As the first VC News for 2007, I welcome you to the new academic year and look forward to implementing with you the first stages of the University Strategy 2007-2011, including the new Faculty structure and changes in the Divisions.

In a climate of rapid global business, institutional and educational change, information is now the most important asset for a business.

Bathurst will experience a surge of over 4 500 visitors as friends and family members come to the city to celebrate the graduation of nearly 1 900 students from Charles Sturt University (CSU). Undergraduate and postgraduate awards will be presented at six ceremonies over three days – Wednesday 7, Thursday 8 and Friday 9 May – at the CD Blake Auditorium on CSU’s Bathurst Campus. The ceremonies will be lead by CSU Chancellor, Mr Lawrence Willett, AO.

As World Asthma Day approaches on Tuesday 1 May, asthma is still one of the major illnesses affecting adults and children in rural areas but, according to senior lecturer in the School of Biomedical Sciences Dr Deborah Burton, management of the illness is improving.

The links between educators and the dental profession will be cemented when representatives of Charles Sturt University (CSU) and the NSW Branch of the Australian Dental Association (ADA NSW) meet on the Bathurst Campus to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Monday 12 May.

The Fatal Four - drink driving, fatigue, speeding and not wearing a seatbelt – have long been the cornerstone of road safety campaigns. But according to Charles Sturt University (CSU) researcher Peter Ivanoff, "Not wearing a seatbelt might lead to injuries for the driver or their passengers, but it is not a cause of accidents. In fact, three of the 'Fatal Four' rarely cause road accidents."

The 2008 federal Budget is the first to be delivered by Labor in 13 years. Charles Sturt University has experienced media commentators who can comment on how this Budget will affect various sections of the Australian community.

Charles Sturt University Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Ian Goulter, welcomed the Rudd Government's announcement of $500 million in special one-off infrastructure funding to universities to help enhance campus infrastructure.

A pilot program between TAFE NSW Riverina Institute and Charles Sturt University (CSU) designed to offer “enormous benefits” to Riverina communities will bear fruit on Friday 27 April when five Griffith students graduate with Business degrees from CSU‘s Albury-Wodonga Campus.