Charles Sturt University’s new Vice-Chancellor, Professor Andrew Vann, will officially open an interpretive walk around Australia’s first environmentally friendly university campus this week in Albury.  “The Albury-Wodonga Campus is a developing, dynamic model of how communities can address environmental concerns and create sustainable environments,” Professor Vann said. Among the features of the campus are rammed earth buildings, ‘natural’ air conditioning, composting toilets, and an award winning, six green star energy rated building. “Hundreds of people visit the campus each year to learn about these features and we have responded by putting up signs that help explain these sustainable design principles,” he said. The opening and initial walk will commence at 2.45pm on Wednesday 9 May in the Gums Café, off Elizabeth Mitchell Drive, Thurgoona.

A free cocktail party will be the backdrop for a gathering of recent and not-so-recent graduates and staff of Charles Sturt University (CSU) on Wednesday 23 May. Hosted by CSU Alumni, the evening will feature CSU Vice-Chancellor Professor Andrew Vann, who joined the University at the start of this year. A second guest speaker will be Dr Krissy Wilson, a lecturer and researcher from the School of Psychology at CSU. A renowned sceptic, former actress and airline cabin crew member, Dr Wilson researches why people believe in extraordinary phenomena, or Anomalistic Psychology.  Read more on CSU News about Dr Wilson's new research group here. All CSU alumni are invited to attend the cocktail evening from 6pm to 8pm, Wednesday 23 May at the Country Comfort Motel on the corner of Tarcutta and Morgan Streets, Wagga Wagga.

Students from the ACT, NSW and Victoria will be recognised during the annual scholarship ceremony at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga on Wednesday 16 May. Eighty scholarships, valued at almost $220 000 dollars and donated by a variety of individuals and organisations, will be presented to students during a ceremony from 4pm to approximately 5.15pm in Joyes Hall, Pine Gully Road, CSU in Wagga Wagga. The University’s Deputy Chancellor, Ms Kathryn Pitkin, will attend the annual event along with the mayors of Junee, Temora and Tumut local councils as well as Wagga Wagga’s deputy mayor. The scholarships are distributed through the Charles Sturt University Foundation Trust. Read more about CSU scholarships here.

Seventy five Charles Sturt University (CSU) Foundation scholarships worth $142 700 in total will be presented to 70 CSU students at a luncheon ceremony in Bathurst on Friday 25 May. The ceremony will be attended by the Chancellor of CSU, Mr Lawrie Willett, AO, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Andrew Vann, the Head of Campus in Bathurst, Mr Col Sharp, and the Mayor of Bathurst, Councillor Greg Westman. Prominent guests include Ms Lyndey Milan, a food and wine broadcaster, author, TV personality and presenter of Lyndey and Blair’s Taste of Greece, who will present the inaugural Blair Milan Memorial Scholarship in honour of her son Blair, a CSU theatre/media alumnus, who died of cancer in 2011. Ms Milan will be accompanied by her partner, businessman Mr John Caldon, as well as colleagues, friends and family of Mr Blair Milan. Other inaugural CSU Foundation scholarships to be presented include the Lodge Chelmsford Masonic Scholarship, the Moree Plains Shire Council Scholarship, and the Widgiewa School Scholarship. Six students will also receive CSU Excellence Scholarships, awarded to students based on a combination of academic merit (an ATAR score of 95 and above) and evidence of demonstrated leadership and citizenship within the community.

Primary school students from Bathurst and Portland will attend special workshops at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst on Wednesday 23 May to help motivate them to explore study options for when they finish high school. A total of 83 Year 5 and 6 students from Bathurst West Public School, Bathurst South Public School and Portland Central School will participate in the Check It Out Day, which is part of the Future Moves program at CSU. The manager of CSU Pre-entry Programs,  Ms Sue Rogan, said, “The Check It Out Day is an exciting interactive experience for primary school students that encourages them to consider university as an option when they leave school. It exposes students at a young age to the university experience so they develop confidence to seek information about courses and pathways as they go through high school.” The six workshops will provide hands-on experiences in art and science education, sport, communication and media, nursing and paramedicine. The students will also tour the campus, participate in activities on the sports fields, and join in a mock graduation. The CSU Check It Out Day runs from 9.30am to 2.30pm Wednesday 23 May at Charles Sturt University, Panorama Avenue, Bathurst.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) Agricultural and Wine Sciences lecturer Dr Igor Novak has been recognised for his outstanding work in the field of science with the Croation Academy of Sciences and Arts Award. Along with a Croatian collaborator, Dr Novak has published 50 articles in international refereed chemistry journals in the last 10 years. “The award was given specifically for our work published in 2011, which deals with the relationship between the electronic structure and biological activity of the pesticides Atrazine, Bromoxynil and Organochlorine insecticides,” he said. “Our work described details of such activity at the molecular level and is the first of its kind where electronic structures of pesticides molecules had been studied experimentally.” Dr Novak was pleasantly surprised by the recognition. “I was surprised and very pleased by the award, especially since the award is mostly given to scientists working in Croatia.”