The future of vital services that support and enhance the student university experience is at the core of the current debate about compulsory student unionism. 

“This is a debate about the infrastructure in our regional communities. It’s an issue that goes to the very existence of services which enrich the quality of a university education,” said Charles Sturt University (CSU) Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian Goulter.

“Regional universities, in particular, cannot afford to lose the quality or the range of services provided for our students.

“It is this student experience which in turn draws students from across NSW and Australia to this University. Any loss of services to students would lower the quality of the university experience at CSU and have a direct impact on the University’s communities and regions. 

“Our students and graduates directly contribute to the long term growth and skill base in regional Australia, 20 per cent of our on campus students from metropolitan areas and over 70 per cent of all CSU students from our regions choose to stay and work in our regions.

“Doing anything that could damage this highly productive relationship CSU has with its regions would be a backward step.”

Professor Goulter further emphasised the strong regional and community focus that CSU clubs and cultural activities provide to its communities, making special reference to the University’s extensive sporting facilities and events that foster the development and growth of sport across regional NSW. 

“The principle behind a quality student university experience has always been academic as well as cultural, sporting and social and those activities are an integral part of university life in its fullest sense,” Professor Goulter said.