The public lecture at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst on Wednesday 5 September by leading Australian medical expert, Emeritus Professor John Dwyer, AO, has received a boost with the release of a report last week by the Senate’s Community Affairs References Committee. The University made a written submission to the Committee, and Professor Dwyer, and the Vice-Chancellor and President of CSU, Professor Andrew Vann, made submissions in person at a public hearing in Albury on Tuesday 5 June. Professor Vann has also responded to the report. Mr Col Sharp, Head of CSU in Bathurst, said, “Professor Dwyer is a leading advocate for structural reform of Australia’s health care delivery system, and he argues that current health outcomes for rural Australians are not acceptable. His public lecture will examine the rationale for and progress with CSU’s bid to establish a new rural medical school to boost the supply of ‘doctors for the bush’, and Professor Dwyer will also reflect on the broad endorsement of the University’s proposed approach to rural medical education in the Senate Committee report.” The Dental Clinic and the new Interdisciplinary Clinical Simulation Centre for nursing and paramedic students at CSU in Bathurst will be open for inspection by the public in the hour prior to the lecture.

A Charles Sturt University (CSU) academic who provided expert evidence at a murder trial of 25 defendants in South Africa in 1989, will attend a local screening on Thursday 13 September of A Common Purpose, the award-winning feature-length documentary about the trial. Associate Professor Graham Tyson, lecturer and researcher at the CSU School of Psychology in Bathurst, was one of the defence team’s expert witnesses in the trial in which 25 people were found guilty of the murder of one person. “In South Africa at that time, if a person was found guilty of murder, they automatically faced the death penalty, unless extenuation could be proved,” Professor Tyson said. “These 25 people faced the death sentence. I had given evidence in a number of such trials on the psychological factors that could influence people in crowds and which could reduce their ability to foresee the consequences of their behaviour. That evidence had been accepted as grounds for extenuation in an earlier trial, and therefore I was asked to testify in this case. Organising the defence case was a huge undertaking, and the film shows what a remarkable job defence lawyer Ms Andrea Durbach did. It is a very moving film and, when I saw it, it raised a lot of old emotions in me.”

From the Arab Spring to the Occupy Movement, activists are making strategic use of digital communication networks to encourage social change, according to Charles Sturt University (CSU) lecturer Mr Jake Wallis. Mr Wallis from the School of Information Studies will present a seminar at CSU in Wagga Wagga on Wednesday 5 September, exploring how civil society uses the web and the impact it can have on democratic participation and politics.  “The internet, social media and mobile phones allow messages of protest to spread at high speeds,” Mr Wallis said. “New media can help activist groups to create a hard-hitting emotional narrative around social issues, which can generate support across regional, national and international networks.”  The seminar will also be streamed to the Swedish School of Library and Information Science, University of Borås in Sweden.

A senior educator who recently won a prestigious Churchill Scholarship to investigate the world-class Finnish education system will address middle school teaching students from Charles Sturt University (CSU) on Tuesday 18 September. Ms Margaret Mulcahy, a Principal Education Officer with the NSW Department of Education and Communities, will address how parents and carers can assist in schooling, which complements her interests in learning and thinking by inquiry, curriculum integration, and student-centred learning. She is joined by a senior teacher educator from the University of Lapland in Finland, Dr Tuija Turunen, a research fellow with CSU’s School of Education, who will provide a comparison of how parents work with schools in Finland. She will also address how people become teachers in the Scandinavian country and why most school leavers prefer teaching over law or medicine. Visit coordinator and CSU education lecturer, Dr Liisa Uusimaki, said bringing the two educators from different parts of the world together to share their knowledge with CSU middle school teaching students demonstrates University’s commitment to advancing teacher education for the sake of Australian children.

Eminent academic and leading promoter of regional Australia, Professor Henry Nowik, will be recognised for his services to regional business when Charles Sturt University (CSU) names a major building on its Albury-Wodonga Campus in his honour. CSU Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Andrew Vann will be on hand to name the Nowik Learning Commons from 12noon on Thursday 13 September. The learning commons includes the library, extensive large and small meeting spaces, computer rooms and a kitchenette, most of which are open 24 hours a day, seven days per week to CSU students and staff. “Professor Nowik has a remarkable set of life experiences drawn from a long and rich life, well-lived. He has had a particular interest in the development of the Albury-Wodonga Campus to meet the needs of this growing regional hub, and Charles Sturt University honours Professor Nowik as a champion of regional development, a founding father of modern Wodonga, and as a visionary, philanthropist and benefactor,” Professor Vann said.

Imagine the keys on a piano in front of you moving up and down as a teacher hundreds of kilometres away plays. This unique experience has been made possible for students at the Riverina Conservatorium of Music (RCM)  thanks to technical support from Charles Sturt University (CSU).  The Conservatorium is taking part in a trial which links two pianos over the Internet to allow local students to get expert, real time tuition from teachers at the Australian National University (ANU). To facilitate the trial, CSU’s Division of Information Technology has provided access to the University’s dedicated fibre optic internet connection and technical support. CSU Technical Specialist – Networks, Mr Travis Terry, said, “Charles Sturt University has immense experience in facilitating remote teaching utilising interactive technologies such as video conferencing. Coupling complementary technologies like the digital piano could be a major step forward for remote teaching and we are pleased to explore the possibilities.” Conservatorium Director Mr Hamish Tait said, “This kind of technology helps break downs some of the barriers of living in a regional area by giving local students access to highly qualified instructors hundreds of kilometres away.”

Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) in Port Macquarie has welcomed its first Indigenous Student Support Officer, Ms Helene Jones. Ms Jones headed CSU’s exhibition space at last week’s Deadly Days Aboriginal community event held in Wauchope on 4 September, and said the public reaction to the University’s decision to open a campus in the region had been “amazing”. “Community members were extremely supportive of the University’s decision to commit to the area,” she said. “Many parents and educators of the school students who attended the event made special efforts to visit us at our marquee and thank us personally.” Deadly Days featured entertainment from Justice Crew, Casey Donovan and Troy Cassar-Daley, as well as stalls highlighting higher education and career options. CSU staff ran fun activities to inspire people to consider higher education as an option. “As a new staff member who had ‘come back to country’ after living away for many years, it was heart-warming to see so many familiar faces and to be able to be part of an organisation which is willing to provide opportunities for the people I love and is committed to Aboriginal education on the Mid-North Coast,” Ms Jones said.