Among hundreds of students who will spend this week getting to know the academic and social side to university life are Wagga Wagga twins Ms Rosemary and Mr Austin Teakel. The 18 year old twins will spend the next four years at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga studying the same degree, a Bachelor of Education (Technology and Applied Studies).   Approximately 1 050 students are expected to enrol as on campus students at CSU in Wagga Wagga in 2010. Celebrating Your Future is the theme of Orientation 2010, which continues this week ahead of classes commencing on Monday 1 March.  During the week, students will be fundraising for the NSW Volunteer Rescue Association with the hope of raising $5 000 for the organisation. The official Orientation 2010 program, coordinated by the Division of Student Services at CSU, can be found here.  Read more CSU News about Orientation 2010 here. 

Australia and Finland may be geographically poles apart but researchers from both countries are striving to best prepare teachers for their profession. As part of their development, two academics from Finland are braving Australia’s February heat to visit Charles Sturt University (CSU) after discovering the institution’s reputation as a leader in research on professional practice, teacher education and learning. CSU’s Research Institute for Professional Practice, Learning and Education  (RIPPLE) is hosting Professor Petri Salo from Abo Akademi University and Dr Hannu Heikkinin from the University of Jyväskylä as they collaborate on joint research projects with CSU. Leading international education researcher, Professor Stephen Kemmis from CSU, said, “Professor Petri Salo is working with our team on a three-year Australian Research Council project investigating the connections between practices of school leadership and professional development and how these can lead to changes in students’ academic and social practices, while Dr Hannu Heikkinen is collaborating with RIPPLE researchers on mentoring for new teachers.”

The earthquake and tsunami that hit Chile on Sunday 28 February are reminders of the harshness of nature and the need for governments, emergency services and relief agencies to plan for natural disasters, says an expert in disaster management from Charles Sturt University (CSU). Mr Ian Manock, lecturer in emergency management at CSU’s Australian Graduate School of Policing, said that with a burgeoning world population and in spite of increasing technology, research shows that the incidence of damage to facilities and harm to people from the impact of natural and technological hazards is increasing exponentially. He said the disaster will no doubt have emergency service agencies in Chile pushed beyond their limits and the international community will be called on to assist.

As part of the Charles Sturt University (CSU) 20th anniversary celebrations in 2009, a new art exhibition will be opened this week to highlight more than a century of Australian monotypes. The exhibition, MONO uno: Australian Monotypes in the Charles Sturt University Art Collection, will be opened at 6pm, Friday 27 March by Mr Damian Kelly, General Manager of the Print Council of Australia. “The CSU Art Collection holds more than 80 monotypes. Some of these are historically important, such as the work by A H Fullwood, ‘Valley View’, or R C W Bunny, ‘Reclining Nude’; the latter will tour in November through the Art Gallery of NSW to three capital cities,” said curator Mr Thomas Middlemost. The exhibition is one of many events to mark 20 years of CSU during 2009. See more 20th anniversary events here.

Members of the Wiradjuri and wider Border community can share their memories of the late Wiradjuri elder, Pastor Cec Grant, at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Albury-Wodonga on Friday 1 May. The life and work of Pastor Grant, or Wongamar, will be celebrated at the Annual Pastor Cec Grant Lecture, which will be presented by local CSU academic and Wiradjuri elder Yalmambirra. CSU Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Professor Ross Chambers, said Pastor Grant made important contributions to Indigenous education at CSU. “The lecture will touch on Christianity and Indigenous culture and spirituality as a tribute to Pastor Grant and his vision,” Professor Chambers said. The evening event will commence with a barbeque at 5pm in front of the Nowik Lecture Theatres, then move into the main theatre for the lecture at 7pm. 

The new $9 million Veterinary Clinical Centre at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga has received a major design award shortly before its opening by the federal Minister for Home Affairs, the Hon. Bob Debus, in July. At the Australian Steel Institute Awards, Merit Architects, Wood & Grieve Engineers, Joss Construction and Southern Centre Engineering were awarded a High Commendation for the striking architectural steel design of the new building. Inside the building is the latest in surgical and medical facilities for large and small animals as well as a reproduction unit. With fourth year veterinary science students the first to benefit from the new facilities, the Centre is under the direction of Associate Professor Bryan Hilbert. He is supported by clinicians experienced in surgery, anaesthesia, radiography and reproduction. At the recent opening, Mr Debus told more than 180 guests that the veterinary science program at CSU is “serving the national purpose”.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) lecturer in Teacher Education, Mr Bob Dengate, wishes regional NSW students well in the looming HSC exams, but suggests that there is much more involved than luck. “It’s all about preparation. HSC students have spent the past two years preparing for these exams in one way or another,” he said. “The students who will do best are those who have a balanced life, yet have done the extra work, using value-added resources such as study groups and online services.” The CSU Director of NSW HSC Online, Mr Dengate has been involved in the recent introduction of study tips on the CSU website link. “This is a great way for students to help students. There are plenty of useful tips already and we invite students to also add their favourite tips and to visit the Study & Exams part of NSW HSC Online”. Developed in collaboration with the NSW Department of Education and Training, the website link provides access to quality educational resources for rural and regional students.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) staff have given a helping hand to an academic’s work for women and children in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Dr Elaine Dietsch, a lecturer at the CSU School of Midwifery and Nursing in Wagga Wagga, visits the troubled African country each year to use her nursing and midwifery skills to aid the women and children plagued by militias, rebels and malnutrition. Educational designers in the University’s Centre for Enhancing Learning and Teaching in Wagga Wagga were recently awarded $150 in the Wagga Mutual Credit Union Safety Awareness Program. The 12-member team has donated its prize money plus another $20 to support Dr Dietsch’s work in the DRC. “The money will hopefully make a difference to the women of the village Luganda in DRC,” said CSU educational designer Ms Milena Dunn. “These women carry huge loads of up to 50 kilograms of firewood from the village, 18 kilometres to the town of Bukavu. They are paid 30 cents a load and are at constant risk from militia groups and rebels,” said Dr Dietsch. “The donation will be used to establish projects for a small community of women to ensure an alternative means of sustainable employment.”

Services for women with cervical cancer who live in rural Australia could be improved as a result of a study to be carried out by a Charles Sturt University (CSU) psychology student. Ms Melissa Elleray, a fourth year Honours student at the School of Social Sciences and Liberal Studies, hopes her study of rural women who have had cervical cancer will provide insight into their experiences so that services and funding can be better targeted. “There seems to be little support for or awareness about how rural women experience cervical cancer, and as I have experienced a risk of developing the disease myself, I want to help these women have their stories heard. My research will explore what it was like going through treatment while trying to maintain a normal life,” Ms Elleray said. The research requires confidential face-to-face interviews with up to 12 women in rural NSW and Victoria before the end of 2008. Women interested in participating in the research can contact Ms Elleray on 0409 808 598.