Charles Sturt University’s Pro Vice Chancellor Research & Graduate Training Professor Paul Burnett has been named an Assessment Panel Chair for the Research Quality Framework by the Federal Minister for Education, Science and Training, the Hon. Julie Bishop MP. Describing the Chairs as “senior researchers of international standing”, Ms Bishop said the Panels will assess research which “delivers real benefits to the whole community”. Professor Burnett says the Panels will consider the quality and impact of university research and that, “The amount of money allocated to universities annually on the basis of the assessments will be about $500 million per year.” He says he was “delighted” by the appointment. “This is a critical exercise for the future of Australian research in universities and how it is funded. I am a strong supporter of rewarding research excellence and demonstrating its significant impact.”

What does religion have to do with farming – and vice versa? Quite a lot, according to Dr Judith Crockett, lecturer in social sustainability at the Orange Campus of Charles Sturt University. She identified three distinct groups of farming families: the non-religious, the religious – who make occasional trips to church, often for social reasons, and Christian, whose “whole lives are permeated by their Christian beliefs and values”. These families tend to exhibit quite distinct gender and family relationships, have fewer problems with “succession planning” - the transfer of the farm between generations – and, “many are very progressive sustainable managers of land, very involved in Landcare as well as broader community activities,” said Dr Crockett. “That is because they see themselves as caretakers of the land rather than the owners of it.”

Nurses working in the Riverina will be able to complete their nursing degrees while working in their communities thanks to a collaborative program between Charles Sturt University (CSU), Greater Southern Area Health Service (GSAHS) and the Riverina Institute of TAFE. Thirty Enrolled Nurses with the GSAHS will upgrade their qualifications to Registered Nurse by enrolling in the CSU Bachelor of Nursing in 2008. To prepare them for their studies via distance education, they are participating in a two day workshop funded by the GSAHS at the University’s Wagga Wagga Campus on Tuesday 10 and Wednesday 11 July. Workshop organiser Heather Latham says this successful partnership between CSU and GSAHS is helping address the critical shortage of qualified nurses in regional Australia and the Riverina. This group will join the 35 GSAHS nurses who commenced their CSU degrees earlier this year.

Close collaboration between Charles Sturt University (CSU) and TAFE NSW now enables students to gain computing qualifications from both institutions during three years of full-time study. After completing pilot courses in Albury and Wagga Wagga, the joint program, which incorporates subjects from TAFE NSW’s Diploma of Technology (Networking) and CSU’s Bachelor of Information Technology, is being extended across NSW, with CSU units available via distance education. “This totally integrated approach allows students to study concurrently at both institutions to combine the practical industry experience presented by TAFE NSW with the theoretical rigor of CSU subjects. These students will become even more employable and better qualified in a very competitive industry,” said CSU’s Sub Dean of Information Technology, Dr John Atkinson. Dr Atkinson will meet with TAFE NSW’s Program Manager in Telecom and Networks, Franco Salaun at the Albury campus of TAFE NSW Riverina Institute on Thursday 8 March to discuss further developments in the joint program.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design graduate Emily Harris has won a national competition to create a new design for National Youth Week (NYW) 2008. Emily’s design features the slogan Shout, Share, Live, Unite. The pink, blue, white and black creation will be used on NYW 2008 promotional material, including websites and posters. Ms Harris, from the NSW inland city of Wagga Wagga, says she was "so happy, it was awesome". Ms Harris studied a Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design at CSU Wagga Wagga Campus then began working for Melbourne design firm House Mouse in mid-2007. “It’s an industry that is tough to break into because it is so competitive”, she says, and her advice to prospective graphic designers is to "stick with it if it is your dream”. Emily relished the opportunity for creativity that the National Youth Week Design Competition offered, saying that it was an exciting "opportunity to express your own form of design".

Interested in studying clinical sciences, nursing or pharmacy? Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) School of Biomedical Sciences is holding an information session on the Orange Campus on Saturday 22 September between 2pm and 4pm for students interested in enrolling in these courses. Dr Debbie Burton, Course Coordinator for the Bachelor of Clinical Science, says people from the Orange region can see what CSU offers in health and medical science courses and to learn about the University’s commitment to alleviating the shortage of health and medical practitioners in inland Australia. “CSU is playing a crucial role in educating health professionals for inland communities. We have seen 60 to 70 per cent of CSU health graduates gaining work and staying in the country. As the range of health courses offered by CSU increases, so will the number of practicing health professionals in inland communities,” Dr Burton said. Information will also be available on the new School of Dentistry and Oral Health that will be established in 2009.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) is sending a 115-strong team of students to compete in the annual Australian University Games on the Queensland Gold Coast from Sunday 23 to Friday 28 September. This year the games organisers expect around 6 000 students from over 40 universities from across Australia to compete in a range of sports. While CSU has competed successfully before, this is the first year that CSU has representatives from all its major campuses as well as Distance Education students at the games. CSU individuals or teams have entered in athletics, beach volleyball, fencing, golf, men's and women's hockey, women's and mixed netball, mixed touch football, rugby union 7s, water polo and ultimate frisbee. CSU team manager Niklaus Granger said, "The Australian University Games boast previous Commonwealth and World University Games participants. CSU is usually strong in hockey, touch football and rugby union, but who knows what 2007 will hold for the combined CSU team?" Go, CSU, go!

The Charles Sturt University (CSU) Wagga Wagga Campus Occupational Health and Safety Committee promoted a healthy approach to life during its Walk and Cycle to Uni Day, held on Friday 5 October 2007. Both staff and students were encouraged to take part in the event which is and based on the National Walk to Work Day, which is run by the Australian Pedestrian Council. The OHS committee hopes the event will not only assist the environment but will also help to improve personal fitness, health and well-being. Over one hundred participants departed from near the old Hampden Bridge in Fitzmaurice Street Wagga Wagga walking and cycling to the CSU Wagga Wagga Campus. Head of the CSU Wagga Wagga Campus Professor David Green supported the morning.  There was a free breakfast and prizes awarded for the Best Outfit and Best Decorated Headwear for individual walker, teams, Individual cyclists and team cyclists at the conclusion of the walk. Organiser Anette Coombs has extended a huge thankyou to everyone who participated in Walk or Cycle to Uni Day and in doing so made it a really great morning.

A Charles Sturt University (CSU) graduate is putting the words into the mouths of some of the nation’s most watched television characters. Ms Kaneana May studied television production at the Wagga Wagga Campus and graduated in 2004 with first class honours in screenwriting, starting her career as a storyliner on the 2005 television series Headland. Ms May, aged 26, says “Since then I have since worked on the Seven network’s All Saints and now work as a script coordinator at Home and Away”.  Ms May was commissioned to write a Home and Away script which went to air in early October. Ms May, from the coastal village Old Bar on the New South Wales Mid North Coast, says “I would definitely encourage others interested in television to do the CSU course. I learned so much about the entire process of television. The course is continually improving to keep pace with what is happening in the industry”.