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Teaching excellence award to 'local'


Dr Jenny Sappey and Associate Professor Leonora Ritter, the retiring Head of the School of Social Sciences and Liberal Studies at CSU at Bathurst.The 2009 Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence at Charles Sturt University (CSU) has been presented to Central West ‘local’ Dr Jennifer Sappey, from Oberon, who came to work at Mitchell College of Advanced Education – one of CSU’s predecessor institutions - in 1974 before enrolling to study there in 1975. “For me, education is about social justice, for the individual and the wider community,” Dr Sappey said. “My commitment to education lies in its role as a social equaliser, leading me to an emphasis on bridging theory to practice and my students’ own life experiences. My disciplinary lens, industrial sociology, allows me to understand that teaching is not just something I ‘do’ but who I ‘am’, and my strong belief in Charles Sturt University as a place of inspiration and hope which changes peoples’ lives, both young and old, lies at the heart of my own story.” Dr Sappey taught at other universities before returning to CSU in 2002 to take up a role as lecturer in Management. In 2007 she was appointed to her current role as lecturer in Sociology in the School of Social Sciences and Liberal Studies at CSU at Bathurst.


Media Officer: Bruce Andrews
Telephone: 02 63386084

Media Note:
Contact CSU Media to arrange interviews with CSU academic Dr Jennifer Sappey. The latest Vice-Chancellor’s awards were presented at a ceremony on Tuesday 30 June at CSU at Bathurst.

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Cellar Door up for NSW tourism award


The Charles Sturt University (CSU) Winery Cellar Door at Wagga Wagga has again been named as a finalist in the annual Inland NSW Tourism Awards. The Cellar Door is one of the finalists in the Riverina region of the 2009 Inland NSW Tourism Awards. The winners will be named at a dinner at the Crossing Theatre in Narrabri NSW on Saturday 25 July. The Cellar Door sells wine and offers tastings from the University’s own range of premium table, fortified and sparkling wines. Since its inception in 1977, the Winery has won numerous trophies and medals in national wine shows. The winery has been rated as a 4.5 star winery in the 2009 and 2008 James Halliday Wine Companion and was a finalist in the 2008 Inland NSW Tourism Awards. “It’s a great achievement to once again be named as a finalist in these awards considering the number of cellar door’s in operation in inland NSW,” said Cellar Door Manager Mr Richard Lawson. “The award recognises the Winery’s contribution to local and regional tourism, as well as the extensive range of CSU wine, cheese and olive oil products available for tasting and sales. It also recognises the hard work of our dedicated Cellar Door team.”  


Media Officer: Fiona Halloran
Telephone: 02 6933 2207

Media Note: Cellar Door Manager Mr Richard Lawson is available for interview on 02 6933 2011. The Cellar Door is opening for tastings and sales from 11am to 5pm on Monday to Friday and from 11am to 4pm on weekends and public holidays.
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CSU horses around in holidays


The success of the inaugural equine school held during the Easter school holiday break at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Orange has prompted organiser Ms Cheryl Gander to continue the program. The next school will be held from Tuesday 21 to Friday 24 July. “All the participants enjoyed themselves immensely and came away feeling they had learned valuable horsemanship skills as well as new handling techniques and a better understanding of the general welfare and nutrition of their equine friends,” said Ms Gander from the School of Agricultural and Wine Sciences. The four-day school, run by highly regarded and qualified instructors, caters for all age groups and experience levels. The Equine Centre at CSU at Orange even has a selection of quiet horses that are available for hire during the school. The closing date for enrolment applications for the July school is Monday 13 July. For enquiries please phone Ms Gander on 02 63657 850 or mobile 0417 665 324.


Media Officer: Holly-Amber Manning
Telephone: 02 6365 7813

Media Note: For interviews contact CSU Media. Read more about the equine school here.
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Finding the solution not the problem


CSU academic and author Ms Stephanie Johnson.The shift in counselling technique from focussing on a client’s problem and where the problem originated from, to concentrating on solutions to the issue has been highlighted in a new book by Charles Sturt University (CSU) academic and counsellor, Ms Stephanie Johnson. Solution focused counselling... Keeping it Real, discusses the philosophy of solution focused counselling, now used in most government and non-government agencies, particularly in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States. The eBook provides step-by-step examples of the techniques and principles of solution focused. “This is a book for therapists, social workers, psychologists and allied health professionals in the brief family therapy,” said Ms Johnson. “This is a book for those who are interested in using solution focus in their work and want to know more. Solution focused counselling fitted my counselling approach perfectly. It maintains that the client is the expert in their own life and that the problem is the problem; the client is not the problem. This book is the accumulation of 14 years of counselling practice - I felt that there was a gap in the market for information for beginning practitioners around solution focused counselling.”
 


Media Officer: Fiona Halloran
Telephone: 02 6933 2207

Media Note:
The eBook Solution focused counselling....Keeping it Real was published in 2009 by www.solutionfocusedcounselling.com. The book is available here. Ms Stephanie Johnson is a social worker lecturer at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences  at CSU at Wagga Wagga and a practising counsellor. Her areas of research include adolescent trauma, mental health and counselling. Ms Johnson is available for interview about her new book and solution focused counselling.

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2MCE's Sounds Live Australia-wide


When the week-long live-to-air music festival Sounds Live returns to Bathurst community radio station 2MCE from Saturday 1 to Friday 7 August, the performances will be recorded for distribution to community radio stations around Australia. Ms Michelle O’Connor, Programming and Production Coordinator at 2MCE, said the station recently received a grant from the Australian Music Radio Airplay Project (AMRAP) to produce a compilation CD of local musicians from the Sounds Live concerts for distribution nationally via AMRAP and the Community Radio Network (CRN). “The AMRAP funding comes from the Federal Government and is managed through the Community Broadcasting Foundation (CBF). We are very pleased to be part of this project and look forward to sharing the great musical talent from the Bathurst region with the rest of Australia,” said Ms O’Connor. In 2009 Sounds Live will feature two live concerts for the Bathurst community.
 


Media Officer: Bruce Andrews
Telephone: 02 63386084

Media Note:
Contact CSU Media to arrange interviews. 2MCE operates from studios at CSU at Bathurst and has a long history of providing innovative programmes. In 2009, 2MCE will join with Local Stages to host the launch event, the Sounds Live Cabaret on Saturday 1 August at the Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre (BMEC). The cabaret will bring old-time style, glamour and audience participation to the radio and will feature performances from EQD, Fat Wombat, Aaron Hopper, and Eight Dollar Orchestra. On Sunday 2 August, 2MCE will host Sounds Live Acoustic from the Ponton Theatre at CSU at Bathurst for an afternoon of laid-back acoustic music. The rest of the Sounds Live week will feature live-to-air performances from 2MCE’s broadcasting studios.

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Student focuses on dairy industry


Half-way through her veterinary science studies at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Wagga Wagga, Ms Simone Lee is putting her scholarship funds to good use. Ms Lee from Mathoura, between Deniliquin and Echuca, won the 2009 Greenham Dairy Scholarship worth $10 000. The funds are being used by the CSU student to meet the costs of the practical experience in her course such as accommodation and travel, including four weeks work in the field in 2009. She has undertaken placements at her home town of Mathoura in NSW as well as in Corryong and Tatura in Victoria. “I spent one year on a dairy farm before starting my degree at CSU in 2007 and it is there that I developed a strong interest in working with dairy cattle,” said Ms Lee. “This generous scholarship has made a big difference to my life  of study and work at CSU.” The annual scholarship, offered by H W Greenham and Sons in Tongala, Victoria, aims to promote education within the dairy industry and to encourage people to undertake further studies and make a commitment to the industry.


Media Officer: Fiona Halloran
Telephone: 02 6933 2207

Media Note:
CSU student Ms Simone Lee is studying her degree through the School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences at CSU at Wagga Wagga. She is on a semester break from Friday 26 June until Monday 27 July.

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Climate change in textile


A decade-long relationship in cyberspace between fourteen Australian and New Zealand female visual artists has led to a new exhibition of stitched textiles focussing on the issue of climate change. The email group includes Charles Sturt University (CSU) lecturer, Dr Sue Wood from the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Wagga Wagga. Organised by email, the exhibition, A Change in the Weather, is currently travelling in New Zealand. It is curated by New Zealand textile artist Ms Clare Smith who found one of her inspirations in her husband, Dr David Wratt, a climate change scientist for Niwa. The works – all 50 by 150 centimetres, highlight the potential causes and consequences of climate change. “My piece, ‘The Forgotten Factor’ is inspired by where I live; fertile farming land shrinks under the onslaught of drought and fire,” said Dr Wood. “We debate the causes and we debate about what to do, but we don't talk any more about the impact of an exponentially increasing world population.”


Media Officer: Fiona Halloran
Telephone: 02 6933 2207

Media Note:
Dr Sue Wood is an Art History and Visual Culture Lecturer in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at CSU at Wagga Wagga. She has exhibited her textiles in Australia and overseas and wrote her PhD thesis on the work of NSW embroiderers in the 1960s and 1970s. The exhibition A Change in the Weather will open in the Cloakroom Gallery, Queenstown Art Gallery in Queenstown, NZ, on Friday 3 July. It was shown in the Minerva Textile Gallery in Wellington, NZ in June.

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Staff honoured for excellence


Associate Professor Gary Luck.The extensive research work of Charles Sturt University (CSU) ecologist, Associate Professor Gary Luck in the area of biodiversity conservation has been publicly acknowledged in the 2009 Vice-Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence. The Vice-Chancellor and President of CSU Professor Ian Goulter announced on Monday 22 June the recipients of this year’s awards to academic and general staff. The Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Research Excellence has gone to Associate Professor Luck from the School of Environmental Sciences  at CSU at Albury-Wodonga and a member of the University’s Institute for Land, Water and Society. His internationally recognised work focuses on two key areas in ecosystem services and conservation near human settlements. Ms Kristy Robson from the School of Community Health at CSU at Albury-Wodonga has been named winner of the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Professional Excellence for her work the University’s Allied Health Clinic where podiatry and other students obtain clinical experience. There are two recipients of the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence in lecturer Ms Amanda Davies from the School of Policing Studies at CSU at Goulburn and lecturer Dr Jennifer Sappey from the School of Social Sciences and Liberal Studies at CSU at Bathurst. Awards for excellence in leadership, performance and programs that enhance learning have also been announced. Professor Goulter will present the awards during ceremonies at Bathurst on Tuesday 30 June and at Wagga Wagga on Wednesday 1 July.


Media Officer: Fiona Halloran
Telephone: 02 6933 2207

Media Note:
A presentation ceremony will be held in the James Hardie Dining Room, CSU at Bathurst from 2pm to 5pm on Tuesday 30 June. A presentation ceremony will be held from 2pm to 5pm at the Convention Centre at CSU at Wagga Wagga on Wednesday 1 July. Read the latest work of researcher and recipient of the 2009 Vice-Chancellor's Award for Research Excellence, Associate Professor Gary Luck here.

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Record lottery jackpot gives scientist pause for thought


CSU's Professor Nick KlompTo say the odds are long when it comes to the chance of winning the largest lottery draw in Australian history on Tuesday 30 June is an understatement. Professor Nick Klomp, Dean of the Faculty of Science at Charles Sturt University (CSU), puts the chance of winning the jackpot in the $90 million Oz Lotto draw next week at one in 45 million. “If you want an even chance to win the first division just once in your life, you would have to buy a 10-game ticket every single week of your life, even when a baby,” said Professor Klomp. However the CSU academic adds “oh, and you’d have to live to be over 87 000 years old”. “You are much, much more likely to die from being struck by lightning than pick the seven winning numbers by playing a single game next week.” Professor Klomp usually advises people to keep their money in their pocket. He sees lottery tickets as voluntary taxes for people who are lousy at mathematics, but the size of this jackpot makes it worth thinking about.“In any normal week, the best way to be a winner is to put the money you were going to spend on lottery tickets into a savings plan,” said Professor Klomp. “However a $90 million lottery is not normal.  As soon as the first division prize goes over $50 million, the potential payback becomes worth the investment.  It doesn’t increase your chances of winning; it just makes it mathematically more sensible to buy a ticket.” Professor Klomp is keen to point out that all of this assumes that if you win the jackpot, you aren’t sharing it.  “You need the potential payback to be at least 45 million times every dollar you spend. So long as you don’t think it’s an investment and you get your money back in fun, then go ahead and enjoy yourself,” advises Professor Klomp.

Media Officer: Wes Ward
Telephone: 02 6051 9906

Media Note: Professor Nick Klomp is the Dean of the Faculty of Science at CSU at Albury-Wodonga. He doesn’t usually buy lottery tickets, but may just break his own rule this week. He is available for interviews. Contact CSU Media.
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Long-serving CSU Head of School retires


Associate Professor Leonora Ritter, retiring Head of the CSU School of Social Sciences and Liberal StudiesAfter 35 years at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Bathurst and its predecessor institution Mitchell College of Advanced Education (MCAE), Associate Professor Leonora Ritter, Head of the School of Social Sciences and Liberal Studies, will retire on Wednesday 1 July. Professor Anthony Cahalan, Dean of Faculty of Arts at CSU, said following her appointment to an academic position at MCAE in 1974, Professor Ritter has gone on to make an extraordinary contribution to the School of Social Sciences and Liberal Studies and to CSU. “Leonora has been Head of School for the past six years and has chaired and served on numerous committees at all levels of the institution. In every role, her commitment to her students, staff and colleagues has been generous and exemplary. We wish her all the very best in her retirement, and look forward to maintaining Charles Sturt University's association with her in her role as mentor on a number of significant projects in the future,” Professor Cahalan said. Professor Ritter will be farewelled by colleagues at an afternoon tea on Thursday 25 June.

Media Officer: Bruce Andrews
Telephone: 02 63386084

Media Note: Contact CSU Media to arrange interviews.
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