The Vice-Chancellor of Charles Sturt University (CSU), Professor Ian Goulter, announced the appointment today of Mr Ian Macintosh, AM, as the first Pro-Chancellor of the University. The Pro-Chancellor is a newly created position that will act as an ambassador for the University in the Bathurst and central western communities, including deputising for the Chancellor and Deputy Chancellor at ceremonies. Mr Macintosh is a former Mayor of Bathurst Regional Council and Deputy Chancellor of CSU. He served as a member of the University Council for eight years, including four years as Deputy Chancellor. “Ian is a wonderful servant of the community and a great advocate of Charles Sturt University, and the unanimous endorsement of his appointment by the University Council to this important position reflects the esteem in which he is held within the University,” Professor Goulter said. “It is a great opportunity to continue my connection with one of Australia’s most progressive Universities and to support its development as the national University of inland Australia,” Mr Macintosh said. Mr Macintosh will hold the position for a period of 2 years until December 2010.

The Charles Sturt University (CSU) 2007 Shiraz was one of only four wines to be awarded a Gold Medal in the 2007 Shiraz class at the 2008 Royal Melbourne Wine Show on Thursday 13 November and has now been released through the Cellar Door. The CSU 2007 Shiraz was produced with grapes from the University’s vineyard in Orange and was the only NSW wine to be nominated for this year’s Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy at the Royal Melbourne Wine Show. The wine had already been awarded bronze medals at the Orange Wine Show in October and the Riverina Wine Show in September. “The University is delighted with the gold medal in recognition of the quality of our 2007 Shiraz,” said winemaker, Mr Andrew Drumm. “It was also a great achievement to be among the small number of red wines nominated from 660 other Australian one year old red wines for the Jimmy Watson Trophy.”

A final year advertising student at the Charles Sturt University (CSU) School of Communication will complete her studies and start her career with a 10-week internship in New York working for BBDO Worldwide, one the largest advertising agencies in the world. The scholarship recipient, Ms Mary-Jane Barca, praised the calibre and support of her CSU lecturers in the Bachelor of Arts (Communication-Advertising) and the many opportunities presented by the course. “They have always encouraged me to reach beyond the stars, including applying for this scholarship. I’m so glad I did,” she said. Ms Barca was the team leader of the School’s in-house Kajulu Communication advertising agency whose ‘Lynx’ campaign for the 2007/2008 Inter-Ad competition came second in the world and first in the Asia-Pacific region. She has also won a 2009 Media Federation of Australia (MFA) Trainee Program position. “When I get back from New York I will go straight to work with OMD (part of BBDO Worldwide), the biggest media agency in Sydney, so getting a position there is a massive thing,” she said.

With a significant percentage of stroke victims left with speech and language impairments, Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) speech pathology course is training a new generation of therapists to ensure that the focus is always on getting people back to the activities that are important to them. Lecturer at CSU’s School of Community Health, Ms Libby Clark, believes that rehabilitation after stroke is something that should not stop at the hospital door. “It needs to reach right back to the community level to support people who have strokes to get back into the everyday activities that give their lives meaning,” she says. “The CSU program strongly emphasises the social aspects of health to students. This teaches them to think beyond what the person can’t do, and to think about what the person can do, and what everyday activities are important to the person. Our students get very practical, hands-on experience during the four year course, with a real emphasis on working in partnership with the client and their families.”

Charles Sturt University (CSU) lecturer in management communication Mrs Zelma Bone joined representatives from online career advisory website Career Central Australia on a tour of the NSW Central West last week. “We did a three-day road trip with Career Central visiting schools in Condobolin, Parkes, Forbes, Red Bend, Dubbo, Molong, Canowindra, Cowra and Blayney,” Mrs Bone said. CSU became a sponsor of Career Central Australia last year enabling 2 500 students at thirteen schools in western and central western NSW to become members for a greatly subsidised fee. “By visiting these schools and others, we can promote the benefits of the website which gives young regional people a greater scope of information about possible careers.” See the Careeer Central website here.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) nursing graduates are helping to build resilience against mental health issues in rural and regional Australia says the University’s Associate Head of the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Ms Linda Goddard. “More than ten percent of our graduates choose to work in the field of mental health each year and they are remaining in that field,” Ms Goddard explained. “Graduates return to CSU to talk to our current students about their work and are involved in the clinical environment supervising and mentoring our students when they are out on placement. Each year more graduates are gaining employment not only in local adult mental health services but also child and adolescent mental health.” CSU’s Graduate Certificate in Rural Mental Health Nursing aims to prepare registered nurses to practice in a variety of rural and remote settings to meet the mental health needs of diverse clients. “Our graduates are equipped to deal with the issues of mental health and the success of our postgraduate programs is demonstrated with the number of professionals with a CSU degree working in the industry.”

Charles Sturt University (CSU) lecturer in Teacher Education, Mr Bob Dengate, wishes regional NSW students well in the looming HSC exams, but suggests that there is much more involved than luck. “It’s all about preparation. HSC students have spent the past two years preparing for these exams in one way or another,” he said. “The students who will do best are those who have a balanced life, yet have done the extra work, using value-added resources such as study groups and online services.” The CSU Director of NSW HSC Online, Mr Dengate has been involved in the recent introduction of study tips on the CSU website link. “This is a great way for students to help students. There are plenty of useful tips already and we invite students to also add their favourite tips and to visit the Study & Exams part of NSW HSC Online”. Developed in collaboration with the NSW Department of Education and Training, the website link provides access to quality educational resources for rural and regional students.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) is lending its expertise to a recruitment campaign with a difference. Instead of targeting prospective students, this campaign is targeting pet dogs. In partnership with the Sydney Animal Behavioural Service and the company HomeoPet, CSU is recruiting 150 dogs from across Australia to participate in research into the treatment of anxious animals. The study will examine the effect on dogs of the homeopathic remedy known as Anxiety. “We would like to hear from anyone who has a pet dog which reacts to thunderstorms,” said Dr Jacqui Ley from the Sydney Animal Behavioural Service. “The anxiety may be demonstrated in behaviour ranging from destructive activities to simply barking at a storm.” “Through its veterinary science program, CSU will be supporting the research by analysis of the data,” said Head of the CSU School of Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences, Professor Kym Abbott.

The Federal Government has announced that Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Orange will receive 15 new places in the Graduate Certificate in Rural Mental Health Nursing, and the 30 new places for the Bachelor of Nursing course in Orange and Dubbo in 2009.  Supporting higher education places in the national priority area of nursing, the Government offered 300 places for rural and regional areas. “We are happy that 45 places were allocated to Charles Sturt University,” said Professor Elaine Duffy, Head of the School of Nursing and Midwifery. “It may be a small per cent of the total number allocated, but Charles Sturt University is already a dominant industry supporter and our graduates are highly sought. Applicants from around Australia are invited to learn more about the distance education courses via the CSU website link.”