Almost 500 graduands and guests will gather to celebrate the graduation of 114 students from Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Orange on Tuesday 11 December.

 

These graduands will join another 5 700 students graduating from ceremonies on CSU campuses across NSW during the same week.

 

The ceremony will be held in the Kinross Wolaroi School, 59-67 Bathurst Road, Orange, from 3pm, and will feature an occasional address by Shadow Regional Health spokesperson Dr Andrew Laming, MP.

Stories of interest from the ceremony include:

 

As students at Charles Sturt University in Orange prepare for graduation on December 11, one graduand is already putting her studies to use on a farm on the other side of the continent. Western Australian farm manager Ms Madeleine Norman, 62, won't be able to attend the graduation ceremony but after six years of distance education, supported by lecturers at CSU in Orange, she will be there in spirit. Ms Norman is due to graduate with a Bachelor of Ecological Agricultural Systems and said she was already applying her coursework to her property near Ravensthorpe, 500 kilometres south west of Perth. "The course helps you take a more holistic view, it helps you to step back and look at the big picture," she said. "We’re more mindful now of how we use pesticides and herbicides and how short-term decisions about one aspect of the property may flow on and have unintended consequences."

Bachelor of Agricultural Business Management student, Ms Molly Crozier, will take a break from overseeing the harvest on her Jolly Berries blueberry farm to attend the graduation ceremony at CSU in Orange. Ms Crozier bought the farm with her husband three years ago and has increased the harvest from 25 tonnes in 2009 to 90 tonnes last year. "I wouldn't have been able to do what I have done here without the knowledge I’ve gained from the course," Ms Crozier said. "I was able to base a lot of my research and assignments on the farm and produce five year business plans, financial reviews, marketing plans and so on. We’re going really well over here and it’s because of what I’ve been able to learn through the degree." Ms Crozier will be one of two family members graduating CSU this year, and will travel to CSU in Albury-Wodonga later in the week to see her daughter Taylor, 22, graduate with a Bachelor of Education.

 

For Bachelor of Pharmacy student Mr George Brooks, 22, Tuesday's graduation ceremony in Orange will evoke a sense of déjà vu.  Mr Brooks settled in Orange with his family as a boy and attended Kinross Wolaroi School from Year six to Year 12. He said continuing his university studies in Orange had many advantages. "It was great for me to be able to choose a course based in my own town, rather than having to relocate to study," he said. "Studying on a smaller campus like Orange also meant the connection between students and staff was very strong. I found lecturers got to know students as individuals and were able to work collaboratively with them to help them learn in a way that best suited each student." Mr Brooks said he was also able to undertake many of his practical work placements in Orange pharmacies and would recommend the experience to others.