Association of Canadian Community Colleges - Recent History

Recent History

Today, ACCC has become very effective in service provision and representation of its members interests to a fuller range of Federal Ministries within Canada. It is now an important contributor to national human resources development policy along with its University counterpart, AUCC, (Association of Universities and Colleges in Canada). It has developed a new focus on the links between industry and the Colleges and plays a useful role in this area. The price for this has been the slow decline of its international leadership in supporting the emerging skills training and adult learning institutions in the developing world. A second major cost of the more targeted focus has been the restructuring of its Board from that of constituency representation (students, faculty, administrators, College Board members and College Presidents from each region of the Country) to a Board of Presidents only. The loss of this national forum for discussion of learning and the principles of inclusiveness by the full range of partners in the institution was seen to be offset by the benefits of a clearer focus on financial and management issues. Finally, the sense of the uniqueness of the colleges has been blurred by their pursuit of degree granting status as they respond to the market demand of faculty and graduates for more prestigious visibility and higher academic status.