Representatives of Charles Sturt University (CSU) and TAFE NSW – Western Institute will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Thursday 12 April at CSU in Bathurst to enhance the collaboration between the two institutions and the opportunities for students in the region. The Vice-Chancellor and President of CSU, Professor Andrew Vann, and Ms Kate Baxter, Director of TAFE NSW – Western Institute, will sign the document on behalf of their institutions. Professor Ken Dillon, the Dean of Studies at CSU, said, “The MoU sets out how the institutions intend to facilitate and continue their academic collaboration. This might include, but is not limited to, providing pathway programs with credit packages for domestic and international students between Western Institute and CSU; the sharing of facilities and resources; the conduct of conferences, public lectures, seminars, workshops and similar activities; research and consultancies; and undertaking joint projects, including professional learning, distance and online learning and systems improvements.” The MoU will be signed at 11am on Thursday 12 April at the Chancellery at The Grange at CSU, Panorama Avenue, Bathurst.

A public lecture at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Orange will shed light on the nature of the trade-offs involved in the proposed transfer of water to the environment in the Murray Darling Basin. Professor Kevin Parton a lecturer and researcher at the CSU School of Marketing and Management, is an expert commentator on the economic and social effects of the water transfer. His presentation is at 6pm Friday 20 April, and he believes there will need to be trade-offs between economic, social and environmental objectives when increasing the flows of water in the Murray-Darling system, which is Australia’s largest river system. “The Murray-Darling Basin Authority has proposed to transfer 2 750 gigalitres per year from irrigation to environmental flows,” he said. “Many farmers consider the costs of even the smallest transfer to be prohibitive, while many conservationists regard anything less than 4 000 gigalitres per year as insufficient to capture any significant environmental benefits.” Professor Parton will consider a number of findings from preliminary research in this controversial topic, including the costs to irrigation farmers, the amounts of environmental water needed, gains for Murray-Darling communities from the plan, and the effects on losers from the plan.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) students with a passion for sustainability can help the University reduce its environmental footprint as part of a training and internship program. The 2012 CSU Green Steps program  involves a week of intensive training looking at environmental issues, auditing and communication along with project planning and management. Students will then put these skills into practice in an on-campus sustainability project in conjunction with CSU Green. They can also opt to undertake an internship with an external organisation to get valuable workplace experience. Acting Manager of CSU Green Mr Edward Maher said this has benefits for students and the host organisation. “The students are highly motivated and come armed with enthusiasm and hands on training. They are ready to make a real improvement to the sustainability of their host organisation,” he said. “Green Steps also gives students an edge when it comes to commencing their professional careers.”  Students and organisations interested in hosting an intern can contact CSU Green. Green Steps at CSU is a partnership between CSU Green and the Monash Sustainability Institute.

It was controlled chaos at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst today, Thursday 19 April, when paramedic students dealt with multiple ‘patients’ with a range of injuries during a mass casualty simulation in front of the University library. Mr Brian Haskins, lecturer at the School of Biomedical Sciences at CSU in Bathurst, said, “We aim to provide our students with a close approximation of what they are likely to encounter later in their working lives, so exercises like this are essential. There were 20 casualties, played by students, and eight paramedics to triage and treat them all.” The students are enrolled in Clinical Studies 412 in the Graduate Diploma in Clinical Practice (Paramedic), and the exercise was videoed to provide feedback for the participants. The 20 casualties are volunteers from the Bachelor of Clinical Practice (Paramedic) degree. On Wednesday afternoon, the students participated in a simulated motor vehicle collision with an trapped patient requiring extrication using of the ‘jaws of life’ cutting equipment, demonstrated by the State Emergency Service (SES) Bathurst Unit, to gain access to the patients.

The Charles Sturt University (CSU) Regional and Remote Learning Support Team will visit Wilcannia on Tuesday 24 April to meet and provide support to CSU distance education students in the area. Team manager Mr James Brann said, “While this visit aims to provide student support in our partnership with the CSU Teaching Education in Communities (TEC) program, we are keen to meet all Charles Sturt University distance education students living in the area. Our team members have all studied by distance education, and with that practical knowledge we aim to enhance our distance education students’ experience of their courses and their prospects for successful completion. After our session with the students, we will host a community barbeque to which we have invited community leaders to meet the team and learn more about the University’s programs.” The student support session will run from 10.30am to 1pm at Wilcannia Central School and will be followed by a community barbeque at 2pm. The CSU Regional and Remote Learning Support Team has already visited and provided support to CSU distance education students in Parkes, Jindabyne, Cooma, Moree, Bourke, Broken Hill, Griffith, and Mudgee.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) has signed on as a sponsor of the 2012 Newton’s Nation gravity sport festival at Bathurst’s Mount Panorama from Friday 27 to Sunday 29 April after its students gained valuable work experience at previous Newton’s events. Ms Cheryl Howell, manager of market development in the CSU Division of Marketing, said, “Newton’s Nation provides a supervised, safe environment for young people to have fun and compete at an elite level. As part of our commitment to regional communities, Charles Sturt University saw an opportunity to support an event for young people that also features national and international competitors. Part of the sponsorship includes the opportunity for a number of our public relations, communications and marketing students to gain practical experience working with the organisers in the lead up to and during the event.”   In addition, Mr Pat Sproule, lecturer in TV production  and Associate Head of the CSU School of Communication and Creative Industries in Wagga Wagga, is taking CSU’s outside broadcast (OB) van , three staff and 15 students to Newton’s Nation to video the various skateboard, street luge and other downhill wheeled competitions, as well as the BMX bike events and bands that are performing over the weekend. “This is an excellent opportunity for our TV production students because it’s technically more advanced than other outside broadcasts we’ve done,” Mr Sproule said. “We are required to film approximately 1.5 kilometres of track and need specialised technical assistance to enable us to live-stream footage to a large screen for spectators at the top of the Mount as well as to YouTube and iiNet channels. The footage will also be used by other ‘extreme sports’ TV shows.”

The future of the trade union movement in Australia is the topic of a public lecture to be presented in Bathurst on Wednesday 2 May. Ms Cassandra Coleman, a union delegate with the Public Service Association, will highlight parallels between the failed and unpopular ‘Work Choices’ legislation enacted by the federal Howard Coalition government and similar legislation of the current O’Farrell government in NSW. “We were justified in opposing ‘Work Choices’ through our ‘Rights at Work’ campaign, and we are just as right in opposing the so-called O’Farrell reforms,” Ms Coleman said. The speaker will also address the problems caused by increasing casualisation in the workplace, and how unions can engage with their members, non-members in industries, and the wider community. “I will also discuss the future of the union movement in the current and recent political environments found in Australia,” she said. The lecture will be held between 1pm and 2.30pm in Room 324 of building C3 on CSU in Bathurst.

At first glance mistletoe might seem to be a destructive weed but Charles Sturt University (CSU) ecologist Associate Professor David Watson will explore the role the parasitic plant plays in promoting biodiversity at a seminar in Wagga Wagga on Wednesday 2 May. The National Wine and Grape Industry Centre at CSU in Wagga Wagga will host the seminar titled, Parasitic plants as drivers of ecological communities: patterns, predictions, processes. In his presentation, Professor Watson will pull together a decade of research on mistletoe ecology in southern Australia. “The word parasite has nasty connotations to it but rather than being negative or even neutral, in natural systems parasitic plants may be disproportionately important to biodiversity,” he said. “This may provide land managers with a new tool to boost the value of remnant habitats for wildlife and maximise ecosystem functionality in modified landscapes.”

High school students will get to experience the world of Nursing and Paramedics at university when Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst holds a special MyDay event on Tuesday 15 May. MyDay offers high school students the unique opportunity to experience a day in the life of a university student. More than 60 students who have expressed a particular interest in studying Nursing and Paramedics will experience a session in the Simulation Clinics and other activities as well as a campus tour and key information on support available to make their goals achievable. CSU has submitted an application to the Regional Priorities Round of the Education Investment Fund (EIF) for $63.6 million to expand health programs including Nursing and Paramedics.