Although campus information and visitor services (CIVS) programs at institutions of higher education stretch back to the establishment of the Campus Information Office at Boston University in 1925, the beginnings of a professional identity only began to develop in the mid-1980's, with the first known meeting of professionals in the field at Purdue University in 1986.

This small group, made up mostly of representatives from Big Ten Conference schools with CIVS programs, realized that there was value and potential in their discussions and resolved to meet again. Additional meetings were held yearly, and slowly this group grew to include 15 members by 1990. They had informally been named "U-VIPs" but voted in that year to be named the "National Collegiate Visitor Services Association" (NCVSA) and began to establish a loosely organizational structure. In 1991 Nick Kovalakides, the Director of the newly-established visitor center at the University of Maryland-College Park, took an active role and established his office as a coordinating center for NCVSA. One of the important milestones during this time was the publication of the first Welcomer newsletter during the winter of 1991-92.

After a few years of slow but steady growth, the first national conference of NCVSA was held at the University of Alabama - Birmingham. With 23 members in attendance, this first conference took place June 12-14, 1994 and was a great success, as the participants committed to continuing to work together to develop the Association. By the second conference in June 1995 at Baylor University, it was clear that the association need to broaden its scope and was renamed the Collegiate Information and Visitor Services Association (CiVSA). This name better recognized the broad membership of individuals and programs that provide "gateway" services to their campus communities. It was also at this conference that the first association constitution was approved and Matt Weismantel was elected president. In honor of his critical role in the development of the association, the Nick Kovalakides Outstanding Member Award was formally established at this meeting, and the first recipient was Linda Hardwick from Baylor University.

During the late 1990's and into the early twenty-first century CiVSA officers and members worked to increase the legitimacy of the campus information and visitor services field. CiVSA's first National Headquarters was established at Rutgers University in 1997, the annual conference continued with steady growth in participant numbers, and a comprehensive organizational website, including an on-line member directory, was posted to the internet. Great effort went into the solidification and organization of this new professional association including the formation of various working committees such as Standards, Communication, and Strategic Planning. An important development for CiVSA was being offered membership in Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) in 1998, followed by the most significant milestone of having CAS approve Campus Information and Visitor Services Standards and Guidelines in 2000.

Today CiVSA continues the important work of spreading the word about the campus information and visitor services profession and links practitioners together in a professional association that represents and works toward meeting their needs.