More than 1 000 Year 12 students from across the central west will converge on Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Bathurst for the annual Central West Careers Advisers Association FACTS (Facts About Careers and Tertiary Study) Day on Thursday 28 May. Final year students from Bathurst, Lithgow, Kandos, Oberon, Blayney, Cowra, Orange and Molong will have the opportunity to meet and receive information from about 120 delegates representing more than 60 career and employer organisations, including universities, private providers, TAFE, Centrelink, police and other government agencies. Ms Katy O’Brien, a Prospective Student Adviser at CSU in Orange, said “events like this are the result of the University forging closer ties with careers advisors in all schools, including private, independent and state schools. This day offers our regional school students the opportunity to experience our University by visiting the Bathurst Campus.”

Scholarships worth $330 000 will be presented to 94 students at a special ceremony at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Bathurst on Friday 29 May. The University’s Charles Sturt Foundation manages donated funds to enable students to apply for financial scholarships to assist them to meet the costs of their continuing higher education. Mrs Jan Hudson, Manager of Stakeholder and Community Relations at CSU, said that during the past 12 months, over 40 new donors have made significant contributions to the Foundation, some of which have been to the value of $1 million. “These contributions reflect the support and confidence of the corporate and community sectors through investment in the enhancement of educational pursuits of young Australians studying at CSU. Many of these students would not be in a financial position to undertake their studies without this level of support,” Mrs Hudson said.

 

For the first time, more than 40 professors from across Charles Sturt University (CSU) will congregate in Orange on Thursday 28 May to attend a forum and dinner. Since the inaugural Professorial Forum in 2003, the event has given CSU professors a chance to discuss their perspective on the University and education issues. Professor of Education Bill Green will attend as convener at the forum. It is the first such event to be held at CSU in Orange, with four sessions focusing on higher education in Australia and developments within the Faculty of Science. While in Orange, the professors will attend a dinner at Harrison Restaurant where they will meet with CSU Council members. The CSU professors will be travelling from Albury-Wodonga, Bathurst, Canberra, Dubbo and Wagga Wagga to attend the forum.

 

The inaugural Orange Ag Club’s dinner will be held at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Orange this Wednesday 27 May with Emeritus Professor John Chudleigh speaking to guests about the positive future of the agricultural industry. Organised by CSU’s agricultural business management students, the dinner aims to provide a forum for students to meet with people in the industry. Professor Chudleigh has a strong history with CSU in Orange. Currently an Adjunct Professor in Agriculture and Wine Sciences at CSU, Professor Chudleigh has been involved in education in rural and regional Australia for over 25 years, working as Head of the Orange Campus for nine years. As a regular media commentator on trends in rural and regional Australia, he is sure to enlighten guests at the Orange Ag Club dinner.

An academic whose work has raised Australian consciousness of the largest accident in the Army’s history will this week address a memorial service for the tragic event. In May 1945 at the Royal Australian Engineers Training Camp Kapooka near Wagga Wagga, 24 young trainee engineers and two of their instructors were killed in an explosion in a bunker during a demolitions training exercise. In 2008, CSU senior lecturer Dr Peter Rushbrook detailed the event in the journal, History of Education Review. “Apart from a mass funeral, where the coffins lay on four semi-trailers, and the subsequent inquiry, the Kapooka tragedy has disappeared altogether from our national memory,” wrote Dr Rushbrook. On Thursday 21 May from 2.15pm near the Kapooka Military Area, Dr Rushbrook will be among the official guests at the second consecutive memorial service hosted by the Army Recruit Training Centre (ARTC) Commandant Colonel G W Finney.

 

The emerging serious health problem of chronic kidney disease will be examined during a public lecture in Griffith in May. The lecture on Wednesday 27 May coincides with national Kidney Health Week 2009 being held from Sunday 24 May to Saturday 30 May. Associate Professor Ann Bonner from the Charles Sturt University (CSU) School of Nursing and Midwifery in Wagga Wagga will explain chronic kidney disease, its risk factors, optimal healthcare requirements and its impact on individuals, society and the Australian healthcare system. Associate Professor Bonner has practiced for more than 20 years as a renal nurse and has developed postgraduate renal nursing courses for universities in NSW and Queensland. Dr Bonner is also involved in collaborative research projects with renal health care clinicians in these states.

Are books becoming extinct? That is the question which will be posed by the School of Education at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Wagga Wagga during a public forum on Wednesday 27 May. In the first Edversations Professional Forum for 2009, CSU academics will join representatives from schools, education support agencies and the wider community to discuss the topic. While the next generation of children has embraced new technologies such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and SMS, the expert panel will explore the significance of hard copy texts. “The issue is important for educators and parents alike as children are being immersed in a technological world and we need to ensure that they are equipped with the skills to navigate that world,” said one of the forum’s facilitators Ms Letitia Galloway from the School of Education. “We need to ask ourselves 'What place do books have today in the education and development of children?'” The forum is hosted by CSU and Wagga Wagga City Council.  

 

Actor and author Mr Brendan Cowell, who graduated in 1997 from the theatre/media course at the School of Communication at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Bathurst, narrowly missed out on the Play Award when the winners of the NSW Premier's Literary Awards 2009 were announced at the Art Gallery of NSW in Sydney last night, Monday 18 May. Mr Cowell’s play Ruben Guthrie  was one of six plays short-listed for the prestigious award. Theatre/media lecturer, Mr Jerry Boland, said Brendan Cowell is an immense talent whose success is highlighted by the calibre of the other nominees and by the public acclaim for his work. “Brendan has enjoyed major success both within Australia and abroad, and I congratulate him for his nomination with such illustrious company.”

Students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Wagga Wagga will this week have an opportunity to mark Drug Action Week 2009. An initiative of the Alcohol and other Drugs Council of Australia, the national awareness campaign aims to this year highlight the broad range of issues surrounding alcohol and other drugs (AOD) and draw attention to the achievements of frontline AOD workers. CSU students will be able to learn more at a free barbecue on Wednesday 20 May. Through a number of fun activities, students will be able to simulate the effects of AOD. The activities and barbecue will be held from 11am to 2pm near the Student Cafeteria at CSU at Wagga Wagga.

As part of Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) 20^th anniversary celebrations, 15 students at Orange will receive special recognition at the annual Scholarships and Prizes Presentation Ceremony on Friday 22 May. The event offers the students a chance to meet their scholarship donor. Hosted by the Charles Sturt Foundation, the scholarships are awarded to students on the basis of academic merit, leadership and contribution to the community. Prizes for academic achievement will be awarded to students in the areas of agribusiness and allied health.