"[1] Unlike many professional academic associations, NACCS "rejects mainstream research, which promotes an integrationist perspective that emphasizes consensus, assimilation, and legitimization of societal institutions.
The NCCSS held its first meeting in New Mexico, chaired by Jaime Sena-Rivera, in May 1973 to discuss the organization's structure, ideology, and to set up a coordinating committee.
[3] At another meeting at the University of California, Irvine in November of the same year, the organization was officially named the National Association of Chicano Social Scientists (NACSS).
Notable past recipients include Carey McWilliams, Américo Paredes, Julián Samora, Tomás Rivera, Rodolfo Acuña, and Gloria Anzaldúa.
On its website, NACCS publishes a web-based Directory of Chicana/o, Latina/o, and Latin American Studies Program, Research and Policy Centers, a regionally-indexed list.