This year many changes have been implemented as a result of recommendations of the President's Task Force on Strategic Planning, in the broad themes of people, products, partnerships, and process. An improved system of budgeting put in place this year will allow the administration to do better long-term strategic financial planning in the face of limited tuition increases and limited government grant increases. The Board believes that the process changes will tie the budget more closely to the academic priorities of the university and long-term financial planning. Other recommendations implemented include the appointment of a University Ombudsman, the approval for the planning and preparation of a major capital campaign, and the amalgamation of the secretariats of the Board of Governors and Senate into one University Secretariat. We are confident that enhanced communication with all graduates, a major task force recommendation, will come about as a result of an agreement with the Alumni Association to make all alumni members of the Association.

This was also a year of labour negotiations with the Faculty Association and support staff unions. All agreements were successfully concluded with no work disruptions, and we look forward to the ongoing support of our faculty and staff as we strive for excellence in the coming years.

The physical face of the Fort Garry Campus continues to evolve. The Investors Group Athletic Centre was funded through a partnership with the Pan American Games Society and a generous donation from Investors Group. The construction of the Helen Glass Centre for Nursing was made possible through a partnership with the Government of Manitoba, the Pan American Games Society, and private donors. PAGS also contributed to significant landscaping and upgrading to residences to accommodate the thousands of visitors to campus during the Games. The parkade adjacent to the Helen Glass Centre, made possible through $3 million in university funds, will make the Fort Garry Campus more accessible to visitors with the addition of 350 new parking stalls.

On behalf of the Board of Governors, I want to express our pride in all the outstanding accomplishments of our university family - students, staff and alumni - many examples of which are contained in this report. I would like to draw particular attention to the achievements of the researchers in garnering grants from the national granting councils - from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and the Medical Research Council of Canada, as well as from the newly-formed Canadian Foundation for Innovation with matching funds from the Manitoba Innovation Fund.

I would also like to thank all of the staff who retired during the past year. Their significant achievements over the past decades have strengthened our institution, and their wisdom will be missed.