Charles Sturt University (CSU) is set to lift its investment on its Albury-Wodonga Campus with a further $12.4 million to be spent on remodelling current buildings on the Thurgoona site.

 

“CSU has made more learning and research spaces a priority at its Thurgoona site. The new facilties will echo the latest thinking in how to best educate and prepare professionals for working in the modern world, particularly in inland Australia,” said Professor Gail Whiteford, Head of CSU Albury-Wodonga Campus.

 

Professor Whiteford said the investment confirms CSU’s commitment to the Albury-Wodonga Campus as it moves from its Albury city site to Thurgoona. “Overall, the move will cost at least $40 million and is due to be completed in 2009. This is a major indication of the University’s confidence in the growth of the Border region.”

 

As part of the Thurgoona development, the Gordon Beavan building, erected in the 1980s by the Albury Wodonga Development Corporation, will be converted into academic and administrative offices. In addition, multipurpose laboratories for health and ecological sciences will occupy the neighbouring Peter Till building, which fomerly housed the Murray Darling Freshwater Research Centre.

 

Interdisciplinary spaces, which will imitate facilities found in such places as a hospital ward, a home modified for a disabled person and a health clinic, will be built near the Gordon Beavan building. These will provide practical learning facilties for physiotherapy, speech pathology, podiatry, nursing and occupational therapy students in CSU’s allied health degrees, as well as CSU education students.

 

“Working in multidisciplinary teams – for example, a nurse, physiotherapist, speech pathologist and a occupational therapist – are the reality for how allied health professionals are working in inland Australia,” said Professor Whiteford.

 

“Instead of our students only learning within their single degree groups, these spaces will encourage various groups to work together and imitate ‘real-life’ situations and settings. It is an exciting development that reflects many future priorities for the future of Australian health services.”

 

The refurbishment and movement of most students and staff, particularly from the School of Community Health, to Thurgoona is due for completion by February 2009. The Schools of Business and Information Technology, Environmental Sciences and the Murray School of Education are already on the Thurgoona site.

 

“We are very keen to amalgamate all our services – teaching and learning, library, computing and administration – on one site for our Albury-Wodonga students,” Professor Whiteford said.

 

The new administrative area in the Gordon Beavan building will house staff covering student administration, finance and services and provide a single point of contact for the needs of current students on the Albury-Wodonga Campus.

 

“Our students will be able to carry out most of their business with the University in one building, making it much more convenient and saving in time and cost to them,” she said.

 

In associated projects at Thurgoona, CSU is also increasing the number of residential beds to be offered on the campus with around 200 extra beds due to be available by February 2009. This replaces earlier plans for an additional 48 beds.