The Booranga Writers’ Centre at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga will welcome its first writer-in-residence for 2012, with the arrival of Ms Jennifer Mills. The South Australian-based author has written the novels The Diamond Anchor (2009) and Gone (2011), both published by University of Queensland Press, and the poetry collection Treading Earth (2008). A collection of short stories, The Rest Is Weight, will be released this year. Ms Mills won the 2008 Marian Eldridge Award for Young Emerging Women Writers, the Pacific Region of the Commonwealth Short Story Competition in 2008-9, and the 2008 Northern Territory Literary Awards: Best Short Story. Her work has appeared in Meanjin, Hecate, Overland, Heat, the Griffith Review, Best Australian Stories, and New Australian Stories, and she is a regular contributor to New Matilda and Overland. During her residency until Friday 30 March, Ms Mills will be special guest at a writers’ workshop from 2pm on Saturday 24 March at the Booranga Writers’ Centre, building 410, McKeown Drive, CSU in Wagga Wagga and at a public reading at the Riverina Regional Library in Baylis Street in Wagga Wagga from 5pm on Wednesday 28 March.

On a well-stocked property, heifer management drives profitability. This will be a key message during the Annual Graham Centre Beef Field Day in Wagga Wagga on Thursday 4 August from Dr Colin Scrivener from the Fred Morley Unit in the School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences at Charles Sturt University (CSU). “There are three basic rules producers need to follow when looking at the management of their cow herd: high heifer retention rates, adequate nutrition prior to puberty and management of dystocia,” said Dr Scrivener. “These ‘rules’ can be optimised through management. Other important things to consider include short joining periods, bull health, spring versus autumn calving, weaning systems and age at sale.” Dr Scrivener is one of many industry experts addressing the field day, which is organised by the EH Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation – an alliance of CSU and the NSW Department of Primary Industries. The theme for this year’s event is reproduction.  Read more about the field day here.

Three Charles Sturt University (CSU) researchers have investigated what it means for Indigenous children, families, schools and communities to be prepared for schooling. The result is an approach that goes well beyond being concerned only with what children might know or be able to do. CSU Professor of Education with Murray School of Education, Bob Perry says, “We know a few things that do work: having high quality Indigenous staff in the school, good links between school and pre-schools, positive involvement of families and communities in the the transition to school, and top quality pre-school education all contribute to positive experiences. However, we must include Indigenous families and communities in the transition process and show them cultural respect as their children’s first educators. Children, families, communities and schools all have strengths that need to be recognised and celebrated.” The report, titled ‘School readiness: What does it mean for Indigenous children, families, schools and communities?’ will be launched on Tuesday, May 31 at Parliament House in Canberra by the Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, the Hon. Jenny Macklin MP. The report includes input from local Wiradjuri community member, Ms Leonie McIntosh, as an adviser to the research team.

Co-founder of the non-profit peacemaking educational company, Preaching Peace, Mr Michael Hardin, will visit Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga during his trip to Australia. A theologian and author from the USA, Mr Hardin is a member of the Akron Mennonite Church in Pennsylvania. He brings his message about a peaceful God to CSU when he delivers the next Saint Martin's College Occasional Seminar from 4pm on Monday 2 April in the Fairfax Centre, building 382, CSU in Wagga Wagga. His seminar, titled Nonviolent Atonement, is free and open to the public. As executive director of Preaching Peace, Mr Hardin is also affiliated with the Colloquium on Violence and Religion. Saint Martin’s College is a residential university college run by the Anglican Church. It is located at CSU in Wagga Wagga.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) will be well represented when the ‘new look’ Town and Gown Procession makes its way through the heart of Wagga Wagga on Thursday 29 March. The colourful annual parade has been expanded to celebrate the city’s role as a centre for education and training in inland Australia. Representatives from local schools, other education providers, and the Australian Defence Force will join with CSU staff in the procession. Starting at 5pm, the procession down Baylis Street will end at the Victory Memorial Gardens with an educational expo from 5.30pm. Read more on CSU News here.

Strong prices and demand for prime lambs have seen producers shift their focus from wool production during recent times. But Professor of Animal Production at Charles Sturt University (CSU) Peter Wynn is urging Riverina producers not to lose sight of the importance of wool in their farm business. “Wool production has been the backbone of Australia and will continue to be an integral component of farm business income, particularly across the Riverina,” said Professor Wynn, who is also a member of the EH Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation – an alliance between CSU and the NSW Department of Primary Industries. “It is important producers continue to integrate wool production into their farming practices and not be heavily swayed by current market trends.” The Graham Centre together with the University of Sydney have organised a wool symposium to be held on Wednesday 18 May at Hay. “The symposium will provide an opportunity for wool growers to meet with key industry researchers and future leaders in the industry.” Forty final year animal science students from CSU and the University of Sydney are expected to attend the event. The program is available from the Graham Centre website here.

Starting in Bathurst on Thursday 29 March, the Charles Sturt University (CSU) Division of Learning and Teaching Services will hold forums on a number of its campuses for academics to discuss developments in online and mobile learning and teaching at the University. Forums facilitator, Associate Professor Philip Uys, the Director of Strategic Learning and Teaching Innovation in the CSU Division of Learning and Teaching Services, said, “The continued evolution of quality in learning and teaching at Charles Sturt University, and the growing expectations of our students for appropriate technology responses, requires the University’s staff to skilfully use an ever-growing set of internal and external educational technologies. Charles Sturt University is increasing its digital, mobile and paperless learning and teaching, which pose challenges for strategists of these new technologies, and for academics using them. It will be good to share information about education technology developments at the University and have some in-depth conversations about why these changes are occurring. We will explore what the learning and teaching potential of the respective educational technologies is, and what issues we are facing.”

His passion for science will be more evident than usual at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga on Wednesday 21 March when Professor Nick Klomp, Dean of the Faculty of Science and a regular science commentator on ABC Radio in NSW, delivers his Science@CSU Roadshow. Commencing at 4pm, the public presentation will explore developments in science at CSU including new courses, current and future research collaborations, new international staff appointments and multi-million dollar investments in research and training facilities. “The Faculty of Science at Charles Sturt University is among the largest and most diverse science faculties in Australasia, with approximately 9 000 students and hundreds of staff in seven schools across six campuses,” said Professor Klomp. “We are involved in teaching and research in a variety of science and health disciplines including veterinary science, dentistry, nursing, environmental studies, forensic biotechnology, wine science, agriculture, and allied health.”  Science@CSU is open to CSU staff and students, industry and the general public. Read more about Science@CSU here.

The first production for 2011 from  the University Theatre Ensemble (UTE) and the School Of Communication and Creative Industries at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga is Sarah Kane’s acclaimed  production, 4:48 Psychosis. The production is a theatrical poem by one of the most influential English playwrights of the last 20 years. Kane’s unyielding exploration of the psychotic mind is filled with beauty, irony and a palpable life force that reaches out to make this a night in the theatre like no other. 4.48 Psychosis caused a sensation when first performed and a decade later it’s still dividing opinions. 4:48 Psychosis  plays at the Riverina Playhouse in Cross Street, Wagga Wagga from 8pm Tuesday 24 to Saturday 28 May with a special late night performance on Friday 27 May at 10pm.Tickets can be booked at the Civic Theatre Booking Office on  telephone 02 6926 9688, online here and are available at the door. Tickets are $12 or $7 concession.