International food manufacturer Mars Petcare is helping put more ‘real life’ experience into Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) accounting degree by providing two CSU students with internships at its Wodonga headquarters. Mars Supply Finance Manager Mr Nathan Quinlivan said the company was happy to provide opportunities for local people to experience work at a global leader in the fast-moving consumer goods sector. “Charles Sturt University accounting students were invited to submit applications to undertake internships and were then short listed for interview and selection by Mars, with Mr Brian Kemp and Mr Mark Wilde chosen for the internships,” Mr Quinlivan said. Head of CSU’s School of Accounting, Associate Professor Ross Wilson, said the internships are part of the new work experience in industry subjects developed by CSU’s Faculty of Business. He said the new internships were timely given the release of an Australian Council for Education Research report which called on universities to provide more internship opportunities for undergraduate students, showing CSU was ahead in identifying the need to offer hands-on work experiences that better equip graduates when they finish their degrees. Students who complete the structured internships also receive credit for an elective subject in the CSU accounting degree program. Professor Wilson thanked Mars for its initiative and called for other regional firms interested in providing similar opportunities to local students to contact the School of Accounting at CSU in Albury-Wodonga.