Charles Sturt University (CSU) is working with the combined Central NSW Councils (CENTROC) to offset skill shortages affecting local government. CSU has offered flexible education programs and additional support to local government staff in target areas such as management, information technology, business, finance, human resources, tourism and marketing. Pat Bradbery, Manager of the Professional Development Unit in the School of Management and Marketing at CSU Bathurst, says a residential school at CSU Dubbo, planned for February 2008, will help the prospective students to “kick-start their study and networking. It will provide access to advanced technology, lecturers and other learning skills support staff”. Mr Bradbery says that CSU already runs a “highly successful postgraduate week-long residential program in Bathurst for local government finance professionals, and the Bachelor of Management provided through the Orange Campus is very well suited to the local government sector. We are in an excellent position to help CENTROC overcome its skills shortage.”

Doris Bornemann has a big heart. She says two of her loves include photography and also Charles Sturt University (CSU). As a former Student Liaison Officer she often opened her heart - and her home – to CSU students. “I would invite the lonely ones home for a baked dinner and a few home comforts. And the external students used to have regular parties at my house. They would look forward to it every residential school. I was made a Life Member of the Student Union. It was a great honour.” Doris worked at CSU for 20 years. She is also the only non-Academic on the Honour Board. Her contribution to CSU did not stop with her retirement 15 years ago. She now volunteers with the Emeritus Club, which funds “three or four” scholarships every year for CSU students. Doris’s other love, photography, is currently on display at the Bathurst Women’s Health Centre. One hundred and twelve photos reflect her wide ranging interests which take in both man-made and natural landscapes, animals and human portraiture.

  Earlier this month, Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Women’s Hockey team picked up a gold medal at the inaugural East Coast Challenge University Games. CSU’s Men’s Hockey won silver despite being a man down for most of the competition, while the Men’s Water Polo team came away with bronze. Nik Granger, a student support officer, said this was the first time CSU had competed as one university with a team of 70 students representing Albury, Wagga Wagga, Bathurst and Dubbo campuses. “Overall, seeing as we had such a small team, the atmosphere was fantastic,” he said. CSU also had first year distance education Master of Applied Science (Library and Information Management) student Lisa Matuzelis competing in the Australian University Championships for Surfing at the Gold Coast. She came away with silver and bronze and a typically laconic surfer attitude: “I would have liked to have come first, but I’m pretty happy with the result. I can’t complain,” she said.

Eight Charles Sturt University (CSU) International School of Business staff leave for China later this month to conduct intensive professional enhancement programs with their counterparts at four Chinese universities. Tianjin University of Commerce, Yunnan University of Economics and Finance, Changchun Taxation College and Yangzhou University are strategic partners with CSU for the delivery of business studies courses to international students overseas. Professor Alan Fish is Head of the International School of Business at CSU. He explains that the articulation agreements with the four Chinese institutions means students can graduate with both Chinese and western qualifications, making the students more employable. “We will be conducting intensive face-to-face sessions with the Chinese academics to familiarise them with assessment procedures and content of the CSU subjects,” Professor Fish said.

A senior Charles Sturt University (CSU) academic has used an international forum to argue for the expansion of community development in the Asia Pacific region to tackle major socio-economic problems such as extreme poverty, lack of education, and environmental unsustainability. Professor Manohar Pawar of the CSU School of Humanities and Social Sciences was a main speaker at the International Association for Community Development conference. “Many countries policies suggest that those people and institutions with most influence, referred to as ‘top down’, are poised to develop communities at all levels. The capacity of ordinary communities need to be developed to match the ‘top downs’ readiness,” said Professor Pawar. “It is a challenging but not impossible task. If we sincerely search, I believe we will find answers to these challenges within the diversity of the region.”

Competing against some of the top young environmental scientists in Australia, Charles Sturt University (CSU) honours student John Rawsthorne has won a scholarship from the eminent Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists in recognition of his project on the importance of birds in spreading mistletoes in the Australian landscape. His supervisor Dr David Watson from the CSU School of Environmental Sciences asserts that the mistletoe is an important indicator of the health of Australian bush, and John’s research project will help discover how this occurs. In addition to receiving financial support from the Purves Environmental Trust to attend the 2007 Ecological Society of Australia conference in Perth in November, Mr Rawsthorne will also receive advice from leading Australian ecologists Professor Hugh Possingham and Dr Denis Saunders during the project, as well as attend a master class with senior scientists and fellow students in Sydney in October. John’s award is one of 19 presented to research students in universities around Australia. He is based in Forbes in central NSW.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ian Goulter, will welcome the Federal shadow Minister for Health, Ms Nicola Roxon, MP, and NSW MP Mr Bob Debus, when they visit the Bathurst Campus on Tuesday 31 July. Ms Roxon and Mr Debus will arrive at 3pm at the Heffron Building for a briefing with Professor Goulter before a tour of the Bathurst Campus, which will include an inspection of the new library Learning Commons and the School of Nursing buildings. Mr Debus is also the Australian Labor Party (ALP) candidate for the new seat of Macquarie in the coming 2007 Federal election.

The Charles Sturt University (CSU) Winery has been awarded three more prestigious wine show medals at the 2007 Boutique Wine Awards in Sydney. The CSU Winery claimed two Gold Medals and one Silver Medal, continuing the winery’s success at major Australian wine shows. The 2006 Limited Release Chardonnay was awarded a Gold Medal and more recently won Top Gold in its class at the 2007 Cowra Wine Show. This wine is produced from grapes grown in the University’s vineyard at Orange. The 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot also took a Gold Medal. This wine is produced from Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from the University’s Wagga Wagga vineyard and from the Hilltops region in Young, NSW and Merlot grapes from Cowra. The 2005 Shiraz won a Silver Medal and although this wine is not yet released, it was also awarded a Silver Medal at the 2006 Wagga Wagga (Southern NSW) wine show. It is produced from grapes from CSU vineyards at Orange and Wagga Wagga and from the Gundagai region.

A group of Charles Sturt University (CSU) students are out to "put the sting" into their more fancied rivals when they compete in the water polo competition in the upcoming Australian University Games, to be held on the Queensland Gold Coast from 23 to 28 September. The CSU Bluebottles, comprising nine CSU students from its Albury-Wodonga and two from Bathurst campuses, boasts seven regular top grade players who have represented the Ovens & Murray Association, NSW and Australian Country Teams. In July, the Bluebottles walked away with a bronze medal at the Australian universities’ East Coast Challenge and are confident of an even better performance on the Gold Coast. Team captain Matt Hogan, who played for the last three years in England and before that had stints with the Cronulla Sharks and Canberra Dolphins in the Australian National League, said, "We are going to the Gold Coast confident in our ability to be competitive. After our top three finish in Sydney we can go to the Australian University Games believing we are a medal chance.” The Bluebottles are looking for support from the Border community to get to the Games. Anyone interested can send an email to csubluebottles@hotmail.com