Questions about student career development and work opportunities are explored daily by the Careers Service at Charles Sturt University (CSU). However a free public lecture to be held in Deniliquin on Wednesday 20 July takes the question of career development further to explore a student’s sense of purpose. Hosted by CSU and Deniliquin Council, the lecture will be presented by Mr Paul Worsfold, a Career Development Officer at CSU in Wagga Wagga. “The focus of our Careers Service has shifted from a traditional role of simply preparing students for graduate employment opportunities to career development work starting soon after students enrol at university, if not sooner,” said Mr Worsfold. “Now we explore a student’s ‘sense of purpose’ and what is known as a ‘sense of agency’ or becoming one’s own agent for achieving life, learning and work aspirations. So career development, ‘sense of purpose’ and ‘sense of agency’ are all key aspects supporting student retention. The work of the Careers Service, its use of career action plans, tools for student reflection and a little research, all indicate that career development learning is more than helping students to find a job.”

If you are over 65 and you have had a fall in that past 12 months, or are a relative or friend of someone who has, you can take part in research at Charles Sturt University (CSU) that looks at your experiences related to the fall. Ms Kristy Robson, a podiatry academic with the CSU’s School of Community Health  and Centre for Inland Health is looking for participants specifically from Albury, Corowa, Wagga Wagga, Griffith, Coleambally, Boorowa, Young and Moama as part of her PhD research project. Ms Robson, who is based in Albury, said it is estimated that between 30 and 60 per cent of older people living in the community will experience a fall each year. “It is therefore important we try and understand why this is occurring, particularly for people living in inland communities of Australia. Most current research is based on the opinions of health experts. We want to collect stories from diverse inland communities which have widely spread people and health services. Programs developed for metropolitan situations might not be appropriate for our regional communities.” To participate in the CSU research project, contact Ms Wendy Rose Davison on telephone (02) 6051 9232.

An educational program designed to help local communities deal with confronting issues for young people will be discussed at a Charles Sturt University (CSU) public lecture in Tumut on Wednesday 14 September. The ‘Putting Youth in the Picture’ program was developed in regional Queensland and uses a series of authentic, confronting movie scenes to show how young people can make poor decisions that will alter their lives. CSU has been granted the first NSW licence to roll out the program to all local government areas across its regions. Manager of Residential Operations at CSU in Albury-Wodonga and Wagga Wagga, Mr Peter Bell, said issues presented include sexual assault, binge and underage drinking, and alcohol-fuelled violence. “This program is about empowering local communities through their local councils, schools or sporting groups to use the program’s resources to hopefully prevent their young people from getting into difficulties,” Mr Bell said.

The Charles Sturt University (CSU) Cricket Club will be one of hundreds of community cricket clubs across Australia sharing in the Vodafone Sydney Pink Test phenomenon this year by participating in Pink Stumps Day on Saturday 18 February. This is an initiative of the McGrath Foundation and Cricket Cares, Cricket Australia’s community action program. The CSU Cricket Club coach and team manager, Mr Ali Syed, an adjunct senior lecturer in the CSU Faculty of Business, says the team is excited to take part in the event. “The team has been playing cricket for the last three years,” Mr Syed said. “It’s wonderful to be able to contribute to the community and, with regards to this event, to show that the students care about charity.”

The Charles Sturt University (CSU) Education For Practice Institute will hold its second national summit on professional and practice-based education in Sydney on Tuesday 3 and Wednesday 4 April. Professor Joy Higgs, AM, the summit convener and Director of the Education For Practice Institute, said, “The summit provides a forum for university educators and researchers to address practice-based education challenges, examine advances in this field, and share good practices and models. The theme for this year is ‘Education for Practice, Work and Society’, and leading academics from Australia, including Professor Andrew Vann, the new Vice-Chancellor and President of Charles Sturt University, are keynote presenters at the summit.” Other presenters include CSU Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) Professor Ross Chambers, Professor Joy Higgs (CSU), Dr Franziska Trede (CSU), Professor David Boud (UTS), Professor Stephen Billett (Griffith University), Professor Jan Orrell (Flinders University), Dr Dale Sheehan (Canterbury University, NZ), and Ms Suzi Hewlett from the Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Resources and Tertiary Education.

“One of the greatest challenges of modern neuroscience is understanding what happens to the brain as we age and why it becomes vulnerable to diseases such as Alzheimer’s,” said Charles Sturt University (CSU) researcher Dr Adam Hamlin. Dr Hamlin, from CSU’s School of Biomedical Sciences,  will talk about our Amazing Brain in a free public lecture in Griffith on Wednesday 15 August. Almost 280 000 Australians suffer from dementia and that figure is expected to rise as the population ages. Dr Hamlin will outline current breakthroughs in our understanding of the processes that occur in neurodegenerative diseases and what scientists are doing to find potential treatments for these conditions. A national Health and Medical Research Council Fellow, Dr Hamlin is carrying out research to discover more about brain cell death in people with Alzheimer’s disease.

High school students in the NSW Mid-North Coast, central and southern NSW and regional Victoria can learn vital life skills while running a simulated business in an online game to be hosted by Charles Sturt University’s Faculty of Business. The GameOn! organisers at CSU are now calling for teams of Years 10 and 11 students from high schools around regional NSW and Victoria to participate in the game in 2013. The game was first staged in 2012. “The student teams will make vital business decisions about marketing, human resources, operations and finance for an online, simulated business. Apart from developing problem-solving skills in their businesses, GameOn allows students to develop important life skills such as leadership, group work, critical thinking, negotiation and time management,” said GameOn coordinator Dr Abbey Dwivedi.  Teams will need to be nominated by the extended deadline of Friday 5 April, with eight rounds of ‘decisions’ to be made during the year and winning teams due to be announced in September 2013.

A program to advance Charles Sturt University (CSU) as a leader in higher education teaching and learning will be launched in Bathurst on Tuesday 17 September. CSU Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Professor Garry Marchant, said, “Given the ongoing growth of student numbers and evolution of the higher education sector due to theoretical and technological developments, the launch of ‘Smart Learning’ will enable a stronger professionalised teaching focus to improve student engagement and maintain high-quality teaching standards at the University. With the implementation of Smart Learning, Charles Sturt University will lead the way in higher education learning and teaching innovation.” Information about Smart Learning and the next steps in establishing this program will be presented at the launch at The Grange, CSU in Bathurst at 3pm on Tuesday 17 September.

Eight Charles Sturt University (CSU) International School of Business staff leave for China later this month to conduct intensive professional enhancement programs with their counterparts at four Chinese universities. Tianjin University of Commerce, Yunnan University of Economics and Finance, Changchun Taxation College and Yangzhou University are strategic partners with CSU for the delivery of business studies courses to international students overseas. Professor Alan Fish is Head of the International School of Business at CSU. He explains that the articulation agreements with the four Chinese institutions means students can graduate with both Chinese and western qualifications, making the students more employable. “We will be conducting intensive face-to-face sessions with the Chinese academics to familiarise them with assessment procedures and content of the CSU subjects,” Professor Fish said.