Sudbury, Ontario, February 20, 2006 - Recipients of the fifth annual ACAATO Awards for Leadership, Innovation and Partnership were announced today by the Association of Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology of Ontario (ACAATO).

The awards recognize individuals, organizations and volunteers who have made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of Ontario’s colleges of applied arts and technology. Contributing to the provincial economy, Ontario’s colleges provide high quality, accessible applied education to a diverse set of learners.

“The ACAATO Awards honour excellence among the members of the college community who are committed to the college system in Ontario,” Pierre Richard, chair of ACAATO’s Executive Committee, said. “We are extremely pleased to recognize these recipients for the positive impact they have had on Ontario’s college system.”

The 2006 ACAATO Awards recipients are:

• Brenda Davis, Mohawk College (Hamilton): Wm. G. Davis Community Volunteer Award
• Louise Gervais, Collège Boréal (Sudbury): Distinguished Service Award
• April Patterson, Sheridan Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning (Oakville): Student Leadership Award
• Cheri Corbiere, Cambrian College (Sudbury): Student Innovation Award
• St. Joseph’s at Fleming and Fleming College (Peterborough): Community/Corporate Partnership Award
• Eastern Region College Committee on Human Resources Development, Algonquin College
• (Ottawa), Durham (Oshawa), Fleming (Peterborough), Loyalist (Belleville) and St. Lawrence (Kingston): Collaborative Educators Award
• Part-Time Justice Studies Diploma/Degree Completion Program for Law Enforcement
• Practitioners, Humber Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning (Toronto) and the University of Guelph (Guelph): Collaborative Educators Award
• Assistant Cook Extended Training Program, George Brown College (Toronto) and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH): Innovation Award.

Members of the selection panel for the fifth annual ACAATO Awards were Christina Calleja, former director of membership relations, College Student Alliance; Bruce Hodgson, past chair, ACAATO Executive Committee; Janet Mason, assistant deputy minister, Postsecondary Education Division, Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities; and Professor Michael Skolnik, William G. Davis Chair in Community College Leadership, Department of Theory & Policy Studies, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto.

The awards will be presented at noon, Monday, February 20, 2006, at the 2006 ACAATO Conference, “Pathway to Prosperity,” to be held in Sudbury, ON, at the Radisson Hotel.

ACAATO is the association of Ontario colleges’ boards of governors and presidents committed to highquality,accessible postsecondary education and training. Ontario’s 21 colleges of applied arts and technology and three college institutes of technology and advanced learning serve about 200 communities, employ about 30,000 people, and serve about 500,000 students annually.

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Media Liaison:
Heather Howe, Public Relations and Events Coordinator
(416) 596-0744, ext. 249 or howe@acaato.on.ca