What 83Hurstolds is trying to say is that your vent controls are controlled by vacuum. There is a vacuum line running from under the hood to the vent controls in the dash. The at rest position, in other words, with no vacuum, is the floor position with very little to the vents and dash. So it sounds like you have no vacuum signal making it's way to the vent controls.
It is common for the line under the hood to break. I would check that first. The line runs from the engine and goes through the firewall on the passenger side. If the line looks ok, check for vacuum at the switch. It is also common for the two vacuum switches to leak, which could cause the problem as well. You can hear the switches leak most of the time.