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.”

A rare collection of framed photos, books and a highly significant 1842 plan of the Wellwood pastoral property will be donated to Orange City Council by Charles Sturt University (CSU) at a ceremony on Thursday 10 December. The Wellwood Collection was given to the Orange Agricultural College in 1969 when the Wellwood property was considered as a possible site for the College and although Rosedale Park was acquired as the site, the collection has remained with CSU and its predecessor institutions for nearly 40 years. CSU’s Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Ian Goulter, said the Wellwood Estate Collection was a valuable asset for local history and as such was better located with Orange City Council. The council plans to have the collection documented and made accessible online and through exhibitions.

Horse lovers are champing at the bit to attend the next school holiday Equine School at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Orange after positive feedback about the previous event. The organiser of the Equine School, Ms Cheryl Gander, from the School of Agricultural and Wine Sciences says, “The School caters for all age groups and experience levels. Admissions are open until Wednesday 7 October for the Spring Equine School, which will be held from Tuesday 13 to Friday 16 October.” Participant Ms Rebecca Cady said, “Not only did I receive expert riding instruction which highlighted some riding problems I needed to correct to get my horse working better, I also learnt a lot about my horse's health and nutrition. The School included riding tuition of up to four hours per day in two sessions as well as classroom lessons and practical ground lessons like float loading, working with a young horse, and lunging. Everyone at the camp was so helpful and I made many new friends in those four days.”

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.”

The CSU Media team welcomes you to 2010. We hope you had a safe and enjoyable holiday season, and that the year ahead is a healthy one.

For those keen to study medicine and dentistry, it’s good to know there is more than one way to get into these professions at Charles Sturt University (CSU). The University’s Bachelor of Clinical Science is a pre-medicine and pre-dentistry course that offers ten places in medicine at the University of Sydney for regional graduates. Clinical science graduate Ms Tegan van Gemert from Bathurst says, “The subjects I studied and the clinical experience I gained while studying the CSU clinical science course made me more determined that medicine was what I wanted to study. Preparing for the admissions test and interviews was quite stressful, but the subjects I had completed through the course gave me all the background knowledge and skills I needed to succeed. I am very grateful for the opportunity this degree provided me in achieving graduate entry into medicine.”

Students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) have voted a lecturer at the School of Biomedical Sciences in Bathurst as CSU 2009 Lecturer of the Year. Ms Veronica Madigan won the accolade in a nation-wide poll open to all academics and students at the 38 universities in Australia. Dr John Harper, the Sub-Dean, Learning and Teaching, in the CSU Faculty of Science, said, “It is wonderful that students have gone out of their way to vote Veronica as their top lecturer at CSU for 2009. She continues to make a lasting, positive impression on her students and is an inspiration to us all.” Ms Madigan said, “As a person who is passionate about my teaching, there are only two things that really matter to me: the success of my students, and their appreciation of what I try to do for them. For them to say ‘thank you’ in this way is just the greatest thrill for me.”

At the invitation of the Vice-Chancellor and President of Charles Sturt University (CSU), Professor Ian Goulter, the Federal Member for Macquarie, The Hon. Mr Bob Debus, MP, will inspect progress in the construction of the new Dental and Oral Health Clinic at the CSU campus in Bathurst at 10am on Friday 22 January. Mr Debus and Professor Goulter will be accompanied by the Head of Campus, Mr Col Sharp, Dr Sabrina Manickam, senior lecturer and the External Relations Coordinator at the School of Dentistry and Oral Health, and representatives of Joss Constructions, the contractor undertaking the project. “I’m excited by progress with the CSU Dental and Oral Health Clinic in Bathurst because, when it is opened to the public later in 2010, we’ll contribute to improving patients’ access to dental services in the region, as we will for other communities in regional Australia,” Professor Goulter said.