In recognition of the urgent need for more nurses to service health care in regional Australia, the next group of newly enrolled nursing students will commence their three-year course this week at Charles Sturt University (CSU). “We start this course in the middle of the year to attract people with a range of backgrounds and life experiences, school leavers as well as older students,” said nursing course coordinator Linda Goddard. Around 40 students aged between 18 to 55 years and from as far as India, Bundoora in Melbourne and Euroa in regional Victoria will commence their studies with an official welcome and orientation day this Friday 21 July. The all day event at the University’s Albury City site includes meetings with academic staff, enrolment and course advice and skills sessions in academic writing, library services and computing. CSU’s spring academic semester commences next Monday 24 July.

Charles Sturt University’s (CSU’s) emphasis on professional experience as an integral part of CSU courses is being put into practice in the University’s Careers Service – with practical success. This year for the first time, CSU’s Careers Service offered two paid, internships for final-year students to give them valuable work experience opportunities. Final-year Bachelor of Commerce student, Casandra Barnes, of Cumnock, NSW, has just completed her six-month internship as a marketing assistant in the CSU Careers Service and begins her first career job with Liverpool Plains Shire Council based in Quirindi this week. “The hands-on experience working at the Careers Service was fantastic and taught me so much about what’s involved in a professional job,” Casandra said. “I’m sure it made the difference when I applied for my first professional position.” During her internship Casandra was responsible for marketing the Careers Service to first-year students; coordinating and promoting careers events; running online student forums and producing an online careers newsletter. Casandra, 23, starts her new job as a Community Economic Development Officer with the Liverpool Plains Shire Council in Quirindi this week. She will complete her final two subjects towards her degree by distance education. Paul Worsfold, Senior Career Development Officer with the Careers Service said practicum experience was a high priority for CSU as it strives to be a national leader in producing ‘job ready’ graduates. “The Careers Service understands the importance of professional experience which is why it promotes vacation work opportunities to students. We are also seeking to involve students who want complementary work experiences and career development activities outside of formal teaching requirements,” Mr Worsfold said.

While the best of the world’s soccer teams were battling it out in Germany, Bathurst Campus Charles Sturt University (CSU) students were covering themselves in glory at the University Games in Coffs Harbour by winning gold in Men’s and Women’s Hockey and bringing home the prestigious Spirit of the Games Award. Sports Administrator Jean Ryan said several students were selected in the Green & Gold Merit teams, which are chosen by the umpires and convenors, but the highlight was winning Spirit of the Games. “That made my week. It means CSU’s Bathurst team were the best behaved, most respectful and most supportive of their fellow team members.” Renee Aberley, a Bachelor of Human Movement/Bachelor of Teaching (Secondary) student, was the goal keeper in the Women’s Hockey team, saving five out of nine penalty goal attempts in the combined finals. Sam Poole of the Men’s Hockey team is studying Bachelor of Human Movement/Bachelor of Business Studies. He is equally as pleased with his team’s performance, saying their biggest threats came from the Universities of Sydney and Newcastle. He says he’ll begin fundraising efforts soon to help offset the cost of taking the winning teams to the national competition in Adelaide in September.

The lack of doctors and dentists in rural areas has often overshadowed the fact that regional hospitals also desperately need Registered Nurses. To help overcome this shortage, Charles Sturt University (CSU) and the Greater Southern and Western Area Health Services have collaborated in creating workshops and outreach programs aimed at encouraging and supporting Enrolled Nurses to upgrade their skills through study to become registered nurses. Lecturer in the School of Nursing and Health Science at CSU, Heather Latham who has been involved in the workshops since they began in Dubbo in 2003, says enrolled nurses who attend the workshops come away with a greater understanding of what will be required of them to succeed at university. “Some are unsure, others are unrealistically confident and others have been out of school for a long time and need assistance to develop their literacy skills.”  Enrolled nurses who have been chosen to participate in the program by the Area Health Service do not have to travel to residential schools at Bathurst CSU because Ms Latham and her colleagues take the residential schools to them. Some of the first attendees at the workshops are now almost ready to graduate. “We are confident they will go back to their local community and get jobs. It is work we feel passionate about because we see the importance of supporting people in rural and regional areas who are educationally disadvantaged,” Ms Latham said.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) last week farewelled its inaugural Dean of the Faculty of Science and Agriculture, Professor Jim Pratley who was also CSU’s longest serving Dean. Professor Pratley began his career as a lecturer in Plant Science at the then Wagga Wagga Agricultural College in 1972 and later became lecturer in Agronomy at the former Riverina Murray Institute of Higher Education in 1976. He was appointed CSU’s inaugural Dean of the Faculty of Science and Agriculture in 1990 and achieved a series of milestones for the University including the introduction of Australia’s first regional Bachelor of Veterinary Science degree.  In recognition of Professor Pratley’s outstanding service to CSU and his commitment to agricultural research, he has been awarded the title Emeritus Professor, only the fifth such appointment in CSU’s history. Professor Pratley will continue his association with CSU as a part-time Professor of Agriculture, a role that will see him building links with key international agricultural universities. CSU has already established links with South China Agricultural University as well as universities in Pakistan and Malaysia and the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines. Professor Pratley’s secretary, May Crawford who joined the staff of Wagga Agricultural College in 1976, will continue to work with Professor Pratley in his new ‘home’ in the Farrer building at CSU’s Wagga Wagga Campus. As the past vice president of the International Allelopathy Society, Professor Pratley plans to continue his research into natural herbicides and weed management.

In recognition of the urgent need for more paramedics for emergency care services in regional Australia, the next group of paramedic students will commence their three-year course this week at Charles Sturt University (CSU). “This is our first mid-year intake for this course. We had quite a few students who couldn’t get into the program and we have offered this second enrolment in response to this demand. CSU pioneered pre-hospital care in university education in Australia and this is now the first mid-year intake for these students,” said paramedic course coordinator Veronica Madigan. Students are due to commence their studies with an official welcome and orientation this week at the University’s Bathurst Campus. CSU’s spring academic semester commences next Monday 24 July.

“The news that the Federal Government has provided 40 new places to the Bachelor of Clinical Sciences degree at Charles Sturt University (CSU) is a strong recognition of CSU’s role in education and recruitment of rural health practitioners,” said Professor Mark Burton, CSU’s Dean of the Faculty of Health Studies. He was responding to the Prime Minister’s announcement late last week that CSU has been successful in its bid for additional university places in health-related disciplines in 2007. The new Bachelor of Clinical Sciences degree will stream rural and regional students into guaranteed places at Sydney University’s dental and medical degrees. “CSU has a strong track record of working to solve issues in regional communities. Our pharmacy graduates have already shown their commitment to stay and work in our regions and CSU’s collaborative arrangements with health agencies including the Greater Area Health Services has improved the critical shortage of Registered Nurses in rural and regional areas,” Professor Burton said. The Federal Government also announced 10 additional Clinical Psychology places at CSU’s Wagga Wagga Campus. Professor Ben Bradley, Acting Dean of the Faculty of Arts, said the new places will allow CSU to extend its flexible delivery of clinical training for psychologists who prefer to study at a distance. “They are already working in rural and remote Australia where there is an urgent need for psychological expertise to deal with the nation's growing burden of mental illness” Professor Bradley added.

Nosey neighbours are usually frowned upon but in the Macquarie Valley looking over the fence is giving cotton farmers a better understanding of pest management, thanks to research conducted by Charles Sturt University. Funded by the Cotton Catchment Communities Co-operative Research Centre (CRC), the project investigates ecologically-based pest management for Macquarie region cotton production. CSU Associate Professor of Applied Ecology, Geoff Gurr and PhD student David Perovic are working with growers in Trangie and the wider Macquarie Valley area to better understand how pest problems in cotton crops are influenced by neighbouring farms. “We’re conducting surveys on various types of non-crop vegetation such as native bushland and monitoring the movement of beneficial insects from there to the crops at different times of year,” Professor Gurr explained.

One of Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) first graduates in wine science is the new President of the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV). Peter Hayes is the first Australian to head up the peak international wine body which has grown from an organisation formed in 1924 by six old world producers and now comprises 42 consumer and producer countries. “In 1975 CSU was the only place you could study wine science externally. I took on the CSU course because I wanted to broaden my options. My father, grandfather and great-grandfather had all held wine trading licenses whereas I was interested in the viticulture,” Mr Hayes said from Spain. The OIV recently resolved the issue of oak chips in wine-making and is now working towards consistent labelling. Mr Hayes says crucial issues include sustainability and the world wine surplus which currently sits around four times Australia’s total production. “That’s one of the challenges we have. How do you assist member countries to adapt their production capacity to the consumers?” Mr Hayes was previously Director of Viticulture at Rosemount Estate, National Viticulturist and Industry Relations Manager at Southcorp Wines, and President of the OIV’s Viticulture Commission from 2003 to 2006.

The strong relationship between Charles Sturt University (CSU) and the city of Wagga Wagga was the subject of a recent presentation to about 20 Indonesian officials studying in Australia. CSU lecturer and deputy chairman of Wagga Wagga City Council’s Commercial Strategy Committee, Peter Adams joined Michael Jowett, from the TAFE NSW Riverina Institute to discuss what role education plays in the local economy. "The delegation was very interested in the collaborative approach CSU and TAFE NSW play in developing our region as well as the engagement of our research centres at the local level right through to our international programs,” said Peter Adams. The Indonesians are from the islands of Flores, Maluku, Sulawesi, Lombok and West Timor as well as the province of Aceh in Sumatra.  They are studying local and regional economic development for three months at the University of Canberra and visited Wagga Wagga in July as part of a regional study trip.