from Wesley Institute and he bought me breakfast across the street from the Crowne Plaza where I was staying. David had a vision for a college in southern California while he was doing his DMA at USC. When the church there did not want to pursue it, he brought his vision to Austsralia where the Uniting Church (and the United Mission parish in particular) asked him to do it in Sydney. So for 25 years he has pursued his vision here. I was impressed to learn about WI’s long history, and strong record. They have about 600 students, with only 25 in residence. They have about 25 FT employees including staff, and are very lean in senior admin, with David doing double duty as President and CAO. With 8 departments primarily in arts and music in addition to theology, they are fully accredited by the Australian government. This means they don’t have to work through another university. They do not have university status in their registration, but their students are still eligible for the amazing AUSTUDY and HEC loans that allow them to borrow as much as they need for tuition, room, and board including for things like a choir trip they take to Europe! Students do not have to repay the loan until their income exceeds 40,000 AUSD….and stops whenever their salary drops below that figure! What an amazing benefit from the government! In addition, the AUSTUDY provides as much as $200/week (?) in personal expense money that does NOT have to be repaid! If WI can become registered as a full university, they would also then have access to direct institutional grants from the government for capital projects and grants. They’d like to do this.The Institute hosts the CCCU Australia Studies Program (ASP) which went through a tough spell of restructuring a year or two ago. It is now owned by and run by the CCCU….as with most other bestsemester programs, rather than the way it was run for many many years…..which was controlled by WI. There is now of course far less revenue coming to WI from ASP. I was unable to meet with Kimberly Sprague the CCCU ASP director, because she was out of town. But she was very helpful in setting up my meeting with David today.
David’s chief concern for the next 12 months will focus on a government 5 year review, 3 other reviews, and a possible change of ownership from the church to a private board of three. This is on the cusp of a decision right now. But he agreed that not only could he REALLY benefit from a “SWAT team” consultancy on management models, but also from an informal audit team that would help WI to be more effective in its structure. I really hope we can do this for him!
Richard and Tickey Frost (old friends from ’87-’89 in Harare) picked me up around 11:30. We drove to their home, and after a nice chat on the back balcony,
trailered the boat and headed for Brooklyn boat launch ramp
. 
The time on boat was beautiful, partly because the weather was a crisp blue-skied yet warm fall afternoon, and partly because it was so relaxing to be with such good old friends. 
We cruised all the way out the open sea
…with some pretty big swells! Then returning, we stopped for ice cream and drinks 
then 
floated freely for half an hour in the 
sunset….before driving home…nearly running out of gas…
and letting Julie and her fiancée Tim 
prepare some supper for us. We talked and I shared pix from the web, while Julie and Tim shared pix of the location of their upcoming wedding in April.We talked Zim politics, and old friends, and just enjoyed the blessing of a friendship that is alive and well after 20 years!
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