After 27 years developing theatre and drama education at Charles Sturt University (CSU) Ray Goodlass is retiring this Friday, 17 March. Ray is senior lecturer and postgraduate course coordinator in the School of Visual and Performing Arts at CSU and chaired the Arts and Culture Research Group of the University's Centre for Rural Social Research. Dean of CSU’s Faculty of Arts, Professor Lyn Gorman praised Ray’s long-term contribution to theatre education at CSU, his passion for regional theatre and the cultural life of Wagga Wagga. Involved in drama education all his adult life, Ray has directed over 100 professional and student productions, most recently as resident director for the University Theatre Ensemble. He has been a guest lecturer on acting and script analysis at UCLA, Los Angeles and NIDA and was director of the Riverina Theatre Company for two years. “Ray’s work as an artist has in turn challenged, provoked, enriched and engaged Wagga Wagga audiences for nearly 30 years,” said Kevin Poynter, lecturer in Design for Theatre and Television at CSU. In his ‘retirement’, Ray plans to complete his PhD on the poetics of gay theatre and continue his trade union and political advocacy work

Two senior livestock officers from Laos in South East Asia are visiting the Albury-Wodonga region this week to compare small scale livestock production systems with farms in their country. Deputy Director of the Lao National Agriculture and Forestry Extension Service, Dr Tienne Vannasouk, and Director of the Lao Livestock and Fisheries Extension Centre, Mr Noungthong Sihanath, are being hosted by Charles Sturt University (CSU) during their week-long visit. The trip includes presentations to Victorian Government agricultural extension officers at Tatura and visits to local enterprises. Both officials work closely with CSU academic Dr Jo Millar, who is leading an Australian Government funded project to investigate how farmers learn from each other to improve livestock production in Laos. The Lao researchers will visit the University’s Institute for Land, Water and Society on CSU’s Thurgoona site on Friday 10 March.

Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) computer network has gone wireless. CSU students and staff are now able to use their laptop computers via wireless links to receive and send emails and interact in online learning environments without having to plug in to a data line. The wireless links have been developed in areas where high numbers of users gather such as libraries, computer centres, selected lecture and tutorial rooms and outside areas. The wireless technology has gone live on the Albury-Wodonga, Bathurst, Orange and Wagga Wagga campuses with plans to further expand the network.

Two Charles Sturt University (CSU) television production students have started their careers on a high note after securing a 12-month traineeship with leading television network, Channel Nine in Sydney this year. The students, Anna Macdonell and David Page, will also each receive $3 000 scholarships from Channel Nine after a competitive selection process conducted by Channel Nine managers on the University’s Wagga Wagga Campus. The Nine Network also offers three-week internships to third and final year television production students as part of ties between CSU and the industry. “Due to the high standard of the students, it is always difficult to select participants in the internships and traineeships,” said Channel Nine Supervising Director, David Summons. “It’s vitally important for the students to secure real world experience and industry contacts,” said CSU television production lecturer Bruce Gater. “Channel Nine’s policy of providing internships and two major traineeships allows this to happen,” he said. Ms Macdonell and Mr Page are due to graduate from CSU in 2006.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) Council has welcomed its newest member, Mr Chris Hancock, who brings more than twenty years’ experience in leadership and senior executive positions to the University and is a graduate of CSU. He is also Chief Executive Officer of Australia’s Academic and Research Network (AARNet). “I completed a Bachelor’s degree at CSU and I’m very fond of the University, but more importantly I’m excited about what the University is doing from a regional perspective," said Mr Hancock. “I’m delighted by the appointment of such a distinguished graduate to the CSU Council, the University's governing body. Mr Hancock’s background and skills will enable him to make an outstanding contribution to the University,” said acting Vice Chancellor Professor Ross Chambers. The University also welcomes the reappointments of Ms Susan Benedyka, Dr Geoffrey Wise and Ms Patricia Murphy. "The re-appointments are pleasing because their distinguished record for Council has been recognised,” added Professor Chambers.    

 Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) long-standing association with the Australian Defence Force (ADF) has received a boost at a contract signing in Canberra on Tuesday 31 January. Under the new agreement, CSU will maintain and expand current training initiatives especially developed for the ADF. The University provides postgraduate training in a three stage program, with many officers then enrolling in CSU’s Master of Arts (Communication – Organisational Communication). “Through its strong training focus, ADF is always trying to do things better, and we can work with them to develop that, and to continue to grow our relationship,” said coordinator of CSU’s postgraduate program for Defence, Zoe Hibbert. “I found the CSU academic staff always supportive and was grateful that they readily recognised the demands placed on students who had to juggle employment and a high study load,” said ADF Strategic Communication Adviser and CSU graduate, John Anderson. “Another benefit to me as a student was that most of my lecturers had been previously employed in the corporate or public sectors, so they were able to demonstrate their professional and practical experiences within an academic context,” he added.

 A Charles Sturt University (CSU) lecturer with a passion for providing support and guidance to first year students studying via distance education has been named the winner of the Vice-Chancellor’s Teaching Excellence Award for 2005. Dr Mir Rabiul Islam, from the School of Social Sciences and Liberal Studies on the University's Bathurst Campus, is course coordinator of the largest undergraduate psychology course, Bachelor of Social Science – Psychology. Including Education/Psychology double degrees, he is coordinating courses for over 450 students. In his online teaching, he strives passionately to use “online strategies” that empower students to be self-sufficient and adaptive to the ever changing needs of life. Student evaluations of his teaching of research methods are extraordinarily high, no mean feat in the area of Advanced Research Methods and Statistics in Psychology unit, a course often regarded as difficult and complex. He considers learning from students as a unique opportunity to assess and re-assess his own professional integrity. Each year the University recognises and encourages excellence in teaching through the presentation of this award. The award will be presented to Dr Islam in May at the Faculty of Arts graduation ceremony.

Scholarships totalling $35 000 will see seven Charles Sturt University (CSU) students expand their academic and cultural horizons when they travel to China this month as part of their business degrees at CSU. Funded through the Federal Government’s Cheung Kong Scholarship program as well as the University’s Faculty of Commerce, the students from the Albury-Wodonga, Bathurst and Wagga Wagga campuses will leave Australia for China in two groups on Monday 20 February and Monday 27 February. The students will spend one semester studying either at the Yunnan University of Finance and Economics in Kunming, Tianjin University of Finance and Economics in Tianjin or the Yangzhou University in Yangzhou. They will study basic elements of the Mandarin language as well as learn an appreciation and understanding of Chinese society and culture.

New research is being conducted at Charles Sturt University (CSU) to identify what support schools offer a child who has a parent with a mental illness. The study by CSU education lecturer Dr Andrea Reupert comes after research conducted at the University in 2005 found about 20 per cent of all Australian children live in families in which one parent has a mental illness. “Given the amount of time young people spend in the classroom, I want to hear how Riverina teachers, school administrators, school counsellors, canteen staff or anyone connected to a school, might have supported these children in both the public and Catholic education systems,” said Dr Reupert. Families who want to be involved in the research can contact CSU’s Dr Andrea Reupert on telephone (02) 6933 4376 or send an email.