KAMLOOPS-It’s great timing. The University College of the Cariboo (UCC) has just been proclaimed BC’s newest university, and so is in a unique position to host a meeting of Presidents, Vice Chancellors and Rectors from other “new generation universities” worldwide that have achieved university status within the past 30 years.

Delegates from about 50 universities and associated institutions from around the globe will gather at the Delta Sun Peaks resort just outside Kamloops, BC, on June 7th and 8th to discuss and debate issues of governance, finance, research, community interaction and campus life common to them all.

During their free time, delegates will have the opportunity to enjoy the breathtaking views of Sun Peaks resort, and visit UCC’s beautiful campus and other sights around Kamloops.

Since they come from as far away as Africa, Australia, the Far East, and Europe, from places like Brunei and Yemen, Switzerland and Bangladesh, this may be the first time many of the delegates have had the chance to see Canada or British Columbia.

“It’s a great honour for UCC to have been chosen to host this important international gathering,” said UCC President Roger Barnsley. “It’s also very fitting, since we have so recently been proclaimed the newest of the “new generation” of universities due to our government’s confidence in UCC’s abilities and strengths in one of the conference’s most fundamental objectives: offering access to a continuum of learning that is innovative and responsive.”

The conference is sponsored by two very influential organizations: the Association of Commonwealth Universities, an international association founded in 1913 that has a membership of 500 universities and Queen Elizabeth II as its patron, and the Institutional Management in Higher Education with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development membership forum that serves policy-makers in national and regional authorities, managers of higher education institutions, and researchers.

This is the second such conference to be held. The first was hosted by the University of Western Sydney in Australia in June, 2002.

For more information, please contact Mary Anne Bower at 828-5318. or visit the website at: www.tru.ca and click on “New Generation Universities Conference” under “Events” on the front page.