As Australia looks at international experience, including those of Norway, in the formation of a new Indigenous representative body in 2009, a leading Sami academic included a trip to Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Wagga Wagga on her recent visit to the country. In Australia to attend the triennial World Indigenous Peoples’ Conference on Education in Melbourne, Associate Professor Asta Balto, from Norway, travelled to CSU to discuss Indigenous education. The Sami people are Indigenous to the northern parts of Sweden, Norway, Finland and Russia. With a lengthy involvement in Sami education, Asta Balto is currently Associate Professor in Pedagogy at the Sámi University College in Guovdageaidnu, Norway and was recently engaged to help develop the Sami perspective in teacher education in Sweden. While at CSU, Associate Professor Balto met with Mr John Muk Muk Burke, a Wiradjuri man and one of the University’s Indigenous Learning Skills Advisors “It was a privilege to be able to talk first hand with a Sami woman about her people’s struggle for representation, particularly as Australia looks at models for an Indigenous representative body,” said Senior Lecturer in the School of Education at CSU, Dr Mary O’Dowd, who accompanied Associate Professor Balto in Australia. “Clearly the Sami Parliament would be one very relevant model. Asta was also very interested in our research at Charles Sturt University on ‘whiteness’ as it is integral to our shared nations’ understandings of how to achieve social justice for Indigenous people in Australia.”

Students wanting to complete a university degree in information technology (IT) have a local alternative pathway with plenty of job opportunities. Charles Sturt University (CSU) and TAFE NSW Riverina Institute have developed a three year course that integrates the TAFE Diploma of Information Technology (Networking) with CSU’s Bachelor of Information Technology. Students start with full-time study on the Albury Campus of Riverina Institute for the first six months before studying at both institutions. During their third and final year they study full time on CSU’s Albury-Wodonga Campus at Thurgoona. CSU coordinator of the joint study, Mr Jeff Ash, says the employment rate for graduates of this integrated course is very high, with all students who completed the course in 2007 gaining employment almost immediately and many offered positions before they finished. "Demand for IT graduates is sky rocketing, with the Australian Computer Society – the professional association of the IT industry – forecasting a critical and growing shortage in Australia for the foreseeable future,” Mr Ash said. The collaboration not only creates an integrated program between CSU and TAFE but also shares computing facilities to maximize the resources available to students in this course. In particular, TAFE will make specialist networking resources available to CSU students that are not available at CSU.

The Austrade Export Award for the best international marketing plan by a student enrolled at a NSW-based university has been won by Ms Michelle Hasler, a Charles Sturt University (CSU) distance education student enrolled in a Bachelor of Business (Marketing). Lecturer at CSU’s School of Marketing and Management Ms Katherine Attree said, “The preparation of an international marketing plan is a requirement for the compulsory subject International Marketing in the Bachelor of Business (Marketing). Michelle undertook an enormous amount of research and prepared a very comprehensive and detailed plan that analysed the viability of entry into the New Zealand marketplace as a first international venture for a small South Australian company, Wellness & Lifestyle, which operates in the allied health industry. She thoroughly deserves the $500 award for a NSW student entry.” Ms Hasler said, “I found the process very challenging and a very valuable learning experience.”

It is pure coincidence that two photography students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) selected the same subject for their short-listed entries in the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2009. Students Ms Kate Lewis and Mr Matt Regan, both from Wagga Wagga, have been named as finalists in the National Photographic Portrait Prize. The photographs, ‘Philip’ and ‘Treaties for Mad Men Only’ will next year hang in the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra. “It was a pure coincidence that both photographs feature the same subject, Kate’s father Philip Lewis,” said Bachelor of Arts (Photography) Course Coordinator, Mr James Holcombe. “Matt saw Kate’s father at the gym and thought he would make a great subject, so asked him to pose quite independently of knowing Kate.” The two photographs can be seen in the Wagga Wagga Art Gallery until Sunday 11 January 2009 as part of Solo, a graduation exhibition by CSU photography students. “The selection of these two works to hang in the National Portrait Gallery is a huge achievement for the students, as they competed against seasoned professionals to join the other finalists,” said Mr Holcombe. Ms Lewis and Mr Regan are among the first group of students to complete the photography course through the School of Visual and Performing Arts at CSU at Wagga Wagga.

The appointment of receivers to manage the private childcare operator ABC Learning Centres represents a prime opportunity for the Rudd government to make right the mistakes of the past, according to a Charles Sturt University (CSU) academic. The childcare operator yesterday went into voluntary administration with the receivers assuring parents that the centres will remain open. “Many early childhood experts had expressed concern about the growing monopoly of ABC, particularly in regional areas,” said Senior Lecturer with the CSU School of Teacher Education Ms Fran Press. “The Commonwealth should show leadership by brokering a deal between the three levels of government and the community sector to ensure the survival of childcare places. Not only would this ensure the retention of much needed childcare places, it would put them in a good position to work toward the fulfilment of election promises concerning the provision of early childhood education.” The fact ABC currently has about 30 per cent of long day care places in Australia is unusual. “No other country entrusts so much childcare to just one provider,” said Ms Press.

For NSW senior high school students, the Higher School Certificate is the ultimate challenge and when competing against thousands of other students for limited university places, the more resources they can access the better. In the past, the Internet has not been seen as a consistently credible source of information for materials, but now teachers are encouraging students to get extra help online. In 2007, the Charles Sturt University (CSU) hosted website NSW HSC Online delivered 13 million pages to users, offering information to students, teachers and parents, with 2008 figures indicating even higher access, despite slightly fewer HSC enrolments. CSU lecturer and NSW HSC Online project coordinator Mr Bob Dengate believes that students and teachers benefit greatly from the site. "With material for 48 HSC subjects, supplemented by advice on study strategies and the availability of past examination papers and markers' comments, figures for this month are expected to approach two million pages."

Educators have recently begun to rethink the value of the tradition of homework, particularly for primary and middle school aged children. Is homework useful? Should our children do homework at all? If so, what would constitute quality homework for children? A free public lecture in Harden on Wednesday 15 October by Charles Sturt University (CSU) lecturer Dr Tracey Smith will use the example of mathematics to address all of these questions. It will explore perceptions about mathematics, how it is learned most effectively and how parents can help their children learn mathematics. “I will also examine how mathematics homework might be more meaningfully developed to enhance learning opportunities at home rather than create a battle zone for parents and their children,” said Dr Smith.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) will be well represented at a national education forum in Melbourne on Monday 13 October. The National Curriculum Board Science Forum is being held to develop a national science curriculum for Australian schools in 2011. Third year science teaching student Ms Lisa Davis from Wagga Wagga will attend the forum with Dr Colin Boylan, a senior lecturer with CSU’s School of Education, also in Wagga Wagga. They will be among the 150 delegates from across Australia. The National Curriculum Board has begun a series of consultations for input into a national curriculum in English, mathematics, the sciences and history, for school students from kindergarten to Year 12.“Participation in such a forum is a rare opportunity and to have a staff member Dr Colin Boylan and student Lisa Davis both heading for Melbourne is an acknowledgement of the University’s engagement with the wider professional and policy bodies that help to shape education in Australia,” said Head of the School of Education, Associate Professor Roslin Brennan-Kemmis.

Plans by Charles Sturt University (CSU) to invest tens of millions of dollars in infrastructure for inland Australia in coming years will be delivered directly to the construction and building industry during briefings this month. Hosted by CSU’s Division of Facilities Management (DFM), the industry briefings will be held in Wagga Wagga on Wednesday 24 September and in Bathurst on Tuesday 30 September. “The briefings allow us to talk directly with local and national building professionals, contractors and consultants that are interested in partnering with CSU to deliver the extensive infrastructure investment across our campuses,” said Mr Stephen Butt, Executive Director of DFM. “The University’s programs of Veterinary Science in Wagga Wagga and Dentistry in Orange and Wagga Wagga are well advanced but we also have plans that include major refurbishment of teaching spaces and laboratories across the campuses, construction of student amenities and facilities, office upgrades and improvements to sporting facilities,” said Mr Butt. “The University Strategy is supported by between $150 million to $175 million dollars worth of capital expenditure over the next three to five years.” A recent national call for expressions of interest for the registration on the University’s ‘Multi Vendor List’ prompted 400 companies to download documents from CSU.