The meeting mainly concentrated on the following issues:

• participation of the AUCC in public policy on higher education and research

• problems facing the research community in Canada

• the status of women in universities

An important part of the conference was cax'ried out in the form of workshops which had the following themes:

• the problems of ahanging growth rates

• the nature and level of university research

• international aspects of university operations

• graduate education

• the future of the community of scholars

• the evaluation of performance in the university

• continuing education

The below article is based on papers presented at the meeting devoted to the international aspects of university operations in Canada.

The traditional role of universities throughout the world has always been to:

• safeguard and preserve knowledge

• impart and disseminate knowledge

• expand the frontiers of knowledge

To this list was recently added a fourth dimension, which, implicitely, has always existed, namely:

• to contribute to the cultural, social and economic development of society