Charles Sturt University (CSU) Professor of Human Resource Management and director of Research Development, Andrew Smith has joined eight elite scholars to be appointed as a Research Fellow of the Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management (ANZAM). ANZAM is the peak professional body for management educators, researchers and practitioners, representing about 500 individual and 50 institutional members, including most Australian and New Zealand universities. It aims to advance scholarship and practice in management education and research.  ANZAM Research Fellows, who are appointed for three years, act as mentors to doctoral students and researchers, helping develop their career and research profiles. Professor Smith says his appointment “is a considerable honour”.

The Charles Sturt University (CSU) Indigenous Employment Program is proving an effective vehicle for positive change and equity. Melanie Shea is one shining light to emerge from the program that offers ten traineeships a year in the University. She is now employed at the CSU Learning Materials Centre (LMC) as a full-time despatch assistant and has gained invaluable workplace experience with the full support of the CSU Indigenous Employment Coordinator, Karen Kime. Mel began a twelve month traineeship in Transport and Distribution at the LMC just one week after completing her Higher School Certificate. “I believe on-the-job training is a great door opener for people to gain confidence, knowledge and qualifications. The new skills can then be applied in any workplace. I am so pleased to have been a part of the program,” Melanie said.

Earlier this month the Australian government announced it would set aside more than $1.7 million for projects under the Defeating the Weed Menace program, including nearly $280 000 for research on Parkinsonia, one of Australia’s worst weeds and ranked number one on the list of the 20 Weeds of National Significance. Dr Anantanarayanan Raman, senior lecturer in Ecological Agriculture at Charles Sturt University’s Orange Campus, said Parkinsonia is a problem throughout the tropical world where it spreads rapidly by seed. “Currently only integrated pest management and grazing by camels are being explored in Australia to control Parkinsonia. Biological control appears as a strong possibility to me, especially by using seed-feeding insects. One species of Asphondylia is known to infest Parkinsonia flowers and feed on them, which could lead to the total degeneration of the flowers. This species and other seed and flower-infesting insects need to be surveyed for their potential,” said Dr Raman.

A project that will develop models of health care that work for the specific needs of rural and remote communities will start in Molong in the Central West region next month. Dr Julaine Allan, from Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) School of Biomedical Sciences, will ask focus groups about “their experience of health care provision, what the community needs now and in the future, what models of health service provision work and do not work, and what they would suggest to improve them”. In April, Dr Allan will take her “intensive case study” to Canowindra. “We will compare the two towns and work out why some services work well in one area and not another. Even though communities may be of similar sizes, they are not necessarily the same. We are aiming to improve rural health status by being able to target those differences.” Dr Allan says this is the pilot phase of the project, “and we are seeking additional funding to work with other communities in inland Australia”.

Advertising ethics might strike many as an oxymoron but not Dr John Hadley, a new appointment to Charles Sturt University (CSU) School of Communication on the Bathurst Campus. Dr Hadley is teaching Media Ethics and Public Policy to third year journalism and public relations students, as well as advertising ethics to advertising students. “The course deals with the ethical dilemmas that communication professionals face in their jobs,” he said. Dr Hadley completed his PhD Animal Property: Reconciling Environmentalism and Animal Rights in March 2006 at the University of Sydney where he taught last year. He is an associate of CSU’s Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics and his main interest is the practical application of ethics in people’s working lives. This is Dr Hadley’s first taste of Bathurst country life, after a background in inner-city Sydney. As a keen cyclist he is already revelling in “the fresh air and no cars”.

The Australian and Argentinian wine industries opened doors to closer collaboration when Charles Sturt University (CSU) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Instituto Nacional de Vitiviniculture (INV) of Argentina last month. The MOU links the National Wine and Grape Industry Centre (NWGIC), based on CSU’s Wagga Wagga Campus, and INV, which is responsible for coordinating and overseeing grape growing and winemaking in Argentina. The agreement was signed by CSU Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian Goulter and INV President Lic. Raúl Guiñazú in Canberra. NWGIC director Professor Geoff Scollary said, “Our wine industries have a lot in common, so there is much we can learn from each other. We are also discussing collaborative programs in wine business, research and law as well as student and staff exchange programs. This will place NWGIC in an ideal position to collaborate on issues facing the world wine community”.

Ideas commonly held by education providers and other stakeholders are open to challenge by the findings of contemporary research into learning, knowledge, quantum theory and brain science, according to Mr Patrick Bradbery. Manager of the Professional Development Unit in the Faculty of Business on Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Bathurst Campus, Mr Bradbery will discuss these issues and the implications for the design and delivery of learning interventions at a presentation titled ”What the bleep do we know about learning?” at the University between 12.30pm and 2pm on Wednesday 28 February. “This presentation questions whether we have lost sight of the purpose and function of tertiary education, and whether it has become purely vocational in its focus,” Mr Bradbery said. His presentation will contextualise the finding from brain research that the ions which carry messages throughout the brain travel along pathways that are only just a little larger than the ions, thus creating a “quantum environment”.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) lecturer in animation Damian Candusso is celebrating Oscar success for Australian director George Miller’s animated feature film Happy Feet. Damian, who is based at the CSU Wagga Wagga Campus, was already in Los Angeles for the 2007 Motion Picture Sound Editors’ (MPSE) annual Golden Reel Awards ceremony, which was held on Saturday 24 February. Happy Feet was nominated for Best Sound Editing at those awards, but lost to the animated movie Cars. However, last night Happy Feet went one better to pick up the Oscar for the Best Animated Feature Film at the 2007 Academy Awards. Speaking from Los Angeles Damian, who worked as a sound editor on the animated penguin flick said, “We’re all very excited,” adding , ”The sound award would have been awesome but the Academy Award is a higher honour”.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) veterinary students will be given practical guidance on leadership, team-work, communication, emotional intelligence and conflict management tomorrow Wednesday 7 March as part of a veterinary leadership experience (VLE) workshop on CSU Wagga Wagga Campus. CSU lecturer in dairy cattle practice Natasha Lees said, “The VLE is a chance for students to further develop their skills enabling them to successfully make the transition from the lecture hall to the workplace”. Ms Lees believes the workshops will help CSU produce graduates that meet the needs of its regional, national and international communities. First year students in CSU’s School of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences will be addressed during the workshop by Professor Rick Debowes and psychologist Kathy Ruby, both from Washington State University, USA.