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COLLEGE LIFEaccountancy, who come together toshare developments in their practice,and we are particularly pleased to beinvolved with activities which link theCollege with those who might becontemplating applying to study atOxford. These can be specificallydesigned events mounted by theSutton Trust, whose work is to supportprojects that provide educationalopportunities for young people fromnon-privileged backgrounds, or aUniversity Department. The College also hosts largelanguage and cultural summer schools, which open thedoors of Oxford to school pupils from across the world.These different types of interaction see St Catherine’sacting as a valued meeting place at the frontier ofacademe and its practical application in the widerworld. Year after year, as a result of its acting asthinking and working space for so many academicsand professionals from across the globe, the Collegeis justly perceived as being an active participant in theworld of knowledge transfer.It is interesting to trace the progress of our conferencebusiness over time. In November 1961, even beforethe new College was in full operation, the FinanceCommittee (then still meeting off-site at 42 BanburyRoad) discussed the tricky issue of how St Catherine’swas to be funded. Against a background of discussionof how best to provide students with hearty andwholesome meals, the minutes record worries aboutThe Conference &Accommodation OfficeTeam: Bella Forbes,Caroline Carpenter andKath Wondrak... the Collegeis justlyperceived asbeing an activeparticipant inthe world ofknowledgetransfer.an anticipated deficit in thecatering account. The then Bursarstated that ‘ultimately, conferencesshould provide an additionalsource of income for the College.’Lacking the endowment of theolder colleges, the founders ofSt Catherine’s were, from theCollege’s inception, highly awareof the necessity of usingconference opportunities providedby the vacations to generateincome.In 1971, the income from conferences had reached£19,323. A decade later Robert Pring-Mill, Secretary forAlumni, reported in The Year that amajor source of income is our conference business,and here the prospects remain buoyant. It is true thatconferences are presenting greater challenges everyyear: delegates are more demanding, the hotel industryis almost undercutting universities to attract trade,and hundreds of private schools have entered thebusiness… Nonetheless we have done far better thanour immediate competitors, and we continue to bethe envy of the other Oxford colleges. Our incomefrom conferences has risen more sharply than eitherinflation or costs, and the College conferencebusiness grossed around £200,000 last year.In 1997, the then Master, Lord Plant, reported that‘we already have a highly successful conference14/CONFERENCES AT CATZ