The annual day-long regional Tournament of Minds competition for school students from Year 5 to Year 10 will be held at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst on Sunday 27 August.Dr Denise Wood, acting Director of Learning Design and senior lecturer in the Division of Learning and Teaching said the tournament involves problem solving and creative thinking activities appropriate to the students' ages. Dr Wood liaises each year with the Regional Director, Ms Annette Welch, to host the event at CSU."Parents, families and children all come to watch them perform in their chosen discipline," Dr Wood said."The event has taken place at the University in Bathurst since about 2008, and it is amazing to have so many students and families here on campus making use of the facilities."Current Charles Sturt University students will be involved in judging the activities."The event organisers expect approximately 300 students, parents, families and teachers to attend.Students will compete to solve problems in four discipline areas: language literature, social sciences, science technology, and engineering mathematics. All the performances will be in the Mansfield Building (building 1411) in various tutorial and lecture rooms. The performances continue throughout the day, with a final presentation at 3.30pm."Teams nominate one area and have worked on the solution to the given problem in that area for the last six weeks," Dr Wood said."On the day they also compete in a spontaneous problem solution where they have to work together in a limited time to come up with an answer. Their discipline area solution is presented in a 10-minute performance, which they present in a three metre square. All their props, costumes and bits and pieces have to be made by them. The script will have been written by the team, and they will have had no outside support in completing their solution."

Indigenous students from across regional NSW will get a chance to experience university life first-hand at the Indigenous Access Program (IAP) to be hosted at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst from Monday 28 August to Friday 1 September.The IAP is an intensive five-day alternative entry program to CSU designed to build confidence in potential future students as part of the University's commitment to providing personalised support to encourage Indigenous students to enrol in CSU courses.Manager of the Indigenous Student Centre at CSU in Bathurst Mr Nathan Peckham said, "The prospective students undertake a range of assessments to determine their suitability for their chosen course. They have access to course and career advice, meet staff and students, and take campus tours to inspect facilities."The IAP is only for students intending to study at CSU, and successful completion of this program will provide entry into a range of CSU bachelor courses. Learn more about the Indigenous Access Program here.

A new production at the Ponton Theatre at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst explores the realm of young people known as 'millennials'.Think Outside the Label is an original performance devised by second-year Bachelor of Communication (Theatre Media) students in the CSU School of Communication and Creative Industries in Bathurst and Cycle Productions.Lecturer and director Mr Dan Aubin said the production explores what it's like to be young people born at the turn of this century and coming of age now, who are otherwise known in the marketing parlance of the day as 'millennials'."This 45-minute show is by millennials for millennials and everyone, and uses comedy, physical theatre and dance to engage the audience with questions about the meaning of the labelling of this generation as 'millennials'," Mr Aubin said."Are millennials lazy, entitled, narcissistic and weak as some would label them, or are there any positives to this label? The production provides plenty to ponder for audiences to make up their own minds."Think Outside the Label starts at 7pm on Thursday 10, Friday 11, and Saturday 12 August at the Ponton Theatre (building 1434) at CSU in Bathurst. The bar opens from 6.30pm.Tickets are $10 concession or $12 for adults at the door or online at www.trybooking.com/RHVZThere is a language warning for the production.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst will host its annual major event highlighting the Power of Engineering for young women interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) as a future career.Located in the award-winning Engineering building and run by CSU Engineering, The Power of Engineering will welcome 250 female students from Years 8 to 10 in high schools across the NSW central west region this Thursday 10 and Friday 11 August.Lecturer in engineering, Dr Andrea Goncher, said the participants will see the opportunities that a career in engineering or science can offer over the two-day program."Last year's event was a runaway success, and we are looking forward to inspiring the next generation of women engineers for our region, Australia and the world," Dr Goncher said.The CSU engineering course has already been recognised globally, with one of its student teams winning the national Engineers Without Borders Challenge in 2016.In addition, CSU Engineering was also chosen this year by the renowned US-based Massachusetts Institute of Technology as the only Australian case study for a project highlighting the four most innovative courses in the world.The day-long program will provide real-world science and engineering problems for the students to solve while demonstrating the importance of collaborative work and human-centred design."One of the challenges of recruiting young women into engineering is helping them to see themselves as engineers," Dr Goncher said."By giving them real-world challenges to solve, and female engineer role models to guide them while they do so, we help these young women see that there is a future for them in a STEM career."The students are travelling from public and private high schools located in Blayney, Gilgandra, Mudgee, Orange and Oberon as well as Bathurst to take part in the program.

The 7th Theo Barker Memorial Lecture will feature young local performers in a rehearsed reading of the text delivered by Australian actress and playwright Ms Rachael Coopes.This free public lecture on Friday 18 August is the next in the Charles Sturt University (CSU) Explorations Series in Bathurst.Adjunct Associate Professor in history in the CSU School of Humanities and Social Sciences Robin McLachlan said, "The Theo Barker Memorial Lecture is widely recognised as a significant Bathurst event that is both scholarly in content and popular in presentation."Lecture presenter Ms Coopes (pictured) has a deep passion for research-based projects derived from her fascination with how Australia's past informs its present and a desire to create theatre for young people."Her plays have been staged in the USA, Britain, and across Australia, and they delve into the complex process of merging history with imagination."For her Theo Barker Memorial Lecture, Rachael will draw on examples from Bathurst's history to illustrate how this can happen and will reflect on her present work-in-progress script which will premiere next year in the annual season of the Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre (BMEC). Young local actors will read from this script during the lecture."In a departure from the usual venue at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst, the 2017 lecture, titled 'The Ghosts of the Past are Very Present in Bathurst', will be presented at the Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre (BMEC) on 18 August.From its inception in 2005, the Theo Barker Memorial Lecture has been co-hosted by the Bathurst District Historical Society and CSU, with BMEC joining on this occasion as a co-host.Manager of BMEC Mr Stephen Champion said, "We're delighted that BMEC can collaborate with the University and the Bathurst District Historical Society on this occasion to present a dynamic public lecture by Ms Coopes featuring talented young local performers."Rachael is an exceptionally gifted and perceptive writer as evidenced by the awards and nominations received for Sugarland. Our commission, The Climbing Tree, is based on the processes that lead to that work and the current draft is powerful and compelling.The theme is engaging and invites the audience to reflect on Bathurst's history and how it shapes us all as local residents."The venue for this free public lecture is the City Hall at the Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre, William Street, Bathurst, at 6pm for a 6.30pm start on Friday 18 August. Light refreshments will be served before the start of the lecture.

Early childhood education researchers from Charles Sturt University (CSU) visited Forbes Preschool recently to share reflections on research completed last year.Dr Tamara Cumming, Dr Audrey Wang and Ms Jenny Dwyer from the CSU School of Teacher Education in Bathurst visited Forbes Preschool on Friday 28 July. They were accompanied by two educators from Live Better Community Services (previously Care West) preschools in Orange who also participated in the research with preschools in Forbes and Dubbo.Dr Cumming explained that the 2016 research explored the preschool experience of children in disadvantaged communities, and tracked their progress towards school readiness."Working closely with early childhood educators as research partners over the course of the year allowed for rich insights and testing at multiple times," Dr Cumming said."The findings of the report made visible the changes in children's development, as well the complexities of working with communities where families experience disadvantage, and of non-Indigenous educators working with Indigenous communities."Friday's visit allowed us to continue our engagement with educators from the preschools, and to support the participating educators to reflect and discuss their experiences and the findings between themselves."As well as discussing the implications of the report's findings, we planned for future research together, with the support of the University and industry partners."The researchers presented an orange tree to the preschool to thank the educators and children for being part of the 2016 research project.The CSU researchers who worked on the 2016 project were Dr Audrey Wang, Dr Tamara Cumming, Dr Libbey Murray, Ms Jenny Dwyer and Professor Linda Harrison.

Two marketing communications graduates who are now high profile industry executives with global success will return to Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst next week to present a Master Class.CSU alumni Mr Chris Colter (pictured left), now Strategy Director of UM in Sydney and a global Gold winner at Cannes Young Lions in 2015, and Ms Charlotte Berry (pictured below), now UM's Strategy Executive and global Silver winner at Cannes Young Lions in 2017, will present the Master Class to advertising and public relations students on Monday 7 August.Ms Anne Llewellynn, lecturer in advertising in the CSU School of Communication and Creative Industries in Bathurst, said, "This is an wonderful opportunity for our students to learn from people who educated at Charles Sturt University and have gone on to compete successfully on the global stage against industry representatives from around the world."Both were also IAA 'Big Idea' National Champions as members of CSU Kajulu student marketing communications teams, Chris in 2010 and Charlotte in 2015."Their Master Class will provide great background and insights to assist current advertising and public relations students to develop their recommendations for clients."The Master Class will cover an overview of the current media landscape, principles of modern connection planning, finding the perfect insight, creative connection strategies for owned, shared and earned as well as paid media, and relevant case studies.The Master Class on 7 August follows other recent Master Classes by industry leaders for CSU students.Ms Louise Ferguson (Senior Account Director, Octagon) and Mr Ethan McLean (Head of Creative at Milkmoney) presented a Master Class on Wednesday 19 July. Octagon is a worldwide leader in brand engagement and specialises in creating dynamic brand engagement campaigns for its clients, across sports, lifestyle and entertainment. Milkmoney is a content creation company, creating engaging and compelling stories.On Monday 31 July Ms Jane Mathews, Director of Membership and Professional Development with The Communications Council presented a Master Class. Her focus was on Account Management, a job which took her around the world. She also presented details of the highly sought after Communications Council 2018 Graduate Program for advertising and public relations graduates.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) has announced the successful Community-University Partnership (CUP) sports grants 2017 (Summer Round) for the Bathurst region.Head of Campus at CSU in Bathurst Associate Professor Chika Anyanwu said, "The CUP Rural and Regional Sports Development Program is a small grants program offering $500 to $1 000 to assist young rural sportspeople or teams to attend regional, national or other one-off events."The grants also assist community sporting groups to host regional, national or other one-off events in the University's campus regions, and to provide equipment to assist young people who have difficulty meeting the cost of participation in sports programs."I congratulate all the successful grant winners and hope that our support goes a long way in helping them achieve their sporting ambitions."The successful applicants for the Bathurst region are:Western Region Academy of Sport – Sara Matthews to represent NSW at the National (Under 16) Basketball Championships in Perth from 8 to 15 July 2017. ($625 grant)Western Region Academy of Sport – Darcie Morrison to represent NSW throughout all 4 rounds of the AON National University Rugby Seven's Series during the months of August and September 2017. ($625 grant awarded)Blayney Rams Rugby Union Club – To purchase appropriate training equipment ($1 000 grant)Bathurst Giants Australia Rules Football Club – To establish and support an Indigenous round within the local AFL. The grant funds will be used by the Giants to purchase a full set of AFL jumpers that will have Indigenous artwork within the design ($750 grant)Denison College of Secondary Education, Bathurst High Campus – To support Ryan Peacock (pictured left) in the NSW Combined High Schools United Kingdom Cricket Tour. ($1 000 grant)The CUP Sports (Winter) Round opens up on 4 September 2017, with applications closing on 2 October 2017. To submit an application please visit https://www.csu.edu.au/about/community/partnerships/grants

Organisations in the Bathurst region have been advised of their success in two categories of the Charles Sturt University (CSU) 2017 Community-University Partnership (CUP) grants.The grants announcements are for the Rural and Regional Education Development Program and the Rural and Regional Arts and Culture Program.Head of Campus at CSU in Bathurst, Associate Professor Chika Anyanwu said, "The Community-University Partnerships program aims to advance our mission by cultivating strong, relevant and collaborative partnerships with local communities, industry, government and employers."It is just one of the ways that the University demonstrates its motto, 'For the public good', and its ethos, 'yindyamarra winhanganha', meaning 'the wisdom of respectfully knowing how to live well in a world worth living in'."It gives me great pleasure to congratulate the successful applicants in our region."The CUP Rural and Regional Education Development Program is a small grant program (generally between $500 and $1 000) aimed at assisting primary and secondary schools, and not-for-profit early childhood centres in the University's regions, acquire equipment or consumables that assist in facilitating students' learning and engagement in rural and regional areas. Successful applicants in this category each received $1 000, and they include:St Stanislaus College in Bathurst, to engage and challenge students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The grant will be used to purchase a Rocket Launcher so that Year 8 students can prepare to compete in the NSW Aeronautical Velocity Challenge.Holman Place Public School in Cowra, a special needs school that caters for students with a range of disabilities including autism, physical disabilities, intellectual disabilities and mental health, for its Special Needs Sensory Area, to purchase specialised equipment that can further support students while they are at school.St Raphael's Catholic School in Cowra, for its Interactive Outdoor Learning Area 'Move and Groove' Music Wall. The interactive outdoor learning area aims to transform a neglected area of the playground into an area that stimulates the senses, intellect and physique of the children, and improve the general health and wellbeing of staff and children as well as provide an alternative form of play for children with specific needs.The CUP Rural and Regional Arts and Culture Program is a small grants program (generally $500 to $1 000) to support regional arts and culture programs including artists-in-residence, art shows, musical education, talks and lectures, and related activities that encourage engagement by younger people in artistic endeavours. Four successful applicants each received $1 000:Rockley Public School Parents and Citizens Association, to allow all senior students the chance to perform as part of a combined public schools recorder group at the Sydney Opera House in September;Macquarie Philharmonia Association Inc., to employ an experienced orchestral manager to work with the Musical Director, schools music teachers, and regional conservatorium to engage young musicians in the school's mentoring program;Turon Art Group Junior, to create opportunity and encourage young local and regional artists to pursue their ambitions by holding a youth and children's art exhibition at Sofala Memorial Hall on the October long weekend, with prize money for each age group category, and a people's choice award; andBathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre, to support the annual three-day Bathurst Writers' and Readers' Festival with funding to help pay writers for workshops and as speakers.