Primary and secondary school teachers and pupils from schools across the NSW Central West will gather at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst on Monday 15 February for training to help them compete in the regional RoboCup Junior Challenge to be held at the University in June. Mr Allen Benter, a PhD student and researcher at the Centre for Research in Complex Systems (CRiCS) in Bathurst and coordinator of the RoboCup Junior Challenge, said, “This workshop for teachers and pupils will assist them through the process of constructing and programming a robot to compete in one of three events at the competition in June: Dance, Rescue or Soccer. The winners of the regional competition will then advance to the NSW competition. About 45 teachers and students will attend in groups of one teacher and two students from schools in Bathurst, Orange, Wellington, Oberon, Hampton and O’Connell. During the training day they will construct a robot using Lego and write programming on computers.” CSU is the official sponsor of the regional RoboCup Junior Challenge in the NSW Central West.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) continues to expand with construction of new student residences in Orange almost complete. Joss Construction began civil works associated with new residences at CSU in Orange in January 2009 and are working hard to ensure the building is complete prior to new students arriving on Monday 22 February. “Student numbers are constantly increasing at Charles Sturt University,” Head of Campus Professor Kevin Parton said. “With the introduction of physiotherapy this year, and more courses planned for the future, the new accommodation will be an important addition to the campus.” New accommodation includes kitchens, common rooms and male and female bathrooms. “We are fortunate to have plenty of space for even more accommodation in future and look forward to offering all first year students the opportunity to live on campus.”

Celebrating Your Future is the theme of Orientation 2010 at Charles Sturt University (CSU) from Tuesday 23 to Friday 26 February. In distinctive yellow t-shirts, student coordinator Nicole Forbes and 16 student leaders will welcome the new arrivals at CSU in Orange as part of the week-long introduction to university life. Orientation 2010 activities include academic information sessions, campus and library tours and a community focused social event encouraging students to get to know the city. “We want new students to get to know the place they’re going to call home for the next three or four years,” Nicole said. “It’s like a great race with clues along the way at different shops they’ll need during their time here.” The Head of CSU in Orange, Professor Kevin Parton will officially welcome the new students and their families at 1pm on Tuesday 23 February. The Orientation 2010 program, which is coordinated by the Division of Student Services at CSU, can be found here. The University expects to enrol about 2 800 new on campus students in 2010, with 150 based in Orange.

Researchers from Charles Sturt University (CSU) will hold a number of focus groups in Cowra in March so that residents aged 60 years and over can share their experiences of what is it like to live in a rural community as they get older. Dr Rhonda Shaw and Ms Judith Gullifer, lecturers from the CSU School of Psychology in Bathurst, argue that it is important to understand what it is like to grow older in rural communities like Cowra to gain a more complete picture of ageing in Australia. “Too often research about ageing is conducted using samples from metropolitan areas, and issues or views raised from this research are assumed to apply across rural, regional and remote areas,” Dr Shaw said. “This is a metro-centric perspective of ageing which places emphasis on averages across states or territories rather than on the needs and views of specific communities. This is despite evidence that non-metropolitan areas have older age profiles than metropolitan areas, which is, in part, due to a process that has become known as a ‘tree change’, whereby many older adults from metropolitan areas migrate to rural areas in their retirement.” Cowra residents aged over 60 years who wish to participate in the research can contact Dr Rhonda Shaw on (02) 6338 4826.

A new initiative for selecting students for the pharmacy program at Charles Sturt University (CSU) has led to the arrival in Orange and Wagga Wagga of new students this week. Thirty-eight new students were chosen through the new application process for entry into the Bachelor of Pharmacy degree at CSU in Orange with a further 75 students at CSU in Wagga Wagga. In addition to lodging an application with the University Admissions Centre (UAC), prospective students had to complete a written application form sent directly to CSU. On the basis of this application, interviews were conducted in Orange and Wagga Wagga last December. About 160 applicants were asked questions by interview panels of CSU academics, members of the community and pharmacists from across the NSW Riverina and Central West regions. “Charles Sturt University believes the new approach to selecting students for our pharmacy program in 2010 beyond the traditional academic results offers greater opportunities to find students and ultimately graduates who are genuinely committed to pharmacy in regional and rural Australia,” said Head of the School of Biomedical Sciences, Associate Professor Lyndall Angel.

New figures released by Charles Sturt University (CSU) show significant savings for the environment in the management of its vehicle fleet. The data prepared by CSU’s Division of Finance reveals that although the distance travelled by CSU vehicles on official business rose last year by eight per cent, from 6.3 million kilometres in 2008 to 6.8 million, the amount of fuel consumed dropped from 664 000 litres in 2008 to 580 000 in 2009, a decline of 84 000 litres or over 12 per cent. “The carbon emissions saved through the greater efficiency of the University’s vehicle fleet is about 380 tonnes of carbon - the equivalent of taking 88 cars off the road for 2009,” said CSU Green Manager, Mr William Adlong. CSU vehicles are used to support staff on official University business including travelling between campuses in five major NSW regional centres as well as in Canberra, Goulburn and Sydney. “We hope to improve these figures with staff encouraged to consider using practical alternatives to travelling between campuses, such as video-conferencing, or sharing vehicles.” Over 60 per cent of CSU’s transport fleet are lower emission vehicles, such as four cylinder petrol, gas, diesel or hybrid.

The earthquake and tsunami that hit Chile on Sunday 28 February are reminders of the harshness of nature and the need for governments, emergency services and relief agencies to plan for natural disasters, says an expert in disaster management from Charles Sturt University (CSU). Mr Ian Manock, lecturer in emergency management at CSU’s Australian Graduate School of Policing, said that with a burgeoning world population and in spite of increasing technology, research shows that the incidence of damage to facilities and harm to people from the impact of natural and technological hazards is increasing exponentially. He said the disaster will no doubt have emergency service agencies in Chile pushed beyond their limits and the international community will be called on to assist.

A recently published history of the former Orange Agricultural College, now Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Orange, will be launched at the University’s Conference Room at 10am on Friday 5 March. A History of Orange Agricultural College, written by historian Mr Philip Gissing, documents the events leading up to the College’s establishment in 1973, its struggles during the early years of operation, its ongoing battle to maintain its independence, and its steady rise to become Australia’s leading provider of rural management education by the 1990s. Between 1973 and 2000 Orange Agricultural College educated and influenced thousands of students, many of whom now play leading roles in agricultural industries and agribusinesses in Australia and overseas.“The College operated during a period of great change in Australia in both the tertiary education and agricultural sectors,” said Professor Kevin Parton, the Head of Campus at CSU in Orange. “As a consequence, it was constantly battling to maintain its identity and independence, while delivering innovative programs relevant to the primary industries it served.”

Senior high school students in Orange will get the chance to discover more about university life and potential career paths when Charles Sturt University (CSU) and others bring the Regional University Road Show to town on Friday 5 March. Orange Christian School will host one of the Road Show events, which career advisor Mrs Melissa Brown describes as a wonderful opportunity for her students, as well as students from other local high schools. “A large percentage of Orange school graduates complete their tertiary education at regional universities and this is a chance to hear from three different universities in the one session, which enables them to consider a number of options for future study,” Mrs Brown says. The sessions are informative and provide ample time for questions about both study options and the admissions process.