Veronica Madigan, senior lecturer and pre-hospital care course coordinator at Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Bathurst Campus has been recognised as a leader and expert in her field. Ms Madigan will now be entered into the International Index of Experts and Leaders – Emergency Services. The index recognises experts and leaders in emergency services such as Police,  Law Enforcement, Security, Ambulance, Emergency Medical Services, Paramedic Services, First Responders, First Aid, Fire, Emergency Management and Rescue on a global scale. Ms Madigan said, “This University pioneered pre-hospital care education in Australia. When I started in 1999 we had 35 students the first year, we now have 150. It’s one of the strongest growing disciplines at CSU. The double degree, nursing and paramedic, is the most popular double degree CSU offers.”

Last month Charles Sturt University (CSU) and Bathurst Regional Council (BRC) signed a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Vice-Chancellor of CSU Professor Ian Goulter said the MoU would see CSU and BRC “develop strategies to attract new business and industry, and this includes opportunities for research, internships and work for CSU students”. In the spirit of this greater collaboration CSU, Bathurst TAFE and BRC will sign a Cultural Cooperation Agreement today, Tuesday 12 December. Acting Head of the School of Communication, Bill Blaikie said the signing will “encourage and foster cultural development in Bathurst. Culture is created by people meeting and talking and then making. This is a significant agreement that indicates the ongoing commitment that the University has to cultural and community development in the city.”

After almost 32 years at Charles Sturt University (CSU), courses manager and accounting lecturer Doug Rolfe is retiring to a “hopefully less hectic life.” Retired life for Doug still sounds very busy - he will continue part time work at CSU Bathurst Campus and continue hobbies of bush walking, abseiling, canyoning and going to the gym. As an afterthought he added, “I’ll be the house husband I suppose for a bit.” He said the high points came late in his career at CSU, when he took on teaching the internship about six years ago. “It does give that interaction between University and employers and I think that is an important way to build relationships with industry, so I really valued that. I have also enjoyed my last three and a half years as course manager which gave me the opportunity to have input into Faculty student policies. I enjoyed the teaching too.”

To a typical university student, 70 or 80 years of age seems positively ancient, while on the other hand, many 90 year olds dream of being an octogenarian again. With Dr Jack Cannon’s help, some of Bathurst’s frail elderly will regain some strength, balance and mobility, therefore “turning back the clock”. Dr Cannon is a lecturer with Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) School of Human Movement Studies. His research showed that resistance exercise can improve the quality of life in older women. For the past two years, he has been working with Bathurst residents over the age of 60 with remarkable results. Now it is the turn of Ilumba Gardens Retirement Village residents. “Generally we find the more frail people become, the more responsive they are. With a proper training routine you can turn some of that around in three weeks.” Dr Cannon is hoping the pilot program will expand in 2007.

Ms Deb Clarke, a lecturer in the School of Human Movement Studies on Charles Sturt University’s Bathurst Campus, has won the Vice-Chancellor’s Teaching Excellence Award for 2006. Ms Clarke’s ability to engage her students and develop them into critical thinkers and life-long learners was central to her success. “I’m also the chair of the School’s Learning and Teaching Committee. The members have formal meetings where we work through issues, but also informal chats in the corridor about ‘how can I do this better? Or how can I teach that?’ If something’s not working well in my tutorials or my lectures, I will do informal evaluations with the students or ask them to write down a few things confidentially, and then try and modify as much as possible to suit their needs. I just love teaching,” said Ms Clarke.

As Year 12 students continue sitting their Higher School Certificate (HSC), latest performance research on the NSW HSC Online study resource by Internet research company Hitwise shows it is in the top 10 education websites in Australia. Now in its tenth year, NSW HSC Online was heralded for providing access to quality learning resources, especially for students in rural and remote areas. The current performance data support this success in providing equity, with high use by students living in provincial centres, who traditionally have below average use of the Internet. There were also more boys than average for an educational website going to HSC Online in the lead-up to the HSC, with 58 per cent males and 42 per cent females using www.hsc.csu.edu.au. The research also revealed excellent brand recognition and a strong association of the site with CSU. Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration) Professor Lyn Gorman said the website’s success highlights its value in bringing high quality resources to all HSC students, regardless of where they live. The NSW HSC Online project was initiated and continues to be maintained and updated by the University in collaboration with the NSW Department of Education and Training.

Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Equine Business Management might sound like all course work and no horseplay, but lecturer Amanda Warren-Smith says this is far from the case. Students regularly take part in competitions, especially one day eventing (ODE). Most recently, a ODE was held at the University’s Orange Campus on Sunday 29 October. Organised and conducted by all first year students of the Equine Business Management course, the day catered for riders who are just starting out in eventing through to those who are about to take the step into the international level of competition. Ms Warren-Smith says it is a very demanding sport comparable with a human triathlon. “The horse needs to be flexible and in-tune to the rider for dressage, have the speed and endurance necessary for cross country, and then be agile and controlled enough to complete a successful showjumping round.” CSU’s next horse competition will be held in March 2007.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian Goulter thanked several CSU staff members for their tremendous contributions to the University at the annual 20/30-year medal presentation luncheon in Bathurst on Friday 4 August. Recipients of the 30-year service medals were Gwen Edwards from the Division of Student Services, Doreen Casey from the Faculty of Health Studies, and Bill Blaike, Senior Lecturer in the School of Communication. Head of the School, Dr Tom Watson said Mr Blaikie inspired “immense loyalty” among his former students. Recipients of the 20-year service medal were Gerard Boland, also from the School of Communications, Dr Jayne Bisman, Associate Professor in the Faculty of Commerce, Julie Clulow from the Division of Library Services, Suellen Piper-Nagy from the Learning Materials Centre and Lorraine Stephens, a Client Services Officer in the Division of Information Technology.

Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) School of Information Technology is collaborating with Hornsby TAFE College in Sydney to develop a two-year Games Diploma course. Hornsby TAFE Head Teacher Greg Higgs said during a recent “cultural exchange” four Hornsby staff travelled with a dozen students to CSU Bathurst Campus, where students from both institutions indulged in pizza and held a “computer games fest while we sat down with CSU staff to talk about credit transfer.” Exchange organiser Errol Chopping, a CSU lecturer in Computer Science, says a credit transfer package is underway. “It looks like they would get credit for three to four subjects in our Computer Science (Games Technology) degree and similar standing in our Computer Science degree. We in turn get interest from potential students and an awareness in the Hornsby region of what we do. It was positive in all respects.” Greg Higgs agrees. “Our students got a first hand look at CSU and the facilities there and they were thrilled to know they had fellow students across the ‘sandstone curtain’”, he said. “It was also really supportive for the staff. When you have common goals and common interests it leads to an intellectual and technical exchange.”