CSU is holding a Change of Preference Information Day in Sydney on 3 and 4 January 2007. Market Development Manager Cheryl Howell said the information session is mainly aimed at Sydney school leavers.“It doesn’t have to be a traumatic time. We will have Prospective Student Advisors (PSA) there to talk to them about their options. For students at or near CSU Campus towns we have open day every day, so if they want to come and talk to PSAs at any time they can do that.” CSU’s Contact Centre is extending its opening hours from 8.30am through to 5.30pm for the whole of January. January 4 2007 is the last day for NSW university applicants to change their course preferences for the main round of offers due out later that month.

The hospitals and health facilities across rural NSW will soon get a boost after 15 nursing students celebrate their last days at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Dubbo with a barbeque on Monday 9 November before their exams and graduation. Ms Cathy Maginnis, lecturer in nursing and academic advisor for the Bachelor of Nursing  at Dubbo, said, “CSU's School of Nursing and Midwifery has an excellent rapport with the many health facilities across NSW, both rural and metropolitan, to ensure the clinical experience for our students is second to none so they are ready to fulfill their duties as Registered Nurses upon completion of their degree. These students have just completed their last clinical placement which enables them to integrate the theory and skills taught at university to the workplace setting. Students are currently being notified of their acceptances into postgraduate programs for next year as Registered Nurses. As most will be staying in Dubbo and surrounding areas, this reinforces the importance of CSU at Dubbo in providing professional, qualified nurses for regional NSW.”

Policies aimed at increasing the pace of developing renewable energies could accelerate global warming, according to Dr Rod Duncan, a lecturer in economics at Charles Sturt University. It wouldn’t be the first time regulations have had the opposite of the desired effect. When US Congress introduced the Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, Detroit car makers responded by producing petrol-guzzling SUVs. And when Mexico City implemented no-drive days where a car could only be used every other day, the citizens reacted by buying a second car. “Air quality in Mexico City got worse, because the second car tended to be an old bomb,” said Dr Duncan. And what does all this have to do with alternative energies? “If cheaper alternatives are being developed, oil producers will have an incentive to pump oil faster and sell it cheaper. The renewables could be worth it in the long run, but at least temporarily, you may actually make the global warming problem worse.”

Carbon emissions trading is a great idea waiting to happen, according to Charles Sturt University’s environment economist Mark Morrison. Dr Morrison says he agrees with Prime Minister John Howard, who said at the APEC summit late last week that any carbon trading system would have to be global to suceed. “The global effort is going to be ineffective unless everyone is going to involved,” said Dr Morrison. “Very few countries are meeting their commitments under the Kyoto Protocol. Australia is going to be one of the most severely affected countries. The ability of agricultural land in Australia to produce the way it has historically is very unlikely, if you believe the global warming forecasts and I do.”

Teachers from nearly 200 schools across the region have been invited to attend a special introductory training day at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Bathurst on Friday 27 November in preparation for the NSW central west region RoboCup Junior Challenge to be staged at the University at Bathurst in June 2010. Mr Allen Benter, the coordinator of the 2010 RoboCup Junior Challenge and an associate lecturer at the CSU School of Computing and Mathematics at Bathurst, said this is the first of the preparatory workshops CSU will hold for supervising teachers whose students want to participate in the Challenge. “We at Charles Sturt University are very excited to be able to promote computer sciences to young people in this way,” Mr Benter said. “RoboCup is an international competition/conference promoting artificial intelligence and robotic research around the world. RoboCup Junior is aimed at primary to secondary school children and focuses not only on engineering and computing skills, but also emphasises sportsmanship, teamwork, cooperation and organisational skills. This workshop for teachers will assist them to guide their students through the process of constructing and programming a robot to compete in one of three events dance, rescue or soccer. The winners of the regional competition will then advance to the state competition.”

The Charles Sturt University (CSU) Koori Admissions Program (KAP) will run at the University’s Dubbo Campus this week. The manager of the University’s Indigenous Student Services, Mr Ray Eldridge, said KAP is an alternative entry program designed for Indigenous students. “KAP allows the staff of the Indigenous Student Services on our various campuses to assess the individual’s level of skills need to complete tertiary study and to offer successful participants a place in a course at CSU,” Mr Eldridge said. “This program provides a ‘test drive’ of life at university by allowing prospective students to meet staff and current Indigenous students, and experience and explore the facilities, courses and the career paths that may open to them.” For more information contact the Barramielinga Indigenous Student Services at CSU at Dubbo on 6885 7305 or visit here.

“Young people need no magic shields, swords and arrows to cope with the world of work,” according to Associate Professor Erica Smith, a specialist in vocation education and training from Charles Sturt University (CSU). Professor Smith says it is dangerous and futile to constantly make changes to the school curriculum in attempts to prepare young people better for the workplace. Her paper, The Land of Narnia or just the back of the wardrobe? What research tells us about the real world of work for young people will challenge many assumptions made about the nature of entry into work life for young people. Drawing from her national research, Professor Smith says the majority of young people have a realistic view of the labour market, hold sufficient skills to succeed and are able to move to full-time work seamlessly over a period of several years with no major difficulties. “The world of work, rather than being a strange land, difficult to enter, where battles are fought and special guides are needed, is a familiar and navigable place to young people,” she said. 

Final year high school students around Australia are receiving their final results and making big decisions about their futures - What do I want to do? Do I study or work next year? Where do I study? Charles Sturt University (CSU) is helping these students make informed decisions with a series of Change of Preference Information Sessions on all campuses next week. CSU Market Development Manager Ms Cheryl Howell says these sessions will help students and their parents think about study options for 2010 at CSU, with academics and support staff available for discussions. "If prospective students want to discuss our courses, preference options, school results or living and learning at CSU, they can attend one of these sessions being run throughout the University's region," said Ms Howell. Victorian students can call CSU on (02) 6051 9962 or 1800 334 733 to discuss their options before their change of preference period closes.

Having worked diligently to ensure Year 12 students had access to the best possible resources, the Charles Sturt University (CSU) NSW HSC Online website  team has taken time out to congratulate students who worked hard to receive notable results in their NSW Higher School Certificate (HSC) last week. "While creating this website, the NSW Department of Education and Training and Charles Sturt University were keenly aware of the crucial information this website delivers to students studying for the HSC," said NSW HSC Online coordinator and CSU senior lecturer Dr Deb Clarke. "It’s wonderful to know our resources helped students gain the marks they wanted in the HSC.” The NSW HSC Online developers are now reviewing the site to ensure the next group of students studying for the HSC can access quality education resources for 50 HSC subjects in 2010. “Each month the website delivered up to 1.65 million pages to students, teachers and parents and we believe this will increase in 2010.”