Staff and students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Dubbo will benefit from a wellness and wellbeing conference and expo on Tuesday 25 March. The CSU 2014 SGE Credit Union Wellness and Wellbeing Conference and Expo is an initiative to enhance staff health, productivity and happiness. Dr Bev Moriarty, the Head of Campus at CSU in Dubbo, said, "The University's holistic approach to the treatment of workplace health and safety means it recognises and values the importance of staff and student wellness and wellbeing. The Wellness and Wellbeing Expo aims to make staff and students more aware of and engaged with the services available to them in our communities. The Expo will provide participants with information and the opportunity to participate in workshop activities such as yoga, and Pilates. This will help individuals to make better decisions about health behaviours which lead to better general health and wellness. We also hope this will help students to fulfil their academic potential and enjoy their student experience, and ensure our graduates are resilient well-rounded individuals." The CSU 2014 SGE Credit Union Wellness and Wellbeing Conference and Expo at CSU in Dubbo is from 9.30am to 4.30pm Tuesday 25 March. More information about it can be found here, or email healthyu@csu.edu.au

School leavers whose Australian Tertiary Admission Rank was not as high as they had hoped have been told they don't have to give up their university goals as Charles Sturt University (CSU) continues its Pathway Program in 2014. The program, a partnership between CSU and TAFE, runs for one year full-time and provides entry options for students who applied to CSU but were unsuccessful or who needed further preparation. Pathway coordinator Ms Sandra Fisher said the program offered multiple benefits. "Upon completion, students receive a Diploma of General Studies from Charles Sturt University and the Certificate IV in Tertiary Preparation from TAFE," she said. "They are also guaranteed entry into a range of CSU degrees and may receive credit for some subjects."  CSU offers the Pathway Program on campus in Bathurst, Wagga Wagga and Albury, and by Distance Education through CSU Dubbo campus.

More than 100 graduates are expected to celebrate the end of their tertiary studies at a graduation ceremony for Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Dubbo on Tuesday, 17 December. The ceremony will see students graduate from courses includingaccounting, business, education, nursing and social work. The new graduates will join almost 3 400 other successful students to graduate from CSU in Albury-Wodonga, Bathurst, Canberra, Orange and Wagga Wagga over the next week. Head of Campus Dr Beverley Moriarty said the event marked a special time in the life and career of each graduate. "Graduation is a very significant milestone for all our students, for their families and for the staff who have worked with them during their time at Charles Sturt University," she said. "It's a milestone worth celebrating. Not only have these students successfully completed their studies, but many of them are about to embark on new and exciting stages in their lives and careers. Our students will go on to join local health services, or to teach at our schools, or to work as professionals in the community, and we hope their time with us will serve them well for the years ahead. On behalf of all of us at Charles Sturt University in Dubbo, I'd like to congratulate all of our graduates and wish them every success in the future."

Charles Sturt University's (CSU) sustainability unit, CSU Green, will work with a new centre for excellence in environmental education to promote sustainability and environmental issues. CSU Green will work with the Regional Centre of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development for the Murray Darling Basin (RCE-MD) to generate awareness of the Centre within CSU and in the broader community. CSU Green manager, Mr Ed Maher, says he is looking forward to working with RCE-MD to help achieve positive sustainability outcomes. "The Centre will be a 'think tank' of expertise that will inform and educate on sustainability, share resources and ideas, and link up educational providers, employers, industries and the wider community," Mr Maher said. "For CSU Green, this means that Charles Sturt University will be making a big step towards meeting its potential to influence sustainability outcomes beyond its own boundaries." CSU is one of three lead institutions involved in the Centre along with Wodonga TAFE and La Trobe University. You can read more about the RCE-MD here.

A Charles Sturt University (CSU) researcher believes effective biosecurity is the most humane and affordable way of preventing the spread of Avian Influenza from wild waterfowl to poultry operations. Birds on a second egg farm near Young in NSW have been confirmed to have the H7 strain of Avian Influenza, different to the H5N1 strain which can affect humans. Dr Andrew Peters, lecturer in Veterinary Pathology with the  School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences at CSU in Wagga Wagga has an interest in the spread of parasites and disease in wild bird populations.  He said various strains of Avian Influenza circulate naturally in populations of waterfowl but rarely causes disease in these wild birds. “Different species of waterfowl play different roles in the transmission and maintenance of Avian Influenza in the natural environment,” said Dr Peters. “There is a need to better characterise this in Australia, as well as the ecology of these species, and by doing so develop cost-effective biosecurity measures to protect free-range poultry operations.” 

People in Dubbo and the region will be asked ‘Do you need a digital diet?’ when a leading education academic presents a free public lecture at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Dubbo on Wednesday 13 November. Professor of Education and Head of the CSU School of Teacher Education, Tara Brabazon, will speak about the need to manage our fixation with digital social media that has resulted from recent rapid technological developments. “I will challenge the audience – and people everywhere - to move from information obesity to intellectual fitness by developing ‘information literacy’,” Professor Brabazon said. “I argue that we need to learn to manage the confusion and disruption of our modern lives, as they are increasingly swamped by the digital beep-beep-beep of Facebook updates, Twitter, and mobile phone messages.” You can view Professor Brabazon’s YouTube video invitation to attend here. She will also launch her new book, Digital Dieting, during the public lecture.

Researchers at Charles Sturt University (CSU) are seeking male smokers aged 18 to 50 years in the NSW central west to participate in two smoking and exercise studies. The first study consists of four sessions involving smoking or exercise conditions; the second study involves a 14-week exercise training and smoking reduction program. Ms Tegan Kastelein, a PhD student from the School of Human Movement Studies CSU in Bathurst said, “The purpose of the research is firstly to examine the cerebro-vascular and inflammatory responses to both cigarette smoking and exercise, and secondly, to examine the effects of a 14-week exercise training and smoking reduction program on disease risk in a smoker population. It is anticipated that the research findings will enhance our current understanding of the effects of tobacco smoke, the role of exercise in reducing disease risk, and provide the community with alternative methods for smoking reduction and/or cessation.” To find out more about the research and exercise program, please contact Ms Kastelein on (02) 6338 6101 or send an email to: tkastelein@csu.edu.au.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) Winery will launch a new-look series of labels for its Charles Sturt and Reserve ranges at CSU in Bathurst on Tuesday 1 October. Marketing manager Mr Justin Byrne said the new labels reflected the University’s history and spirit of exploration. “The labels feature the rivers of regional NSW, the Macquarie, the Murray, the Murrumbidgee and the Darling,” he said. “It was the explorer Charles Sturt who first traced the Murray and the Murrumbidgee, and those journeys are also represented on the labels.” Mr Byrne said Charles Sturt University Winery had been making wine, and winemakers, for more than 35 years. “We own and operate two vineyards, growing warm climate varieties in Wagga Wagga and cool climate varieties in Orange, and also work with growers in other regions. We have two production facilities in Wagga Wagga; a commercial winery producing our three product ranges and an experimental winery producing our student wines.” CSU staff and local business people will attend the launch event and the new labels will be on shelves throughout NSW and Victoria in the coming months.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) Council has welcomed the appointment of three new highly successful alumni to its ranks. Mrs Jennifer Hayes from Albury-Wodonga is a former senior executive of the Mars Corporation, including as a senior financial executive in Asia Pacific and Europe.  Ms Saranne Cooke from Bathurst joins the Council from the energy sector and recently led a team working on energy sector reform in NSW.  Ms Cooke is also a Director of the Western Medicare Local.  Mr Jamie Newman from Orange is a member of a number of boards and committees, and is currently the Chief Executive Officer of the Orange Aboriginal Medical Service. He is a descendent of the Kalar tribe of the Wiradjuri nation.  The new appointees join current CSU alumni members Mr Angelos Frangopoulos (CEO of SkyNews Australia and Board Member of the Victor Chang Foundation) and Mr Peter Hayes (a Wine Industry Consultant who has held senior positions with the CRC for Irrigation Futures, CRC for Viticulture and the Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation).  The Council also welcomed Mr Robert Fitzpatrick, an external independent appointee, who currently heads up the infrastructure, transport and logistics business with the National Centre of Excellence in ICT Australia and spent 7 years in global consulting for McKinsey in international business and technology. Under the leadership of Chancellor Mr Lawrence Willett, AO, the CSU Council has 15 members.