Charles Sturt University (CSU) has ensured the continuing success of the Orange Campus by appointing Professor Kevin Parton as the new Head of the Orange Campus. Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian Goulter said Professor Parton is the right man for the job. “I congratulate Professor Parton in taking on this important position. He will play an active role in strengthening the University’s links with the region and the delivery of service to the community.” Professor Parton will hold the position of Head of the Orange Campus concurrently with his position as Head of School of Rural Management. “It gives me great pleasure to continue the work already commenced to expand the teaching and research work of the Orange Campus,” said Professor Parton. “There will be a more extensive range of courses in 2007 including those from Rural Management as well as Nursing, Pharmacy and Clinical Sciences. The emphasis in these undergraduate programs is on professional education and as such they offer great opportunities for students of our region and beyond to move towards highly sought after careers. I look forward to working with our dedicated staff as they guide students on this path to success.”

Heather Bell has been appointed the Acting Head of Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Dubbo Campus. Mrs Bell has just returned from a six month placement at CSU Ontario where she worked as Campus Operations Manager, which was her role for the past five years at the Dubbo Campus. In announcing the appointment, Vice-Chancellor Ian Goulter congratulated Mrs Bell, saying “she will play an active role in strengthening the University’s links with the region and the delivery of service to the community.”  Mrs Bell says these are exciting times for the Dubbo Campus. “The Admin Focus conference saw over 100 CSU staff travel to Dubbo to see first hand the development that has taken place and that the construction is completed at Dubbo, we can cement our place in the CSU community as well as the Dubbo regional community.” She says she was delighted by the appointment. “Absolutely, I think I will now be well placed to encourage prospective students to visit the Campus and consider higher education, particularly those who may have left school a few years ago or those looking for state-of-the-art student accommodation.” Mrs Bell take over the role as Head of Campus from Professor David Battrersby who was appointed Vice-Chancellor of Ballarat University.

A Federal Government inquiry into school students’ knowledge of Australia’s history has led to a new Charles Sturt University (CSU) history course for teachers being launched for 2007. Course coordinator and history and politics lecturer Dr Troy Whitford said there is a real gap in the knowledge students and teachers have about Australia’s democratic process and its history. “This course aims to address many teachers’ poor understanding of Australian history and help teachers to address the need to teach about Australia’s democratic processes and citizenship in their classes. The Graduate Certificate in History (Civics and Citizenship) relates to relevant sections in other teaching subjects for social science, geography and modern history giving graduates a big picture understanding, particularly in relation to the organisation and operation of the Australian democratic system,” Dr Whitford said. Enrolments for the postgraduate course, to start in 2007, will run until November 2006. The Federal Government will hold a summit on teaching Australian history in August this year.

The Ponton Theatre might not need its heaters on “high” even though Hair – the Tribal Love Rock Musical opens next week in the middle of a Bathurst winter. Show producer and director, Charles Sturt University (CSU) second year theatre media student Adam Ross, describes the plot as “about a bunch of hippies who protest against war, take a lot of drugs and get nude and sing about sexual freedom.” He says the topics raised by the musical are pertinent at present. “With the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and with the issues of gay marriage and sexual freedom, it really hits home.” He also says the show will be a “trip down memory lane” for older people. “While putting up posters around campus, many lecturers are going, ‘Hair, I haven’t seen that since I was 15!’ I know it will bring back a lot of memories.” Hair opens on Wednesday 2 August, and continues on Friday 4 and Saturday 5 August. Bookings can be made by calling: Mobile 0428 611 916. This production will follow the dark play Kafka’s Metamorphosis, to be performed by CSU theatre media students this Thursday 27, Friday 28 and Saturday 29 July at the Ponton Theatre in Bathurst, starting at 8pm. For bookings, call: Mobile 0405 449 653.

A leading group of veterinary educators has given their stamp of approval to Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) veterinary course, the first such course offered in regional Australia. The Veterinary Science Accreditation Advisory Committee which visited CSU’s Wagga Wagga Campus last week has recommended accreditation for the University’s new Bachelor of Veterinary Science degree. The committee of six veterinary practitioners and academics from Australian and New Zealand universities will recommend to the Australasian Veterinary Boards Council that they provide provisional accreditation of CSU’s veterinary program. CSU’s first dedicated building for veterinary science, the $4.5 million Pre-Clinical Centre for teaching anatomy and physiology, was formally handed over to staff and students last week. Professor Kym Abbott, Director of Veterinary Science at CSU, said the accreditation committee praised the high quality of staff and facilities and the strong support given to the new program by the University.

Videoconferencing will be a significant component of teaching in the future according to Charles Sturt University (CSU) mathematics lecturer Michael Kemp who spoke at a public seminar today about the challenges facing lecturers who are not always teaching in the same room as their students. “As the world evolves into a smaller place with email and videoconferencing becoming an everyday occurrence, Australia’s largest regional university CSU has trained their academics to use the latest technology and present lectures to students throughout NSW and across the country.” Having taught mathematics via videoconferences and forums during the past semester at CSU, Mr Kemp looked at his practices through a survey with students to present a public seminar on lessons learnt titled Lessons Learned About Remote Teaching.

Central West businesses performed better in the June quarter than the preceding quarter, according to the latest Reliance Credit Union business survey released on Wednesday 2 August by Charles Sturt University’s Western Research Institute (WRI). "Interestingly, Central West businesses still expect to improve their performance again in the September quarter, even though interest rates rose yesterday. It is expected, however, that regional NSW business will be less affected by the rise in terest rates than Sydney due to smaller mortgages and less business debt," said WRI CEO, Tom Murphy. It was noted that fuels costs were the most negative influence on business activity, particularly transport. All business sectors except agriculture showed positive performance in June. The business survey, sponsored by Reliance Credit Union and the Central West Regional Development Board, was returned by over 400 businesses including mining, agriculture, tourist, retail and transport industries across regional NSW.

The life of a postgraduate student can be an isolating one, especially for students who do not live near a campus, according to Kris Gottschall, a PhD student in Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) School of Teacher Education. The University’s Student Representative Council has formed a postgraduate group for Bathurst and Orange students which will meet soon at the Bathurst Campus. Ms Gottschall says she hopes the group will encourage students to interact with others and create personal and professional networks, which will help “keep students focused and enthused. I think interaction is really important, not just on the intellectual level, but on a social level as well, because they know what you are going through,” Ms Gottschall said.

Charles Sturt University’s School of Humanities and Social Sciences is hoping to unearth young people who are making a difference in their communities with the inaugural Making a Difference Social Justice Innovation Award. The award is aimed at Year 11 or 12 high school students or TAFE students who are doing a community services or welfare related qualification. Mr Bill Anscombe, senior lecturer in the School says the two winners will be announced in October. They will receive a $500 cash prize, as well as a $500 donation to a charity of their choice. He says the number of enquiries so far has been very encouraging, and “we already have entries logged onto our website. We want to hear about the fantastic things that young people are doing.”