I am seeking a listerv sponsor to host a discussion amongst providers of
adult and community education in Australia. I represent ECCA (The Evening
and Community Colleges Association of NSW).
ECCA is the  peak body for adult and community education in the
state of New South Wales, Australia. We are registered as not-for-profit
community based educational provider, reaching into a wide range of
communities from inner city Sydney to remote communities in the "outback".

There are over 70 Adult and Community Colleges spread across the State,
some in very isolated parts of the country. It is ECCA's brief to represent
these education providers at government level, to assist them to maintain
quality delivery of education and to ensure maximum communication within
the sector.

It would be really positive for educators working in the sector to be able
to interact via an unmoderated list. With limited government funds we are
setting up lines and systems and some organisations are beginning to
communicate via e-mail. Its still in its infancy but the potential is huge.
We would use the list to collaborate on submissions to government, develop
positions for lobbying, for professional development including mentoring of
volunteer management committee members and general discussion on adult
education principles.
An immediate challenge for us is to introduce and support Quality
Management Systems into our centres. There is a pressing deadline to do
this for future funding in 1998.
We enrolled over 200,000 people in our community education courses in 1996
so our needs are growing. We must embrace technology and learn to build our
sector through mentoring and consultation processes. The technology suits
our far flung operations so well. We can't afford to employ specialist
staff to set this up and ongoing cost is always an issue. Can someone
assist us please?


Could any response please be sent to either my private e-mail address:
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Or The ECCA office in Sydney for my attention
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Regards Robyn Maher



Pittwater...somwhere on the Australian Coast