During The post year your executive has met on 21 occasions to formulate policy and administer the affairs of the association. The efforts of your executive over the past 12 months, whether you may consider them worth while or not, would have been of little value without the continuing support and co-operation of many members of the student body and the patience of the office staff.

Though the roll of the university has not grown as rapidly as was expected over the past few years, the association now represents approximately 4800 students. A further change has been the increasing number of full-time students, now representing 62 per cent of the roll. This, combined with the stricter approach to unsuccessful students which the university administration has been forced to adopt, has resulted in a greater turnover of students within the association.

Administratively this has created many problems. More students have the opportunity and the desire to use the facilities and activities provided, but because of the pressure of academic work those who feel able to devote their time to some of the administration are difficult to find. This is no new problem. There have always been some prepared to make sacrifices for the benefit of their fellow students, and those who don't too often revert to destructive rather than constructive criticism.

The future, however, must bring some changes. Deficiencies in the constitution and the present administrative structure have been a continuing worry to the association for a number of years. Disruptions are caused by a lack of continuity and administrative experience. It is hoped that current proposals for the reorganisation of your association's administrative structure will go a long way to giving students a greater say in their affairs and at the same time provide greater training for those who, in the future, will take up the reins of office. This is an absolute necessity where large sums of money are to be used for the benefit of the whole. Too often what amounts to basic incompetence is really a lack of training and appreciation of the long-term effects of some administrative decisions. Through the medium of Salient it is now much easier for the student to make his voice heard and it is to be hoped that executives are not in future condemned to work in virtual isolation because members of the association are too apathetic to make their views, ideas and willingness to serve, known.

In many ways this has been a successful, if in some people's minds an unspectacular, year. Much has been done to consolidate the affairs of the association and apart from some unfortunate setbacks the executive feels that it has achieved at least some measure of success in promoting your interests.

Under the current portfolio system we now have nine sub-committees, whose duties provide for the formulation of policy ideas and the successful administration of areas of association activity.