The Consul General of Timor-Leste in Australia, Mr Abel Guterres, visited Charles Sturt University at Bathurst recently to discuss plans for the coming visit to the University by His Excellency the President of Timor-Leste, Dr José Ramos-Horta. Head of Campus at CSU Bathurst, Mr Col Sharp, said that Mr Guterres met CSU officials to consider details for Dr Ramos-Horta’s delivery of the 2009 Charles Sturt Oration on Saturday 14 February as the inaugural event of the 20th anniversary year of celebrations at CSU. “We are very excited to have such a distinguished guest as Dr Ramos-Horta visit the University,” Mr Sharp said. “Discussions with Mr Guterres also extended to whether and how the University might be able to assist the development of Timor-Leste by providing courses, training, scholarships and the exchange of academics.”

As Australia looks at international experience, including those of Norway, in the formation of a new Indigenous representative body in 2009, a leading Sami academic included a trip to Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Wagga Wagga on her recent visit to the country. In Australia to attend the triennial World Indigenous Peoples’ Conference on Education in Melbourne, Associate Professor Asta Balto, from Norway, travelled to CSU to discuss Indigenous education. The Sami people are Indigenous to the northern parts of Sweden, Norway, Finland and Russia. With a lengthy involvement in Sami education, Asta Balto is currently Associate Professor in Pedagogy at the Sámi University College in Guovdageaidnu, Norway and was recently engaged to help develop the Sami perspective in teacher education in Sweden. While at CSU, Associate Professor Balto met with Mr John Muk Muk Burke, a Wiradjuri man and one of the University’s Indigenous Learning Skills Advisors “It was a privilege to be able to talk first hand with a Sami woman about her people’s struggle for representation, particularly as Australia looks at models for an Indigenous representative body,” said Senior Lecturer in the School of Education at CSU, Dr Mary O’Dowd, who accompanied Associate Professor Balto in Australia. “Clearly the Sami Parliament would be one very relevant model. Asta was also very interested in our research at Charles Sturt University on ‘whiteness’ as it is integral to our shared nations’ understandings of how to achieve social justice for Indigenous people in Australia.”

The Austrade Export Award for the best international marketing plan by a student enrolled at a NSW-based university has been won by Ms Michelle Hasler, a Charles Sturt University (CSU) distance education student enrolled in a Bachelor of Business (Marketing). Lecturer at CSU’s School of Marketing and Management Ms Katherine Attree said, “The preparation of an international marketing plan is a requirement for the compulsory subject International Marketing in the Bachelor of Business (Marketing). Michelle undertook an enormous amount of research and prepared a very comprehensive and detailed plan that analysed the viability of entry into the New Zealand marketplace as a first international venture for a small South Australian company, Wellness & Lifestyle, which operates in the allied health industry. She thoroughly deserves the $500 award for a NSW student entry.” Ms Hasler said, “I found the process very challenging and a very valuable learning experience.”

It is pure coincidence that two photography students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) selected the same subject for their short-listed entries in the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2009. Students Ms Kate Lewis and Mr Matt Regan, both from Wagga Wagga, have been named as finalists in the National Photographic Portrait Prize. The photographs, ‘Philip’ and ‘Treaties for Mad Men Only’ will next year hang in the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra. “It was a pure coincidence that both photographs feature the same subject, Kate’s father Philip Lewis,” said Bachelor of Arts (Photography) Course Coordinator, Mr James Holcombe. “Matt saw Kate’s father at the gym and thought he would make a great subject, so asked him to pose quite independently of knowing Kate.” The two photographs can be seen in the Wagga Wagga Art Gallery until Sunday 11 January 2009 as part of Solo, a graduation exhibition by CSU photography students. “The selection of these two works to hang in the National Portrait Gallery is a huge achievement for the students, as they competed against seasoned professionals to join the other finalists,” said Mr Holcombe. Ms Lewis and Mr Regan are among the first group of students to complete the photography course through the School of Visual and Performing Arts at CSU at Wagga Wagga.

Despite a lightning strike on the water tower at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Orange during a storm on Friday 28 November, the Peregrine Falcons now residing there in the nesting box provided by staff have welcomed one hatched fluffy white chick and await the hatching of another.  Ms Cilla Kinross, lecturer in environmental management at the CSU School of Agricultural and Wine Sciences, says staff at the University are delighted by the hatchling. “It’s also incredibly overdue – the average incubation is 33 days, usually closer to 30, and this one is 40 days,” Ms Kinross said. It is thought that this is the closest-ever footage of a wild pair of breeding peregrine falcons, as the nesting box contains concealed video cameras with audio. Still photos, a blog journal and links to video footage of the falcons can be found here, including video of the chick being fed.  

The appointment of receivers to manage the private childcare operator ABC Learning Centres represents a prime opportunity for the Rudd government to make right the mistakes of the past, according to a Charles Sturt University (CSU) academic. The childcare operator yesterday went into voluntary administration with the receivers assuring parents that the centres will remain open. “Many early childhood experts had expressed concern about the growing monopoly of ABC, particularly in regional areas,” said Senior Lecturer with the CSU School of Teacher Education Ms Fran Press. “The Commonwealth should show leadership by brokering a deal between the three levels of government and the community sector to ensure the survival of childcare places. Not only would this ensure the retention of much needed childcare places, it would put them in a good position to work toward the fulfilment of election promises concerning the provision of early childhood education.” The fact ABC currently has about 30 per cent of long day care places in Australia is unusual. “No other country entrusts so much childcare to just one provider,” said Ms Press.

For NSW senior high school students, the Higher School Certificate is the ultimate challenge and when competing against thousands of other students for limited university places, the more resources they can access the better. In the past, the Internet has not been seen as a consistently credible source of information for materials, but now teachers are encouraging students to get extra help online. In 2007, the Charles Sturt University (CSU) hosted website NSW HSC Online delivered 13 million pages to users, offering information to students, teachers and parents, with 2008 figures indicating even higher access, despite slightly fewer HSC enrolments. CSU lecturer and NSW HSC Online project coordinator Mr Bob Dengate believes that students and teachers benefit greatly from the site. "With material for 48 HSC subjects, supplemented by advice on study strategies and the availability of past examination papers and markers' comments, figures for this month are expected to approach two million pages."

The current financial climate is a popular conversation topic on the streets of Orange, but does anyone really understand what's going on? Charles Sturt University (CSU) finance course coordinator at the School of Marketing and Management, Mr Mark Frost, will give a public lecture next week to help the Orange community understand the financial issues facing Australia and the world.  “The lecture is in response to the lack of easy to understand information available to the local community and offers the chance to ask questions on the dire financial situation that faces the global economy,” Mr Frost said. “I will present a public seminar on recent events in the financial markets, discussing what happened and why, and hopefully provide an insight into where to from here.” Mr Frost will draw on 16 years experience in banking where he worked with most of the products linked with financial markets, as well as his recent teaching and research in this area.

Educators have recently begun to rethink the value of the tradition of homework, particularly for primary and middle school aged children. Is homework useful? Should our children do homework at all? If so, what would constitute quality homework for children? A free public lecture in Harden on Wednesday 15 October by Charles Sturt University (CSU) lecturer Dr Tracey Smith will use the example of mathematics to address all of these questions. It will explore perceptions about mathematics, how it is learned most effectively and how parents can help their children learn mathematics. “I will also examine how mathematics homework might be more meaningfully developed to enhance learning opportunities at home rather than create a battle zone for parents and their children,” said Dr Smith.