In response to the needs of graduates, Charles Sturt University (CSU) has moved its graduation ceremonies to the December of the year that students finish their studies. CSU in Albury-Wodonga will hold its graduation ceremonies on Friday 16 and Saturday 17 December. Head of Campus at CSU in Albury-Wodonga, Ms Sue Moloney, said, “Exit surveys of students indicated that they preferred to graduate the year they finished study, rather than return six months later when the majority have moved away to begin their careers - making it expensive or impractical to travel to Albury-Wodonga to celebrate. We are expecting nearly 800 graduates to cross the stage during three ceremonies, bringing with them up to 1 800 visitors to Albury-Wodonga, which again provides a welcome boost to the local economy.” These ceremonies will be held at Trinity College at Thurgoona.

The new Murray Children’s Centre at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Albury-Wodonga will open its doors to the public on Friday 27 January. The $3.5 million building, located on Elizabeth Mitchell Drive, Thurgoona, will welcome almost three times the number of children at the previous building located on Olive Street in the Albury city centre. The new 72-place early childhood centre currently has full-time places available for infants, toddlers and pre-schoolers. The new Centre has been built with sustainability in mind, featuring lighting that adjusts to the daylight, temperature controlled under floor heating, high ceilings for air flow, views of the natural landscape, and ergonomic kitchen, play and bathroom facilities. The community is invited to tour the new facility at the Murray Children’s Centre open house from 2pm to 4pm on Friday 27 January.

Leading speech pathologist Mrs Mary-Ruth Mendel, the 2012 NSW Australia Day Ambassador, will be the special guest at a lunch organised by the Charles Sturt University (CSU) speech pathology program in Albury-Wodonga on Wednesday 25 January. Ms Libby Clark, the organiser of the lunch and lecturer in the speech pathology program within the School of Community Health at CSU in Albury-Wodonga, said this was a wonderful opportunity for speech pathologists and early childhood educators in the region to meet and hear a leader in the field. “Mrs Mendel is a distinguished speech pathologist, specialising in literacy and language learning issues. While she has an international client base for her private practice in Sydney, she has also shown, through the development of a range of programs, a real commitment to supporting literacy in indigenous languages.” Ms Clark said. “She has many achievements and we are delighted that she has made time to visit Charles Sturt University in Albury-Wodonga before officiating at Australia Day activities on Thursday. This will be a wonderful opportunity to discuss potential links between the work that Mrs Mendel has been doing and the projects related to indigenous language and literacy that are being carried out by Charles Sturt University speech pathology students and staff in Condobolin and Wagga Wagga.”

Charles Sturt University's (CSU) newest dental clinic will open in Albury-Wodonga from Monday 13 February. Dr Jai Rawal, who has joined CSU with extensive experience in the United Kingdom, will lead the CSU dental team in Albury-Wodonga to provide much needed dental services for private patients on the Border, as well as providing a state-of-the-art training facility for students enrolled in the University’s dental and oral health courses. “Having Australia's newest dental course means Charles Sturt University has the flexibility to build a program that will showcase the latest technology and techniques to its students,” Dr Rawal said. He also hopes the new clinic at Thurgoona will relieve some pressure on other dental practices in the region and decrease waiting times. To arrange a dental appointment, call Ms Linda Thompson on (02) 6051 9310. The CSU Dental Oral Health Clinic is located in Building 670, on Leahy Avenue, Thurgoona, behind the Thurgoona shopping centre.

International students from around the world will be welcomed this week to Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Albury-Wodonga and, for some, to Australia. Approximately 35 students from South Korea, Canada, America, Ireland, Nepal, Zimbabwe, India and Malaysia will undertake undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in disciplines such as business, health and environmental sciences. CSU’s International Student Support Officer, Ms Rachel Ayton, said Orientation Week was an important time for international students, as it laid the foundation for their lives and studies at CSU and in the Border region. “I’m really looking forward to getting to know our new students and look forward to helping them settle into their new environment on the Border,” Ms Ayton said. On Friday 24 February, some of the group will visit the oz.e.wildlife Sanctuary to meet the ‘locals’, starting after 10.30am and leaving at 12.30pm. A second group of international students will arrive at 2.30pm.

Coffee is a ubiquitous part of modern life, and disposable coffee cups are a growing problem in waste disposal landfills. The Gums Café at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Albury-Wodonga is leading the way in sustainability by trialling the use of biodegradable cups that take a year or less to decompose in landfill. These compare favourably to the common disposable cups that can take many years to break down due to the plastic film that lines the cups. Chair of the local Campus Environmental Committee, Dr John Rafferty, said, “Last year, we looked at how people dispose of their cups. They tend to put them in the normal garbage bins, as they have the remains of coffee in them. We would have thousands of cups going through our bins each week. We have decided to do something about it and use biodegradable cups that are much friendlier to the environment and break down much faster than the old cups.”

Charles Sturt University (CSU) has developed degrees and extensive facilities to promote the importance of preschool education, and its new Murray Children’s Centre at CSU in Albury-Wodonga is an important step in expanding on the University’s commitment to early childhood education. The centre director, Dr Sydnye Allen, said the facility is dedicated to supporting and demonstrating best practice for preschool children and their families. “We provide spaces throughout the building to encourage families to be part of their children’s education, which includes shared meal spaces and a private room for feeding young children,” Dr Allen said. “Our well-qualified preschool staff include early childhood education graduates from CSU’s School of Education which is also located on the campus.” Places are now available at the CSU Murray Children’s Centre.

Science at Charles Sturt University (CSU) and its innovations in teaching and research will be on show to the Border community on Thursday 22 March in a presentation by and the Dean of CSU’s Faculty of Science, Professor Nick Klomp, who is also a renowned science broadcaster. “The Faculty of Science is one of the largest and most diverse science faculties in Australasia, with around 9 000 students and hundreds of staff in seven schools across six campuses. We teach and conduct research in a variety of science and health disciplines from veterinary science to dentistry, nursing to environmental studies, forensic biotechnology to wine science, agriculture to allied health. I will also speak about CSU’s bid for a medical school,” Professor Klomp said. Teachers, students, industry representatives, and the general public will receive information about courses leading to science careers, current and future research collaborations, and professional training in the University’s multi-million dollar research and training facilities and clinics, some of which are located in Albury-Wodonga.

The academic successes of current environmental and health students from Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Faculty of Science will be celebrated on Thursday 22 March at CSU in Albury-Wodonga. The Dean of Science, Professor Nick Klomp, will present awards and prizes for academic excellence, including the prestigious DA Johnstone Perpetual Award for the top environmental sciences student. “Stopping to recognise and celebrate academic excellence is an important part of the University’s commitment in the pursuit of excellence,” said Professor Klomp. Current and graduating undergraduate and postgraduate students will receive prizes from local and international companies and organisations as well as Dean’s awards from 2pm in the Gum’s Café at Thurgoona.