Masterclass to develop strategies to engage businesses’ stakeholders

* Free one-hour masterclass will explore process of identifying and analysing Bathurst businesses’ stakeholders

* Masterclass will help businesses to develop practical strategies to engage stakeholders with their business

CenWest Innovate will present a free ‘Public Relations Stakeholder Analysis Masterclass’ for business people in Bathurst on Thursday 6 September.

The workshop will be presented by Dr Sharon Schoenmaker, the acting Head of the School of Communication and Creative Industries at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst.

Prior to joining CSU in 2009, Dr Schoenmaker worked in professional communication practice spanning public relations, organisational communication, and project management. Her research explores the use of social media in interacting with others online.

Dr Schoenmaker (pictured) said, “This hour-long masterclass will take participants through the process of identifying and analysing their stakeholders and assist them to develop practical strategies to engage stakeholders with their business.

“The session will provide participants with the tools to prioritize existing relationships with stakeholders and identify opportunities to grow their business,” Dr Schoenmaker said.

“Local businesses know their customers better than anyone else. This workshop will assist business owners to maximize those interactions with customers to benefit their business.”

The ‘Public Relations Stakeholder Analysis Masterclass’ on Thursday 6 September will be held at the Upstairs Startup Hub, Level 1, 203-209 Russell St, Bathurst.

Registration is from 8am, for the one-hour masterclass starting 8.30am to conclude at 9.30am.

The masterclass is free but participants must register: https://www.facebook.com/events/503503743428939/

CSU Green tackles e-waste at Wangaratta STEM Careers Expo

* CSU exhibits at STEM Careers Expo at the Galen Catholic College Stadium in Wangaratta on Wednesday 15 August

* CSU Green champions ‘e-waste’ as a valuable resource, to deflect harmful materials from landfill

* CSU is committed to reducing waste across the University from all sources including e-waste

The environmental problem that is electronic waste (e-waste) will be on show at a Charles Sturt University (CSU) display at the National Science Week STEM Careers Expo event in Wangaratta on Wednesday 15 August.

Coordinator for Partnerships with CSU Green Ms Michelle Wilkinson said, “We will show that old televisions, computers, and mobiles are a waste problem that needs solutions from science, as well as by changing people’s behaviours.

“While this so-called ‘e-waste’ has valuable resources that can be extracted, it can also be a source of harmful materials that takes up valuable space in landfill sites.

“This is a problem across Australia. For example, in the year to June 2018, nearly 80,000 old televisions were delivered to the Albury Waste Management Centre, and over 41,000 were disposed of in Wodonga. At the same time, nearly 40,000 old computers and mobiles were delivered to the two centres.”

Ms Wilkinson said that CSU is committed to reducing waste across the University from all sources, including e-waste, and like many regional businesses e-waste is a large proportion of its waste stream.

“Our display at the Wangaratta event will highlight to high school students and the wider community that we have to stop seeing superseded and disposed electronic devices as ‘waste’ and start seeing them as a source of resources, creativity, and even business opportunities! And we can do this through creative science,” Ms Wilkinson said.

“While Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths (STEM) courses are often responsible for generating e-waste, they can also produce solutions, and Charles Sturt University wants to be part of the solution.”

Ms Wilkinson will attend the CSU Green display as part of the STEM Careers Expo which starts for high school students at 12pm on Wednesday 15 August in the Galen Catholic College Stadium in Wangaratta, and at 4 pm for the whole community.

The display will also include information about STEM courses at CSU, including agricultural sciences, health sciences, environmental sciences, information technology, mathematics, and engineering.

CSU inter-campus blood donation challenge

Blood donations received during the Charles Sturt University (CSU) inter-campus blood donation challenge will help save 654 lives.

The CSU inter-campus blood donation drive ran from 1 March to 1 July 2018 and involved all six CSU main campuses.

Mr John Feist from the Australian Red Cross Blood Service said over the four-month period 925 donations were made by University staff and students.

“At Charles Sturt University in Bathurst alone we received 218 donations making it the second highest number across the University’s six campuses,” Mr Feist said.

Returning to CSU in Bathurst, the Red Cross mobile blood unit will take blood donations over three days.

CSU in Bathurst appointment times:

Monday 13 August from 9.15am to 3.45pm.

Tuesday 14 August from 9.15am to 1.30pm

Wednesday 15 August from 9.15am to 3.45pm

Mr Feist said winter is a particularly challenging time with over 1,000 appointments cancelled each week.

“Cold and flu season causes many to cancel their appointments, so we need as many fit and healthy people to step up and donate,” Mr Feist said.

CSU in Bathurst student liaison officer Mr Scott Hatch said the inter-campus blood donation challenge had become an annual event that helped connect the University with the community.

“To participate in the challenge, staff and students should register as a member of the ‘CSU Bathurst’ Red25 group,” Mr Hatch said.

“To book an appointment students can call 13 1495 or go to www.donateblood.com.au. If they can’t make the visit on campus, the mobile unit is in Bathurst every month at the McDonald’s car park on Durham Street,” Mr Hatch said.

Elsewhere art exhibition starts two-year regional tour in Wagga Wagga

* Major exhibition by acclaimed Australian artists to open in Wagga Wagga

* Exhibition to then tour NSW regional centres

* Related workshop and seminar will examine ‘Orientalism’

A major exhibition will commence its two-year tour to regional centres when it opens to the public at the HR Gallop Gallery (building 21) at Charles Sturt University (CSU), in Wagga Wagga from 10am on Monday 13 August 2018.

The exhibition Elsewhere: Travels through Morocco, Egypt, Syria, Iran and Central Asia will be officially launched 10 days later at the HR Gallop Gallery at 6pm on Thursday 23 August.

This exhibition has been curated by Dr Sam Bowker (pictured left) lecturer in art history and visual culture in the CSU School of Communication and Creative Industries in Wagga Wagga, with the support of assistant curator Ms Jessica Green.

Dr Bowker said Elsewhere is a touring exhibition that will depart Wagga Wagga to be exhibited in Griffith later in 2018, in Dubbo and Port Macquarie in 2019, and in Tamworth in 2020.

“The exhibition coincides with the 40th anniversary of Edward Said’s book Orientalism,” Dr Bowker said.

“In the exhibition acclaimed Australian artists Wendy Sharpe and Bernard Ollis critically reflect on travel and drawing as creative practices to help us witness and understand each other.

“Wendy Sharpe is a winner of the Archibald Prize, and has served as an Official War Artist for the Australian War Memorial, and subsequently served on the AWM's Board of Directors.

“Bernard Ollis is an internationally acclaimed artist and the former Director of the National Art School in Sydney.

“I commend this exhibition to all who are interested in art and the world seen through artists’ eyes,” Dr Bowker said.

The exhibition also includes a Booranga Writers’ Centre workshop at the HR Gallop Gallery from 2pm to 4pm on Saturday 18 August, and a seminar, ‘Art after Orientalism’, from 1pm to 2pm on Thursday 30 August in the lecture theatre beside the HR Gallop Gallery at CSU.

The Elsewhere: Travels through Morocco, Egypt, Syria, Iran and Central Asia exhibition tour has been made possible through the support of the NSW Government through Create NSW, and Charles Sturt University.

The free exhibition opens to the public at the HR Gallop Gallery (building 21) on Darnell Smith Drive at CSU in Wagga Wagga from 10am on Monday 13 August to Friday 7 September. The official launch is at 6pm on Thursday 23 August.

CSU arts and culture CUP grants available

* CSU CUP small grants available for Mid North Coast region arts and culture projects

* Applications close Friday 24 August

* Previous recipients include the Henry Lawson Festival of Arts in Grenfell, Uranquinty Preschool, the Wagga City Rugby Male Choir, Canowindra Arts Inc, Cudal Public School P and C Association, the Rotary Club of Orange Inc, and the Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre

* The grants help the community to encourage participation in arts and culture

The next round of 2018 Charles Sturt University (CSU) Community-University Partnership (CUP) grants for arts and cultural activities are available for applications.

Individuals and community groups across the University’s regions covered by its campuses in Port Macquarie, Dubbo, Bathurst, Albury-Wodonga, Orange, and Wagga Wagga are invited to apply.

Associate Professor Laura Dan, Director Knowledge Exchange and Engagement at CSU, said, “The University provides up to $20,000 worth of CUP grants across its regional footprint, and I encourage individuals and groups with projects or initiatives that meet the criteria to apply.”

Applications close on Friday 24 August, and the CUP grants application form is here:

https://about.csu.edu.au/community/grants/arts-and-culture

Previous 2017 CSU CUP arts and culture grant recipients from across the CSU regional footprint include:

The Rotary Club of Orange Inc received a $1,000 CSU CUP arts and culture grant to stage 17 poetry workshops in 10 primary schools across the Orange region from17 to 27 October 2017.

The Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre (BMEC) used its $1,000 grant to bring professional writers to speak at the Bathurst Writers’ and Readers’ Festival, and keep the festival free and therefore accessible for the community.

The Henry Lawson Festival of Arts in Grenfell organises national competitions and exhibitions in the literary, visual and performing arts, and celebrates and promotes the winners. As in 2016, the CSU Cup grant was used to help stage and judge the 2017 Verse and Short Story Competition.

Mount Austin High School in Wagga Wagga used its grant to help fund students to go to Sydney for rehearsals for State Dance and the Schools Spectacular. The grant assisted the students with accommodation and food while in Sydney for rehearsals and performances.

Uranquinty Preschool’s project explored the music of other cultures with three- to five- year-old children. The grant was used to invite musical artists to the preschool to engage the children in music and dance with instruments that included a didgeridoo, and African drums. Instruments, CDs and cultural costumes were also purchased to support this project.

The Wagga City Rugby Male Choir, in conjunction with the South Wagga Public School used the CSU CUP grant to contribute to the availability of sound and amplification equipment to assist student band members to engage with learning and future musical education.

The Canowindra Arts Inc CSU CUP grant funded an art course for young artists in Canowindra to develop students’ personal skills in specific art mediums and styles, and facilitated their practical knowledge and application of art.

Cudal Public School Parents and Citizens Association received a $1,000 grant to create stronger ties within the small community by staging a school and community theatrical production. The funds were used to cover costs associated with the project, including sound and microphones for students to use during the play and the creation of props and costumes.

CSU scholarship to support regional veterinary science students

Bob and Pam Knight’s significant $250,000 donation will allow Charles Sturt University (CSU) to create a scholarship program that will support regional veterinary students complete their studies.

The scholarship program will be called the Legacy of Bob and Pam Knight from Noorat and will use the endowment to fund three $5,000 scholarships to Veterinary students each year in perpetuity.

CSU Director of Advancement Ms Sarah Ansell said the endowment reflected Bob and Pam Knight’s passion for the University’s veterinary science program and their commitment to support students in regional Australia, particularly regional Victoria.

“The scholarships will alleviate some of the financial barriers faced by regional students and ensure regional communities have a strong supply of veterinary science graduates.” Ms Ansell said.

Having run their own regional veterinary practice for many years, Bob and Pam are well aware of the need for veterinary services in regional Australia. They also understand the high costs associated with study and how this can be a barrier for some students.

Their scholarship is designed to reduce financial pressure by providing funds to cover important components such as textbooks, equipment and the cost of completing practical placements.

Bob and Pam Knight presented this generous gift to the University during a recent visit to CSU in Wagga Wagga.

Photo (left to right): Michael Van Diggelen (veterinary science student), Dr David Golland (practitioner), Associate Professor Kris Hughes (CSU Academic), Evie Beech (veterinary science student), Associate Professor Jane Heller (CSU Academic), Mrs Pam Knight, Associate Professor Rob Woodgate (CSU Academic, Acting Head of School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences), Doctor Bob Knight, Professor Glenn Edwards (Interim Dean, Faculty of Science, CSU), Sarah Ansell (CSU Director of Advancement) and Ben Mills (veterinary science student).

Home-based mindfulness program to alleviate PTSD symptoms

• * Researchers are looking for at least 40 participants to test if mindfulness practice can alleviate symptoms of PTSD
• * Each year 1.5 million Australians are diagnosed with symptoms of PTSD
• * Participants will undertake a one week home-based mindfulness program to determine the effect on PTSD symptoms

A research team led by a Charles Sturt University medical researcher will assess the effectiveness of mindfulness practices such as breathing practices and self-compassion to alleviate the symptoms of a debilitating mental health issue.

“Each year 1.5 million Australians are diagnosed with symptoms of PTSD, or Post-traumatic Stress Disorder,” Said research team leader Associate Professor Herbert Jelinek.

“Current approaches for treating symptoms of PTSD include cognitive-behavioural therapies and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy, and stress-inoculation training which uses controlled breathing, muscle relaxation and positive self-talk.

“Recently, mindful emotion labelling has demonstrated benefit for PTSD. Even brief mindfulness interventions over one week seem likely to foster improved wellbeing and reduced PTSD symptoms.

“We want to put these claims to the test in a scientific trial.”

Professor Jelinek is collaborating with Monash University researchers Mr Darius Rountree-Harrison and Dr Dominic Hosemans for the study, which is aiming for at least 40 participants aged over 18 years old, at least 20 of whom were diagnosed with PTSD in the past year and 20 without PTSD.

Each participant will receive free mindfulness training in two one-hour sessions over the course of two consecutive weeks.

Participants will learn simple skills that can be easily applied in daily life to help manage the symptoms of PTSD. They will also be in a draw to win a $150 Westmead shopping voucher.

For more information on or to participate in the PTSD study, contact Herbert Jelinek on 0427 681 754 or email hjelinek@csu.edu.au, or Darius Rountree-Harrison on 0421 821 978 or email drou0001@student.monash.edu.

CSU Foundation scholarship ceremony in Dubbo

A Charles Sturt University (CSU) Foundation Scholarship presentation ceremony will be held in Dubbo on Wednesday 8 August.

Director of CSU Advancement Ms Sarah Ansell said the ceremony is one of five held to award $1.3 million in scholarships to 300 students across the University community.

“The scholarship ceremonies are an important opportunity to celebrate the achievements of our students, the generosity of our donors, and the support and commitment of our local communities,” Ms Ansell said.

“Scholarships provide access and opportunity for our students, ensuring they receive an education which will in turn allow them to bring knowledge, skills and social capital back to their own communities.”

Ms Ansell noted that the scholarship ceremonies were also a way for the University to recognise the significance of the donors.

“Their scholarships are vital in alleviating some of the barriers to higher education and ensuring students can concentrate on their studies and enjoy an enriching student experience,” Ms Ansell said.

The scholarship presentation ceremony will be held on Wednesday 8 August from 6pm at the lecture theatre (room 202) at CSU in Dubbo.

CSU Foundation scholarship ceremony for Bathurst and Orange students

The Charles Sturt University (CSU) Foundation Scholarship presentation ceremony will be held in Bathurst on Friday 10 August for students who attend the University in Bathurst and Orange.

Director of CSU Advancement Ms Sarah Ansell said the University would award $1.3 million in scholarships to 300 students across the five scholarship ceremonies held in July and August.

The scholarships will be awarded to students studying in Bathurst and Orange across education, health, science, the arts, and criminal justice, reflecting the University’s diverse student community.

Ms Ansell said the scholarships were not only an investment in students but also in regional communities by providing the education and training needed to ensure strong and sustainable communities.

“Scholarships provide access and opportunity for our students, ensuring they receive an education which will in turn allow them to bring knowledge, skills and social capital back to their own communities,” Ms Ansell said.

Ms Ansell noted that the scholarship ceremonies were also a way for the University to recognise the significance of the donors.

“Their scholarships are vital in alleviating some of the barriers to higher education and ensuring students can concentrate on their studies and enjoy an enriching student experience,” Ms Ansell said.

The scholarship presentation ceremony will be at 11.30am on Friday 10 August  at the CD Blake Auditorium (building 1220) at CSU in Bathurst . The ceremony will award scholarships to students attending the University in Bathurst and Orange.

Free public screening of Hope Road at CSU in Bathurst

* Film explores refugee experience and hope in Australia

* CSU and Bathurst Refugee Support Group co-host important screening

* Leading Australian documentary filmmaker to host Q&A session

The next Explorations Series free public lecture at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst on Thursday 16 August will feature the screening of the documentary film Hope Road by renowned Australian filmmaker Tom Zubrycki.

Hope Road will be co-presented and hosted by CSU with the Bathurst Refugee Support Group.

The director of the film Mr Tom Zubrycki will be attending the event and hosting the question and answer session at the end.

Hope Road follows an ambitious project undertaken by a Sudanese refugee, Mr Zacharia Machiek, one of the original ‘Lost Boys’, who now lives in Sydney.

Zac’s dream is to build a much needed school back in his home village in the new nation of South Sudan. He enlists the backing of an eager, but inexperienced, group of supporters in Australia who organise and join him on a 42-day charity walk to raise funds for the venture.

Will this strategy raise the funds they need? Thwarted by escalating conflict back in South Sudan, and shocked by a broken relationship, Zac has to draw on all his resources to keep his dream alive.

Hope Road lifts the veil on what life can be like for refugees like Zac caught between two worlds as they re-establish their lives in Australia, but at the same time feel an acute obligation to their homeland.

Mr Brian Mowbray, Chairperson of the Bathurst Refugee Support Group, said, “The Bathurst Refugee Support Group would like to thank Charles Sturt University for hosting this event.

“It’s great that we are able to partner with the University to deliver this important cultural and community event.

“We look forward to this event in Bathurst, and it’s a real honour that such a significant Australian filmmaker as Tom Zubrycki is able to join us for the evening on Thursday 16 August.”

The Explorations Series free public lecture and film screening with Q&A session is from 6pm to 8.30pm on Thursday 16 August in room 223, building 1292, at CSU in Bathurst.

For catering purposes please register with registration button at the bottom of the CSU Events Page: http://news.csu.edu.au/events/bathurst/explorations-series-film-screening-of-hope-road-by-tom-zubrycki

The official Hope Road webpage is http://hoperoad.com.au/

The Explorations Series is part of the University’s community engagement program and aims to engage our rural and regional communities in discussion and debate about major issues facing our regions, the nation, and the world.