| Fall, 1997 | Volume 17, No. 2 | ISSN 0840-8645 |
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PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE AACE has a long history of providing challenges and learning opportunities to adult educators. This has been very true in my personal experience as a Board member for MCE, and I am honoured to accept the opportunity to serve as the president of AACE for the coming year. As I reflect on and embrace the theme of the 1997 AACE conference, "Leading Together", I look forward to continuing to learn from the collective knowledge and leadership of AACE members and feel privileged to work with such a network of professionals dedicated to life long learning. Recently the Board met for a working retreat to consider the issues and challenges for the coming year and re-examine ways to respond to the needs of the membership. Some of the continuing membership needs identified were: opportunities to have a professional network, to participate in dialogue on current issues in adult education, and to engage in life long learning. The chaotic and challenging changes occuring around us reinforces the importance of having a professional network, in order to strengthen the voice of adult educators in Alberta. The ability to communicate with others in the field is critical to AACE members, but as demands placed on educators and trainers increase, this opportunity is often lost or delayed until formal professional gatherings. In response to this, one of the new initiatives being considered by the AACE Board is the development of a List Serve where specific topics or issues would be available for on-line discussion. This dialogue would be driven directly by the interests and needs of the members. Also, in keeping with the shift towards on-line (and away from print-based) communication, the AACE Board has decided to reduce the number of issues of the AACE Newsletter from four to two annually. Look for Spring and Fall issues of the MCE Newsletter for printed information regarding activities and coming events, and to the MCE website for up-dates in between these two publications. MCE members are active participants in lifelong learning. MCE will continue to provide opportunities for professional development through participation in annual conferences and smaller workshops throughout the year. While the 1997 conference was attended by fewer people than in past years, a number of new members came and the response to the program was overwhelmingly positive - see Renita Picton's report appearing in this Newsletter. Finally, the Board will continue to collaborate with like-minded organizations in Alberta through joint ventures and professional development events. We believe that by identifying common values, interests and needs, we are better able to support continuing education in Alberta, and its stakeholders. The challenges in effective collaboration are many however, and the AACE Board welcomes any ideas and participation from the membership towards this end, as we move into another busy and productive year.
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