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27 Oct 2009
Charles Sturt University (CSU) academics have a new opportunity to bring their education research to the forefront of international efforts in Indigenous, rural and remote, and environmental education. Professor Jo-Anne Reid, Associate Dean of the CSU Faculty of Education at Bathurst, and President of the Australian Association for Research in Education, said the newly established World Education Research Association (WERA) is a worldwide network of education researchers which will bring together the very best of education research. “We live in a global world and education in Australia can only benefit from being a part of this international body,” Professor Reid said. “These collaborations extend and enrich our own knowledge across all fields of education.” One study currently underway which has the potential for global application is TERRAnova, an Australian Research Council-funded project run in collaboration with researchers from four Australian universities looking at the factors which appear to make a difference in attracting and retaining teachers in rural communities. “Our nationwide study is focusing on schools in communities that have been nominated as successful in attracting and retaining good teachers. This is truly a global issue that, through research, can impact positively on our future as a nation, as well as internationally,” she said.

Media Officer	: Kate Roberts
Telephone	: 02 6933 2207

Media Note: Contact CSU Media to arrange interviews with Professor Jo-Anne Reid. Professor Reid is also co-editor of the Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education and a member of RIPPLE, Research into Professional Practice, Learning and Education.
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20 Oct 2009
The preparatory work is under way for the start of construction of two projects at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Bathurst worth more than $9 million. The extensive refurbishment of the University’s corporate headquarters, The Grange, has commenced, along with development of the new Dental and Oral Health Clinic which is a feature of the School of Dentistry and Health Sciences. The Director of Planning, Design and Construction at the CSU Division of Facilities Management, Mr Richard Barraclough, said these projects are part of the University’s extensive multi-million dollar 2007-2011 capital works program. “Work at The Grange is valued at $3.2 million, including furniture and equipment, and is expected to be completed by April 2010. The Dental and Oral Health Clinic is valued at $6.16 million including furniture, fittings, dental chairs and instrumentation, and is due for completion by May 2010. Both projects are being undertaken by Joss Constructions,” Mr Barraclough said.

Media Officer	: Bruce Andrews
Telephone	: 02 63386084

Media Note: Contact CSU Media to arrange interviews.
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20 Oct 2009
Sports science lecturers at the Charles Sturt University (CSU) School of Human Movement Studies will return to Indonesia on Wednesday 28 October to continue providing intensive assistance to that nation’s elite athletes in the lead-up to the South-East Asian Games in Vientiane, Laos, in December 2009. Lecturers Dr Stephen Bird, Dr Rob Duffield and Mr Benjamin Barrington-Higgs have three tasks to manage on this visit as part of the Sports Science Division for the Indonesian Elite Athlete High Performance Program (Program Atlet Andalan – PAL). “Firstly, we will be very involved in the final preparation training for Indonesian elite athletes, the performance optimisation phase, before the start of the South-East Asian Games,” Dr Bird said. “We will also deliver an intensive four-day elite sports coaching short course for Indonesian coaches and academics. Our third task is to conduct the first applied sports research with elite boxers in Indonesia.”

Media Officer	: Bruce Andrews
Telephone	: 02 63386084

Media Note: Contact CSU Media to arrange interviews with Dr Stephen Bird or Mr Ben Barrington-Higgs. The South-East Asian Games will be staged in Vientiane, Laos, from 9-18 December 2009. The School of Human Movement Studies had previously secured contracts to provide strength and conditioning and sports science services for Indonesian elite athletes, and, with the State Ministry of Youth and Sport Affairs in Indonesia, to assist athletes in a range of sports and to provide education programs for the coaches of elite athletes. Ten Indonesian national sports coaches visited CSU at Bathurst in December 2008 to undertake intensive training for an Advanced Certificate in Sport Conditioning.
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20 Oct 2009
Students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Bathurst staged a ‘Global Dinner’ on Tuesday 13 October which raised $1 600 for charity. One of the organisers, Ms Georgia Gilson, a third-year journalism student and a residential advisor at ‘The Diggings’ student accommodation, said the charity event was part of Diggings Week, and the first of its kind to be held on the Bathurst Campus. “More than 150 students attended,” Ms Gilson said. “We divided the room into 19 national tables consisting of first, second and third world countries, and we treated these tables accordingly throughout the night. All residential advisors from the various accommodation complexes on the Bathurst Campus volunteered to help on the night as ‘United Nations representatives’. It is rare for all the residences to work together for the greater good, and to raise awareness among students about life outside our privileged sphere.”

Media Officer	: Bruce Andrews
Telephone	: 02 63386084

Media Note: Contact CSU Media to arrange interviews.
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13 Oct 2009

Media Officer	: Bruce Andrews
Telephone	: 02 63386084

Media Note: Contact CSU Media to arrange interviews.
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13 Oct 2009
A team of 140 Charles Sturt University (CSU) students in 15 teams in 13 different sports competed against 7 000 students from 40 other Australian and New Zealand universities at Australia’s largest annual sporting event, the 2009 Australian University Games held at the Gold Coast, Queensland, from 27 September to 2 October. CSU’s lawn bowls team of Mr Andrew Banasik and Mr Adam Parker (pairs) and Mr Jay Mathieson (singles) won the gold medal, while the CSU Bluebottles men’s water polo team won a silver medal, and the CSU men’s touch football team, which was down on numbers, won the bronze medal. CSU team manager, Mr Nik Granger, said it was a great week of competition where all CSU students participated in the right spirit. “This did not go unnoticed, and CSU was the unofficial runner-up for the ‘Spirit of the Games’ award. This is testament to the great nature of CSU students, who, year-in year-out, are known for their sportsmanship and good behaviour.” For each sport, a paper-based Green and Gold Merit team is chosen of people who have stood out to selectors during the week. CSU had six team members selected in their respective Green and Gold teams; Ms Chiara Porter (basketball), Mr Shane Conroy (hockey), and Mr Adam Parker (lawn bowls) and Ms Eliza Baddock, Mr Sam Thompson and Mr Brendan Collits (all in touch football).

Media Officer	: Bruce Andrews
Telephone	: 02 63386084

Media Note: Contact CSU Media to arrange interviews. The 2010 Australian University Games will be staged in Perth, Western Australia.
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13 Oct 2009
It was smiles all-around when five Charles Sturt University (CSU) students and five local TAFE students received scholarships from the V8 Supercars organisation to assist with their studies. The scholarships, with a total value of $23 000, were presented at a ceremony at the Australian Fossil and Mineral Museum in Bathurst on Thursday 8 October in the lead-up to the annual ‘Great Race’ at Mount Panorama. Four students from the CSU School of Communication - Ms Kate Prince, Ms Melissa Gompes, Mr Thomas Lowrey, and Mr Joshua Manning - and one from the CSU School of Nursing, Ms Clare Pithers, received scholarships. They were congratulated by the Mayor of Bathurst, Councillor Paul Toole, Chief Operations Officer with V8 Supercars, Mr Shane Howard, CSU Head of Campus at Bathurst, Mr Col Sharp, and by Associate Professor Rod McCulloch, Head of the CSU School of Communication at Bathurst. Journalism student Ms Melissa Gompes received The Peter Brock Memorial Scholarship in association with V8 Supercars and Bathurst Regional Council. Ms Gompes gave the vote of thanks on behalf of all students, stressing how much the financial assistance was appreciated. During proceedings it was noted that several of the TAFE students who received scholarships intend to study at CSU in 2010.

Media Officer	: Bruce Andrews
Telephone	: 02 63386084

Media Note: Contact CSU Media to arrange interviews.
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13 Oct 2009
Living sustainably through kitchen gardens in schools and in the wider community is the focus of the 2009 Education for Sustainability Conference to be held at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Bathurst on Friday 30 October, with a second optional day on Saturday 31 October. The conference is being staged in conjunction with the Bathurst Community Climate Action Network (BCCAN), and will examine growing food as a way of addressing sustainability issues through school curricula and the development of practical skills. One of the conference organisers, Ms Jan Page, from the CSU School of Teacher Education at Bathurst, said, “With food being the largest component of many individuals’ ecological footprints, growing food not only addresses health issues but also provides a framework to develop knowledge and skills for individuals to reduce their footprint by living more sustainably.” As well as educators from pre-school to tertiary level, members of the Bathurst region community are invited to attend.

Media Officer	: Bruce Andrews
Telephone	: 02 63386084

Media Note: Contact CSU Media to arrange interviews with Ms Jan Page. The 2009 Education for Sustainability: connecting classrooms and communities conference will be held at CSU at Bathurst on 30 October in the James Hardie Room at the Centre for Professional Development (building S17). Anyone interested in attending should contact Ms Jan Page on 6338 4367 or email jpage@csu.edu.au . The conference presentations will include a keynote address by Ms Ange Barry, CEO of the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation, Ms Rachel Conolan, a parent with children at South Bathurst Public School, speaking about the school’s community garden, and Mr David Menzies, assistant principal at Glenroi Heights Public School in Orange, speaking about worm farms and the school’s vegetable garden.
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13 Oct 2009
The Sprung Festival of 12 productions by third-year theatre/media students from the Charles Sturt University (CSU) School of Communication, was launched at the Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre (BMEC) on Tuesday 6 October. One of the festival’s production coordinators, Ms Erica Heller-Wagner, said a crowd of Bathurst residents and university students attended the launch held in conjunction with a Local Stages soiree. “During the soiree, in which local artists also performed, snippets of the Sprung Festival productions, which range from more conventional dramatic plays, to short films and physical theatre, were shown. These included previews of the theatre and physical theatre shows, and trailers of the films and television pilots,” Ms Heller-Wagner said. Tickets to Sprung Festival shows are $5 child/concession/student and $7 adult. For information and bookings call 0414 223 659.

Media Officer	: Bruce Andrews
Telephone	: 02 63386084

Media Note: Physical Theatre: 'Submerged', 5-7 November, Trevitt Pavilion, Bathurst Showground, 8pm
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13 Oct 2009
Survey figures show that National Radio News (NRN) which is compiled and broadcast 365-days a year by Charles Sturt University (CSU) journalism students at Bathurst has a weekly audience of 1.35 million adult listeners. “Not a bad result for a ‘bunch of kids in a country town’,” said NRN manager Mr Peter Hetherington. “NRN has had a real flurry of enquiries from potential new subscriber stations, with a number coming from regional areas, while others have come from key markets including suburban Sydney and the Gold Coast. NRN now has close to 90 subscriber stations right across Australia, which is about 50 per cent of all stations in the Community Radio Network. This makes NRN the most popular news service in the community radio sector, and one of the most ‘listened to’ news services of any broadcaster in Australia.” Mr Hetherington also noted that some NRN cadets had recently taken up professional roles at major regional radio stations, which was further proof of the value of the training radio cadets gain at NRN.

Media Officer	: Bruce Andrews
Telephone	: 02 63386084

Media Note: Contact CSU Media to arrange interviews with NRN manager Mr Peter Hetherington. The survey figures are from the McNair Ingenuity National Listener Survey.
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