AHEAD of the Northern Rockies grew out of a need expressed by Disability Services personnel in the region to build connections with others in the field. A group of DSS workers in the Montana University System (MUS) began gathering in the spring of 2005 at the request of the Montana Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education to develop general system-wide policies and data collection protocol in an effort to make transfer among the institutions more seamless. As discussions ensued, it became apparent that the group would benefit from developing a more formal affiliation and expanding to include DSS personnel from outside the MUS.

Because Montana and surrounding states are largely rural and many of the postsecondary institutions are geographically isolated, and because many of the DSS personnel have single-person offices, or have had disability services added to their already lengthy list of responsibilities, forming a regional professional association seemed the logical answer. We discovered that several of the states and Canadian provinces bordering Montana (Wyoming, Idaho, North Dakota, South Dakota, Alberta) did not have regional groups of this nature, so it seemed reasonable that these states be included in the invitation to membership. The name, AHEAD of the Northern Rockies, reflects this intent to bring together several Northwestern states and provinces. A core group of individuals began investigating the procedures for and feasibility of forming a regional association. We decided that the best course of action would be to affiliate the group with the already well-established Association on Higher Education and Disabilities (AHEAD), and with assistance from several AHEAD Board members, the group began to take shape.

The organization’s Constitution and By-laws were finalized, the first officers were elected, and its membership as an official affiliate of AHEAD all occurred in October 2005. AHEAD of the Northern Rockies became officially recognized by the State of Montana as a business in November 2005, and the first annual meeting of the organization was held in Missoula, MT in June 2006.