purpose of the NACURH Strategic Plan is to provide a clear direction for the future of the organization and company. With a clear direction, NACURH commits itself to providing residence hall leaders with skills and resources that they need in order to excel and positively impact their campus communities. This group performed the NACURH Services and Performance Assessment on the corporation as a whole, and, as a result, created a strategic plan for years 2015–2018. The new plan outlines necessary steps to improve NACURH and the way it serves member schools.Throughout the 2023-2024 affiliation year, a new Strategic Planning Committee was formed, and at the 2024 Annual Business Meeting the NACURH Board of Directors voted to confirm a new 2024-2027 NACURH Strategic Plan. This plan is composed of five focus areas covering a variety of educational and growth components, as well as promoting adaptability and forward thought.
NACURH offices
NACURH Information Centre (NIC) (1967–2017)
Created in 1968, The NIC was the business office of NACURH, Inc. The NIC's projects and responsibilities included: Maintaining the Resource File Index, updating and maintaining the national website, and keeping records of the dues of member schools. The NIC was merged with the NSRO to form the NCO following the close of the 2017 Annual Conference.NACURH Services and Recognition Office (NSRO) (2007–2017)
The NSRO was created in 2007 when it succeeded the NRHH office. The NSRO Office was the services office of NACURH, Inc. and served as a support office for NACURH. The NSRO was created to provide non-technical services to NACURH and its member schools. The NSRO was charged with creating and selling merchandise and creating and maintaining special national projects and developing other services for NACURH, Inc. as needed. The NSRO was merged with the NIC to form the NCO following the close of the 2017 Annual Conference.NACURH Corporate Office (NCO)
During the NACURH 2016 Annual Conference, Boardroom Representatives voted to combine the NIC and the NSRO into the NACURH Corporate Office. The NACURH Corporate Office serves as the Corporate Headquarters for NACURH, and is the central contact point for all correspondence. The NCO takes on the combined responsibilities of the former NSRO and NIC. Like other branches of NACURH, the NCO is entirely student-run by volunteer staff members from the host institution. The NCO was hosted at The University of Delaware.During the 2019-2020 affiliation year, it was determined that ACUHO-I, the professional international organization for College and University Housing Staff would become the permanent hosts of the NACURH Corporate Office and would manage the customer service aspects of hosting the office.
During the 2022-2023 affiliation year, it was determined that ACUHO-I would no longer host the NACURH Corporate Office, and beginning in the 2023-2024 affiliation year, Kent State University began as the host institution for the Corporate Office. The new NACURH Corporate Office requires that the Director for Merchandise and Operations, AD for Administration and Finance, as well as two additional AD positions be filled by students at the Host institution, alongside one advisor. The rest are selected from any NACURH affiliated institution in good standing.
In the 2024-2025 affiliation year, Kent State University was unable to continue being the host institution for the Corporate Office. After a few months of a vacancy, there was no interest in hosting the Corporate Office, so the NACURH Executive Committee chose to remain vacant for the rest of the affiliation, pending legislation to make the Corporate Office virtual, which passed effective the 2025-2026 affiliation year.
As of 2025-2026 affiliation year, the Corporate Office is now entirely virtual.