Dear colleagues,

 

Since my last V-C News I visited Malaysia, Spain and the United States, as well as travelling to China and India in my role as Convenor of the NSW Vice-Chancellors’ Committee, leading the education delegation which was a key part of the NSW Premier’s Senior Trade Mission. The purpose of this trip was to support the growth of NSW by establishing new education and business contacts. During the visit to India and China I was also able to represent and position CSU as a competitive provider of quality higher education as the national University of inland Australia.

 

 

 

In September I announced the appointment of Professor Anthony Cahalan as Dean of the Faculty of Arts at CSU. Professor Cahalan is the current Dean of the Faculty of Design at the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto, Canada’s largest college of art and design. He took up his appointment on 3 December and brings to the position over 20 years of successful academic, professional and managerial experience in universities, the design professions and marketing and public relations.

 

Two other senior appointments were made in the latter stages of the year. Mr Stephen Butt was appointed Executive Director of the Division of Facilities Management. Stephen comes to us from NSW Health and commences employment on 21 January 2008. Mr Garry Taylor was appointed Executive Director of the Division of Information Technology. Garry is one of our staff and commenced employment on 3 September 2007.

 

I congratulate Professor Shahbaz Khan, Professor of Hydrology in CSU’s School of Environmental Sciences at the Wagga Wagga Campus, and his team on being awarded The Australian Museum’s 2007 Eureka Prize for Water Research and Innovation, sponsored by Land & Water Australia. I am delighted that Professor Khan’s achievements have been recognised by this highly prestigious award because his work contributes to the sustainability of industries and communities in inland Australia and overseas. Irrigated agriculture consumes up 70 per cent of Australia’s water, so this research addresses one of Australia’s most pressing issues in natural resource management – the sustainable management of our water resources.

 

Professor Khan is currently Chair of the International Steering Committee of the UNESCO’s Hydrology for the Environment, Life and Policy (HELP) Program and the Regional Coordinator for the Australasian region, and is leading research in integrated hydro-economic decision support systems linked with geographical information systems for predictive modelling of environmental and economic futures of irrigation areas. Professor Khan was also awarded the Modelling Society of Australia and New Zealand (MSSANZ) Biennial Medal for Natural Systems for his team’s joint CSU-CSIRO world leading water research. The Biennial Medal will be presented in December at the MSSANZ 2007 conference in New Zealand.

 

In October CSU’s Kajulu Communications advertising students from the School of Communication on the Bathurst Campus took out the top places in the International Advertising Association’s (IAA) Australia Chapter ‘Big Idea’ 2007 Marketing Communications Competition. The Kajulu Blue team won first place and the Kajulu Red team came second. This is an example not just of a win in a competition but of the quality of our courses. It is proof of our commitment to education for the professions through courses developed in collaboration with industry. As well as this 2007 win, CSU’s Kajulu Communications advertising teams have won the annual national competition four times since its inception in 2003, and have also won the international InterAd World Advertising Championship award three times since 1999. I again congratulate the students and their lecturers.

 

On Saturday 24 November the nation voted to change the government. I congratulate the new Prime Minister, Mr Kevin Rudd, and welcome the opportunity to work with him and his Ministers to advance higher education and the interests of Australia. I acknowledge the contribution of the former Prime Minister and government, and thank them for their commitment in the May 2007 Budget to fully fund the new CSU School of Dentistry and Health Sciences.

 

On Monday 13 August I was pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Ward Massey as the new Head of CSU’s School of Dentistry and Health Sciences. Professor Massey brings to CSU a significant international reputation and in-depth understanding of dental clinical education, and will take up his appointment in January 2008. see CSU News release. http://news.csu.edu.au/director/latestnews/health.cfm?itemID=4E9FF683BF08C0CEDE215490940366AD&printtemplate=release

The development of planning for the new School and dental clinics is continuing smoothly. Construction is expected to begin in early 2008 and to be completed in time for the start of courses and the intake of the first dental students in late February 2009.

 

I encourage staff to stay abreast of the University’s work in the implementation of dentistry to follow the regular updates made to the CSU dentistry website. The website allows you to submit feedback or offer suggestions directly to Professor Mark Burton as CSU’s Director of Dentistry (Implementation).

 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all staff for their dedication and hard work in 2007 to make CSU the University of inland Australia, and I wish all our staff and students a safe and peaceful Christmas and a happy New Year.