NETWORKING

The major obstacle to internal ACTEW networking is lack of time (43% of responses). Solid networking is possible therefore between a core of only 25% of member groups at the moment. Meetings were more common until about a year ago when rising enrolment demands and funding cuts became even more pressing. Prime topics of discussion are funding, program and curriculum development.

Government officials involved in women's educational associations, literacy groups and community colleges were somewhat more informed. Overall, then, external ACTEW networking requires much more work by the proposed centre.

GOVERNMENT CONSULTATION

Quarterly formal consultation with ACTEW programs was a need repeatedly stated by the government officials and community colleges during research interviews. This is due perhaps to the CJS calls for a new focus on community involvement in training. It will be a major task of the proposed training centre to facilitate this. More government consultation was also called for by 61% of ACTEW coordinators to ensure that government policy is relevant to women in training. But 23% are ambivalent about it, because they perceive tokenism and little immediate concrete resulting action.

They most frequently consult with government about women's particular training needs, funding and setting up new training programs. Major ACTEW consultation frustrations are: repetitiousness, narrow government focus and government ignorance of women's issues. ACTEW coordinators said this could be improved by ACTEW representatives sitting on government boards and by coalition lobbying which would be facilitated by the resource centre. A few ACTEW programs do considerable consulting and find this burdensome, given shortages of funding, time and staff. The ACTEW Association will set consultation fee guidelines for member use where possible.

CEIC LIAISON

While CEIC is the mainstay of ACTEW funding (much more so than provincial sources) and there is some recent progress under the CJS, ACTEW opinions about CEIC vary widely from quite favorable to poor. Those programs which are new, not affiliated with a college, offer nontraditional training, or who train the most disadvantaged women, are least satisfied with CEIC service. But groups like Toronto Office Skills, Dixon Hall and the YWCA have excellent working relationships with CEIC.

CEIC regional and program officers are praised by ACTEW for their understanding of women's training needs, but front-line counsellors are still criticized for poor service, burdened as they are with bureaucracy and client overload. A majority of ACTEW students in this study (72%) said CEIC does not understand their needs, immigrant women and native women particularly so. They want improvements in ESL training sponsored by CEIC, better cultural awareness and more progressive attitudes to sole support mothers by CEIC counselors.

COLLEGE AFFILIATION

Twenty percent of ACTEW member groups are now affiliated with community colleges, George Brown College and Humber College in particular. The advantages of college affiliation are that trainees get graduation certificates; the college gets credit for community-involvement; and ACTEW members enhance their credibility.

However, 25% of ACTEW programs feel that affiliation would hinder their programs. Community-based training makes many unorthodox demands on traditional hierarchical college structures: much personal support, crisis management, student advocacy and bending rules to fit individual student needs. The colleges also have very different teaching methods, attitudes toward students and inflexible bureaucracy. For this reason, some ACTEW programs would not affiliate with a college under any circumstances. The newly established Community Outreach Department at the George Brown College Foundation under Terry Dance, will do much to set a positive example for other colleges in welcoming community involvement in the delivery of training.