In June I attended the second graduation of students from CSU’s Bachelor of Primary Education Studies program at our Ontario Campus. I believe this project is a resounding success for the University with increasing interest being shown in the range of programs the University is planning.

 

The demand for our Bachelor of Primary Education Studies degree indicates that the University’s market position is very robust. We received over 650 applications for the August 2007 intake and filled our student quota very quickly. Our strong position in Ontario is echoed in the positive messages of support we have received in meetings with both Ontario Provincial and Federal members of parliament.

 

In June, the Academic Senate of McMaster University in Ontario unanimously endorsed the proposed joint degrees with CSU in Primary and Secondary Teacher Education.

 

The University is currently discussing broadening course offerings in Canada and I hope to be able to expand on these developments over the next year. I would also like to thank the creative ‘rotating teams’ of dedicated CSU staff who have worked on, and attended, our Ontario Campus for their part in building the successful profile we have established.

 

Coming back to our NSW base, many of you would have noticed the new billboard at the entrance to the Bathurst Campus with more billboards planned for CSU campus gateways and entrances. These billboards celebrate the University’s success in gaining a national Dentistry profile and the benefits this will offer our regional communities.

 

Dentistry is the largest initiative the University has embraced and it exemplifies our core vision and values as Australia’s inland university. Since winning Federal Government funding in May this year the University has moved quickly to set up a Dentistry Implementation Committee. This committee is made up of key staff including facilities management, finance, human resources, marketing and stakeholder relations, and is chaired by Professor Mark Burton who has undertaken leadership of the Dentistry program.

 

Planning is well underway for the first stages of construction of facilities at our campus sites. Extensive effort is also being put into the development of curriculum involving stakeholder consultation with the dental profession and preparation of accreditation documentation for Dentistry and our Oral Health courses. A number of consultation sessions with regional dental practitioners have been organised in Orange and Wagga Wagga, with dentists and oral health specialists from Albury, Bathurst and Dubbo also attending. These meetings have been scheduled to both inform members of the profession of CSU developments - directed towards a 2009 commencement of the program.

 

I encourage staff wanting 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 offers a facility where you can submit feedback or offer suggestions directly to Professor Mark Burton as Director of Dentistry (Implementation) for CSU.

 

Regular email updates will also be available in the very near future.

 

With the implementation of the Federal Government’s Research Quality Framework (RQF) which links funding to research excellence and public benefit, the Centre for Research and Graduate Training has been assisting CSU's Research Groupings to respond to this new framework. Academic staff have been linked to research groupings across the University and are developing research portfolios for assessment under the CSU RQF Trial. Most noticeable from this process is the strong teamwork that has developed around the research groupings. CSU has a solid history in team based research and I believe this positions us well in our submission of the highest quality portfolio for research funding.

This University has always prided itself on the quality of its teaching. The winner of the Vice-Chancellor’s Teaching Excellence Award for 2006, Ms Deborah Clarke from the School of Human Movement Studies, exemplifies this quality.

 

I particularly compliment Deborah for her ability to engage her students and develop them into critical thinkers and life-long learners. Lecturers of this calibre are important to the future success of CSU, as the quality of our lecturers and their teaching is reflected in the quality and success of our graduates.

 

Ms Clarke received her award during this year’s Bathurst Campus graduation ceremonies.

 

On 28 June I met with the President of Kongju National University, Professor Jae-Hyun Kim in Korea and we signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate especially in the areas of agricultural research and educational development.

 

Kongju has strong similarities with CSU, coming from a teacher education and agriculture background it was elevated to university status in 1991. Like CSU it is multi-campus university with six Colleges and seven Graduate Schools. I see a solid and fruitful relationship with Kongju as part of the MOU.