Charles Sturt University (CSU) Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ian Goulter, today unveiled a new University Strategy and a new image for the University.

“Charles Sturt University can be proud of its achievements over the last 21 years,” said Professor Goulter.

“Our primary focus has been to work with our communities and professional groups to ensure we are producing the graduates needed by our regions and, through distance education, the graduates needed by the nation. Over the past years we have increased the number of courses available to people in rural and regional Australia in areas of critical labour market need including veterinary science and dentistry.

“Recognising the financial challenge of going to university for many of our students, we have added more than 600 new student residences to our campuses to promote improved access and affordability.

“Through effective partnerships with industry and the professions, we have been ranked as world-standard for our research in education, ethics, environmental science, agriculture and veterinary science, chemical and biological sciences.

“Through our collaboration with employers, we have been independently assessed as being significantly above national and international standards for work-integrated learning, ensuring our students are ‘ready for work’ when they graduate.

“We remain the leading provider of online and distance education in the country, with the largest market share of any university in the country.

“Reflecting our commitment to expanding opportunity in rural and regional communities, more than 75 per cent of our on campus students are from rural and regional areas, and more than 70 per cent of our graduates commence employment in rural areas. Last year, 100 per cent of our first graduates in veterinary science commenced employment in rural Australia.

“We have continued to grow, expanding our presence across rural Australia with a new campus in Orange opened in 2005 and a significant expansion of our Albury-Wodonga Campus opened in 2010. Through cooperation with TAFE, we have opened new TAFE University Centres in Griffith and Deniliquin.

“Our new Strategy 2011-2015 will build on this strong foundation, further growing our world-class research strengths, investing more to ensure our students have an outstanding university experience, expanding our course profile into additional areas of regional workforce demand such as medicine, and growing our presence in new rural and regional areas.

“The next five years will be important for the University, with greater competition for students and a stronger focus on world-class research.

“The development of the Strategy led to discussions around the need to refresh our brand to present a more contemporary and distinctive image that will stand out in an increasingly dynamic and competitive university market.

“Our aim in updating the brand was to help Charles Sturt University to communicate our vision and aims to the community more clearly and consistently.

“Our updated logo is a modern interpretation of the Sturt Desert Pea to create a more distinctive and contemporary feel, without disconnecting us from our past and historic successes,” said Professor Goulter.