Members of the Riverina equine community at a Charles Sturt University (CSU) Equine Influenza (EI) forum have been urged to work together so that NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) quarantine restrictions, imposed in response to Australia’s first EI outbreak, are upheld by everyone in the community. Participants emphasised that the disease poses a threat to all horses, ponies and donkeys. Around 130 people attended the forum which was organised in Wagga Wagga by the CSU School of Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences. A panel of CSU equine health experts, led by Director of Veterinary Science Professor Kym Abbott, outlined the status of the EI outbreak, how the highly contagious virus is transmitted and ways to prevent its spread through the nation’s equine population. CSU veterinary science lecturer Dr Sharanne Raidal stressed the importance of community vigilance and compliance to halt the advance of equine flu, which can be transmitted by humans, vehicles and equipment.

While managers put much energy into improving business performance by investing in innovation, increasing product and service quality or through expansion, little effort is given to improving the culture which is the backbone of every organisation’s operation. A Swiss graduate from Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Doctor of Business Administration program says carefully managing organisational culture can positively influence the company’s bottom line. Dr Patric Maerki is the first graduate to complete his studies through a partnership with CSU and the University of Applied Science in Bern, Switzerland. He devised a way to help manage the aspects of corporate culture influencing business performance. “My research into companies in five different industries showed that corporate culture values such as freedom, risk taking, open and shared communication, and respecting employees can be used to enhance operational performance in innovation, organisational alignment and customer orientation, and to increase profits,” said Dr Maerki. CSU’s distance education program attracted Dr Maerki as he could balance his business commitments with the demands of completing a doctorate while receiving support from a Swiss supervisor.

Director of the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney and the former Director of the National Museum of Australia in Canberra, Dr Dawn Casey, PSM, FAHA has been appointed to the Charles Sturt University (CSU) Council. Dr Casey is the newest member of the University’s governing body following her appointment by the NSW Minister for Education and Training, the Hon. Verity Firth, MP, on recommendation from the CSU Council. Dr Casey, who is nationally and internationally recognised for her leadership of the Powerhouse Museum, the National Museum and the Western Australian Museum, has been appointed until June 2011. Dr Casey has made a major contribution to Indigenous policies and programs in Australia as well as to Australia’s cultural heritage, including. the establishment of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation. She also initiated the joint Commonwealth-State response to the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody as a senior executive in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. Dr Casey’s appointment comes as the University celebrates the 20th anniversary of its establishment through the Charles Sturt University Act 1989. Read more here.

In this Year of the Blood Donor staff and students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) are being asked to donate blood on its five campuses from Monday 2 to Friday 6 March. As part of CSU’s 20th anniversary celebrations this year, the University has issued a ‘North-South’ challenge, with the total staff and student donations at CSU campuses at Dubbo, Orange and Bathurst (North) being tallied against donations at Wagga Wagga and Albury-Wodonga (South). The Head of Campus at CSU at Bathurst, Mr Col Sharp, said the University aims to achieve 1 000 donations during the week. “While we have been planning this event for some time, it is given added urgency and significance by the needs of burns victims from the recent bushfires in Victoria,” Mr Sharp said. “I urge all University staff and students to donate blood if they possibly can. It costs nothing, takes less than an hour and does so much good.” One in three Australians will need blood during their lifetime, yet only one in 30 donates blood.

Governments across Australia have spent billions of dollars on programs to encourage rural landholders to implement sustainable farming and biodiversity conservation practices, but has this money been well spent? Drawing on his research in south eastern Australia, Charles Sturt University (CSU) academic Professor Allan Curtis will address this question when he speaks at the Fenner Conference on the Environment in Canberra on Wednesday 11 March. Professor Curtis will highlight the reality that most conservation work undertaken by private landholders is not funded by governments and that government investment in conservation programs, particularly those that invest in building and engaging human and social capital in rural communities, makes a difference. “The ‘business as usual’ approaches to engaging rural landholders are unlikely to work in the future given the remarkable change occurring as a large proportion of longer-term owners leave the land,” he said.

While 2009 provides Charles Sturt University (CSU) with an opportunity to celebrate its 20th anniversary, the year is also a time to honour the 114-year tradition of excellence and innovation in teaching, learning and research. The University was established when the Charles Sturt University Act was passed by the NSW Parliament in July 1989, however the institution’s history can be traced back to the Bathurst Experimental Farm, established in 1895.The official opening ceremony for the University’s 20th anniversary will be held from 11am, Thursday 12 March, in Joyes Hall at CSU at Wagga Wagga. Read more here.

Recent graduates from the Charles Sturt University (CSU) School of Biomedical Sciences at Bathurst, will return to the University on Tuesday 24 March to speak to nursing and paramedic students about career prospects and the value of their CSU studies. Senior lecturer and course coordinator, Ms Veronica Madigan, said, “This is the first time recent graduates from the School will speak to current third year students. These graduates have told me how they now realise the value of their CSU education and want to let third year students know of the job opportunities available in the health sector. They will talk about life after CSU, how they have found working full-time, and how the course has assisted their career progression and current occupations. They are very passionate about CSU and recognise that it is a great University.”

By staging its first myDay at Charles Sturt University (CSU) on Tuesday 24 March, the School of Communication at Bathurst  is wasting no time in attracting future students to its courses. Head of School, Associate Professor Rod McCulloch, said myDay is designed to give students from the region a taste of university life and the School of Communication by making CSU ‘their University for a day’. “We expect about 60 students from high schools in the Bathurst region will tour the University,” Professor McCulloch said. “Rather than just observe, they will engage in lectures, tutorials, workshops and other student activities. We aim to show potential students why the CSU School of Communication has such a strong reputation for consistently producing highly employable, work-ready graduates for a range of industry sectors, and why Charles Sturt University should be their first choice when applying to study.”

The Western Research Institute (WRI) at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Bathurst is celebrating 10 years of research that has charted and informed developments in rural and regional Australia. CSU Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Ian Goulter, complimented the organisation on this milestone, saying “WRI is celebrating its 10th birthday in the same year that Charles Sturt University is celebrating its 20th. WRI and CSU have worked together on many projects that have helped shape and paint a picture of inland Australia. On behalf of CSU, I congratulate WRI on this significant achievement and look forward to working with the organisation over the next 10 years.” WRI Director, Mr Tom Murphy, said that when the WRI was established in 1999 the aim was to provide timely and factual data about trends and developments in regional Australia and the organisation has exceeded that aim. See more CSU 20th anniversary events here.