The year 2000 marked the continuation of a period of transition for our Administration Departments. In recent years, the Laboratory has grown very rapidly; virtually all of our research and education programs have expanded and added new activities. We have a new Genome Research Center on an 11-acre campus in Woodbury. The DNA Learning Center has doubled in size with a new BioMedia Addition in the Village of Cold Spring Harbor. Already, the Watson School is recruiting its third class of graduate students, and the first publication will appear later this year from the new textbook division of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. The first building is already in the planning stage. The Laboratory has, in fact, been transformed into a very diverse small university of advanced research. There are many new staff, new buildings, and new locations for which the Administration is responsible, and so our institution has becoome a larger and more complex place to manage.

Traditionally, the Administration at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory has functioned as a very lean and close-knit group of departments with very short lines of communication. Decisions are made quickly, and requisitions, for example, for new equipment or facility renovations, are processed in hours or at most a few days. Overhead costs have been kept low, especially when compared with those of larger institutions. Now, the challenge for Administration is to maintain these traditions while fully keeping pace with the expanding needs of our institution.

One year ago, we initiated an important first step in the transition with the selection, installation, and start-up of new Laboratory-wide business-computing software, which replaced previous technology of many years' vintage. The new software is modern and versatile, with all the growth potential and back-up support that one could wish. During 2000, the administrative departments learned to use its basic features and gained appreciation for the power and flexibility of its more advanced modules, such as electronic order processing and purchasing, to be brought on-line during 2001.