During the 2012 ACPA July Leadership Meeting, the idea of creating an entity group to support mid-level professionals within ACPA began while Dr. Alice Mitchell was serving on the ACPA Governing Board as the member-at-large for mid-level professionals. Working along with Dr. Susan Sullivan, the member-at-large-elect for mid-level professionals, they began working with ACPA to establish the Mid-Level Community of Practice.

In March 2013, Mitchell drafted a proposal to the ACPA President Kathleen Kerr to establish an entity group for mid-level professionals. It was then approved by the ACPA Governing Board to establish a three year pilot entity called Mid-Level Community of Practice (MLCOP).

Over the next year Mitchell, Sullivan, and Dave Zamansky begin the work to formalize MLCOP as an established entity within ACPA. Dr. Nicky Damania was brought onto the team and worked on establishing an online presence and professional development opportunities.

In spring of 2013, the ACPA Governing Board revised its bylaws and recognized a Community of Practice as a standalone entity group. Finally on August 12, 2013, ACPA announced the establishment of Mid-Level Community of Practice to its membership.

Zamansky was appointed to serve as the first Chair, while Mitchell and Sullivan served as the representatives from the ACPA Governing Board.

Soon a group of 13 ACPA mid-level professionals were nominated, selected, and accepted to serve as the first directorate for ACPA’s first community of Practice, MLCOP (March 2014-March 2015). Those 13 individuals were:

  1. Alex Becking, Georgia Tech
  2. Kristin Carpenter, University of New Hampshire
  3. Jennifer Cox, Longwood University
  4. Nicky Damania, University of Nevada, Reno
  5. Kristin Dees, California Lutheran University
  6. Lisa Evaneski, State University of New York at Oswego
  7. Joe Halter, University of Colorado-Denver
  8. Nate Hastings, University of New Hampshire
  9. Beth John, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
  10. Kia Kuresman, National Labor College
  11. Benjamin Meoz, California Polytechnic State University
  12. Jen Rentschler, University of Georgia
  13. Jeanne Sevigny, State University of New York at Oswego

The directorate worked hard over the next year to establish itself through programs at convention, webinars, article discussions, and more.