The annual conference began with the WACRA® Executive and Advisory Board meeting and reports by various standing committee including the development of case method standards designed to assist institutions and faculty in the evaluation of case method related activities. This committee is continuing its efforts and will meet next at the ACT6 Creative Teaching Conference in Lucerne, Switzerland, January 3-6, 2003.

During the closing plenary session, delegates in attendance were unanimous in their praise and appreciation of the conference hosts and staff, notably Rector Professor Dr. Hermann Saterdag and Professor Dr. Franz Egle for the excellent program, the superb hospitality and the diverse cultural and educational activities offered during the conference. For more details on conference activities visit the WACRA® web site. We also invite you to visit the extensive photo galleries of previous conferences which capture the academic seriousness of these conferences and the 'joie de vivre' of WACRA® delegates.

The Board is delighted to announce that Bordeaux Business School, Bordeaux, France has agreed to host WACRA' 2003. Bordeaux Business School, one of the leading schools in France, has a close working relationship with multinational companies. Bordeaux Business School thrives on diversity and on its mingling of cultures and capabilities. The WACRA 2003 conference theme is 'Interactive Teaching: New Horizons'.

For the preliminary conference program and the planned pre- and post conference activities refer to the details in this NEWSletter and the frequent up-dates on the WACRA web site. WACRA 2003 will present itself as an international, intercultural, interdisciplinary, interactive, innovative and... interesting 'life case' of building networks and exchanging ideas and experiences. WACRA staff and Bordeaux Business School hosts are preparing an exciting academic program and a cultural, educational experience and immersion for all participants.

WACRA® 2003 will advance the use of the case method and other interactive learning and teaching methods, create 'user friendly' forums for the exchange of ideas, research and experiences, encourage research using the case method, coordinate case writing and case application activities, encourage cooperation between the public sector, the business community, and other case-oriented professions, will add new initiatives to complement the highly successful pre-conference WACRA® Interactive Case Sessions (WICS).

WACRA 2003 will also feature the second 'Doctoral Consortium'. The conference language for WACRA 2003 is English. WACRA® will continue to include tracks in French and Spanish if requested. We invite you to submit papers, proposals, workshops, simulations, panels etc. (in English, French and Spanish) to address the conference theme: "Interactive Teaching: New Horizons". Manuscript preparation guidelines can be found in each published volume of the 'Selected Papers,' or on the WACRA web site: www.wacra.org. 

The Submission deadline for WACRA 2003 is Jan. 15, 2003. Join colleagues from around the world in Bordeaux, France for another expérience stimulante et enrichissante.

The educational-cultural post conference tour (immediately after WACRA 2003) will take participants from Bordeaux to the small town of Cognac with a visit to the Martell company, from there on to Nantes, an important town with a well preserved maritime and river-based history and an important university (over-night). Then to Vannes in Brittany, Dinan and St. Malo on the Channel (overnight). Mont St. Michel has been called the marvel of the western world owing to its island setting. Seeing the famous abbey separated from the main land by each six hour tide leaves an indelible impression. In Normandy we will visit the Invasions Beaches and stay overnight in one of the few remaining Old Grand Hotels in Europe in Cabourg sur Mer. Cabourg was the favorite 'hang-out' for the French writer Marcel Proust. From Cabourg on to Rouen, site of one of the grand Gothic Cathedrals and then, before reaching Paris (overnight), a visit to the Gardens of Claude Monet. The tour ends in Paris. Refer to additional information in this NEWSletter and on the web page.

"Interactive Teaching & Learning in a Global Context," volume XV of the Selected Papers on Case Method Research & Application (papers presented in Mannheim and selected for publication through a double blind peer review) and the "Selected Papers" from ACT5, the Fifth "Creative Teaching" conference in Vienna will be available in early October.

If you attended ACT5 in Vienna, you will receive your copy of the book as soon as it comes back from the printer, if you attended WACRA 2002 in Mannheim, you will receive your copy in early October. If you could not attend these conferences, renew your membership now (form on p. 16 and on the web site) and we send you one complimentary copy of either volume or any of the back issues from previous conferences as long as supplies last.

You can help publicize contributions to the interactive, creative teaching literature by bringing WACRA® and ACT publications (WACRA® volumes V-XV and ACT conferences volumes 1-5 are available) to the attention of your co-authors, colleagues and library acquisition departments. The annual WACRA® and ACT publications have become widely recognized for the timely and comprehensive contribution they make to the case method and interactive teaching literature. For details refer to page 16 and for the abstracts of the books to the web site.

If we - as faculty and scholars - are to persuade academic institutions that case methodology efforts need to carry more weight in tenure and promotion decisions, then we need to contribute our part by getting the message out... - and that includes persuading library acquisition departments to add WACRA and ACT books with our contributions to the literature to their institutional collections. For the Standard Setting Committee work to succeed, we all need to join in the effort!

From January 3-6, 2003 - in Lucerne, Switzerland - WACRA® is again cooperating with A C T - The Academy for Creative Teaching - in the Sixth Creative Teaching Conference where the emphases are on "Teaching and Learning" through interactive workshops and by sharing of research and teaching/training applications. (Our plans for ACT6 in Hawaii did not materialize. We were unable to secure affordable, suitable facilities.) For the Call for Papers for ACT6, the Preliminary Program and the Registration form refer to pages 13-15 of this NEWSletter and visit the web site for further details and updates. Submit papers, proposals, workshops before Nov. 8, 2002 and register before Nov. 14, 2002.

 - Hans E. Klein

Pierre Mora WACRA 2003 host

Goerges Viala Dean, Bordeaux Business School