Once again, it gives me great pleasure to report on a very successful year. While it is almost impossible to do justice to the incredibly diverse activities of the Association of Canadian Community Colleges (ACCC) in one page, highlighting a few of the key achievements of 2000-2001 will provide a sense of the growing impact and scope of the Association.
    During 2000-2001, Association membership grew to a record number of institutions. Viewed as an important benchmark throughout the history of the Association, rising membership is fuelled by the growing belief among members that their national organization is working hard at being more responsive to their needs. A stronger emphasis on membership services enabled the Association to identify new and innovative ways to provide value-added benefits to ACCC membership.
    Examples of these benefits include a very successful symposium for rural and remote colleges and the signing of a strategic alliance agreement with Dell Computer Corporation that will generate a wide array of benefits within the institutions as well as across the broader college network. An increase in the quantity of workshops and fora, plus an array of communication tools, have all contributed to a valuable interchange of ideas - an interchange which allows the Association to determine and assess the needs of various constituency groups and to visibly respond to their diversity.
    Advocacy at the national and international levels has moved to the forefront of our agenda. Beginning with a proactive awareness campaign conducted during the federal election followed by a series of meetings at the ministerial and senior bureaucratic levels, our advocacy efforts are becoming more aggressive to ensure that colleges and institutes will play a critical role, both nationally and internationally, in Canada's innovative future.
    Internationally, the Association focused on deriving the maximum benefit for member institutions from our numerous international education initiatives. While continuing to strengthen our reputation as an important partner in the economic and social development of many nations, the Association focused primarily on projects that would benefit our members as well as enhance their reputation as part of a network of excellence - Canada's colleges and institutes. In addition, we were successful in obtaining a commitment from the Canadian International Development Agency to move forward with the next phase of the very successful Canadian College Partnership Program.
    The upcoming year will see the Association continue to build on our past successes and strengthen our focus on advocacy, membership services and the development of business opportunities for colleges and institutes in both the national and international marketplace. Our successes are a direct result of the support and encouragement of our 175 colleges, cégeps, university-colleges and institutes of technology. On behalf of the Association, I would like to thank the member institutions for their support, the Board of Directors for their strong commitment and the Secretariat staff for their dedication and innovation.

Gerry Brown
President