College Fairs Committee

IACAC College Fairs Committee Restructuring

Summer, 2026

Rationale:  

In reviewing the responsibilities of both the College Fair Committee and the National College Fair committee, we determined that to effectively serve the students and families in the state, it was in the best interest of IACAC to merge these committees so as not to duplicate efforts.

Furthermore, because of the wide range of responsibilities of the Committee, it was determined that three subcommittees should be established to ensure the work of the Committee was fairly and effectively divided.

New Structure:

Merging the Illinois College Fair Committee and the National College Fair Committee and renaming the new entity the College Fair Committee.

The College Fair Committee will have three chairs who will serve in a three-year term rotation, so that there is carryover from year to year.  Each chair will have a designated subcommittee assigned to them. Committee chairs will be appointed by the IACAC President.

The Committee will have three subcommittees, each with two chairs, who will have an every other year rotation, again to retain momentum from year to year.  These subcommittee chairs will be selected from the committee members by the College Fair Committee chairs.

Subcommittees:

1. Outreach and Recruitment:  While the IACAC College Fair Calendar may not reflect every college fair in the state, we believe that we can help schools, districts and organizations by coordinating a calendar that is in the best interest of students and counseling professionals.  This committee will communicate to college fair hosts the value of having their programs listed on the Calendar, and work with hosts to consolidate/coordinate fairs whenever possible.
2. Calendar Coordination:  This subcommittee will perform the logistics of setting up the calendar yearly and coordinating the Illinois Regional College Fair schedule.  This includes, but is not limited to, soliciting hosts, providing best practices, securing registrations and providing promotional materials.
3. Event Coordination:  There are two main events for which this subcommittee will be responsible:  serving as the point of contact for the NACAC College Fair held in Chicago each fall, and coordinating the Illinois National College Fair (INCF) in the spring. With NACAC re-evaluating their college fair philosophy and format, we also believe a review for the purpose of the INCF is in order.

Notes on the Illinois National College Fair:

Now in its fourth year, the Illinois National College Fair (INCF) was originally designed to replicate the size and scope of the NACAC fair in the fall.  Hosting this fair in the spring allowed IACAC to target juniors and other future terms at a large-scale event.

In reviewing the colleges and universities who have attended the event, as well as the attendance of students and families, it’s clear that we need to assess both the purpose for and the location of this fair moving forward.

In our view, there is an opportunity to create more access by allowing this fair to move throughout the state to ensure all students and families have a program that includes a wider variety of schools.  In this way, this fair then becomes an IRCF that is executed by IACAC as opposed to a school district(s).  By bringing the INCF under the larger College Fair committee, IACAC can assess yearly where an additional fair is most needed and provide support to those schools which would be invited to the program.

The success of this “traveling” IRCF would hinge on both a commitment from colleges and universities to attend as well as IACAC to work in conjunction with the schools to promote attendance.

Timeline:

This new format for the College Fairs Committee will begin for the 2026-27 school year.