Victorian Minister for Higher Education and Skills, the Hon. Mr Nick Wakeling, MP, will visit an important collaboration between leading tertiary education providers in North East Victoria on Wednesday 23 July 2014, at 1.30 pm.

The Minister will receive a progress report regarding the Veterinary Technology project which was funded by the Victorian government's Regional Partnerships Facilitation Fund. This project is a joint initiative between Goulburn Ovens TAFE (GOTAFE) and Charles Sturt University (CSU), located on the GOTAFE-CSU campus at Wangaratta.

In 2015 CSU and GOTAFE staff will offer the CSU Bachelor of Veterinary Technology, a joint program whereby students concurrently complete a Certificate IV in Veterinary Nursing with GOTAFE and a Bachelor of Veterinary Technology with the CSU.

Mr Paul Culpan, CEO of GOTAFE is pleased to meet with the Minister regarding the Veterinary Technology project. "This is an excellent example of GOTAFE working with Charles Sturt University to deliver high quality tertiary education opportunities for regional Victorians," he said.

The joint program has been designed in consultation with industry. It provides a career pathway for students who enjoy working with people and animals and allows students to develop the technical and practical skills to work as a veterinary technologist with various animals in a range of settings and industries, using flexible modes of study.

Executive Dean of CSU's Faculty of Science, Professor Tim Wess, is pleased to showcase the project and the new facility in Wangaratta. "This demonstrates the benefit of the effective partnership between GOTAFE and Charles Sturt University," Professor Wess said.The Minister will also review construction that is close to completion for a number of facilities which are designed to be shared by GOTAFE and CSU on the site. These include state-of-the-art teaching seminar rooms with interactive video teaching capability, a 40 student chemistry laboratory, a student learning commons and information technology spaces. The construction of the facility was funded by the Commonwealth Government under Structural Adjustment Funding.