The organization, Shapiro says, provides the opportunity for the province's universities to work together and present a united front to the government on questions of funding and policy.

"CREPUQ looks into all the ways in which working together might be better for us than working separately. For example, we have a special committee dealing with the possibility of establishing a common admissions centre as they have in Ontario. The commission on programs set up by CREPUQ (which may recommend rationalization or even elimination of some programs) is an attempt to see if we can't behave as a system, serving both the needs of individual institutions and the needs of the government for further kinds of adjustments."

Shapiro says the first two reports of the commission  which looked at programs in theology and music throughout the province  are expected out by the end of next month. "I think this commission is a fascinating exercise. Can we bring it off? We probably cannot do enough to satisfy everybody but we can satisfy ourselves that we are behaving in a responsible, useful way relative to the government which supports us."

Despite the tricky nature of projects like this, Shapiro says he is pleased to be taking over the presidency. "I think McGill has a lot to offer the Quebec university system  and we have a lot to learn from them. It's going to be a very exciting two years."

He'll be assisted in his new post by a recently departed colleague. François Tavenas, who left McGill last spring to become rector of Laval, has been elected a vice-president of CREPUQ's board. Rounding out the executive are Pierre Lucier, president of Université du Québec, and Bishop's University principal Janyne Hodder.