Charles Sturt University (CSU) academics and regional high school teachers will offer more than 500 students from across southern NSW a fresh perspective on their HSC English studies on Friday 20 June. The annual study day at CSU in Wagga Wagga is hosted by the University's  School of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Wagga Branch of the English Teachers Association with lectures on the texts, topics and authors featured in Standard and Advanced HSC English classes. "It's a professional and academic collaboration designed to assist teachers and students from the region with access to ideas, strategies and illuminations that will help them in the final HSC exam," said Adjunct Senior Lecturer in English, Mr David Gilbey. "There will be lectures and presentations on writers as diverse as William Shakespeare, WB Yeats, Henry Lawson, Kenneth Slessor and Denise Levertov." Students from Young, Cootamundra, Tumut, Tumbarumba, Batlow and Wagga Wagga are expected to attend the event, which has been held for more than 20 years.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) pharmacy student has had a strong start to his four year degree after securing a prestigious Rural Pharmacy Scholarship from the Pharmacy Guild of Australia. First year Bachelor of Pharmacy student Mr Lindsay Minehan is one of 40 students from across Australia recently named by the Guild as a recipient of the scholarship. Mr Minehan from Batemans Bay on the NSW South Coast will receive $10 000 each year for up to four years of his degree to help cover the costs associated with studying away from home. As part of the Scholarship Scheme, the CSU student will also participate in a mentor program. The Bachelor of Pharmacy is offered by CSU through its School of Biomedical Sciences at CSU in Orange and Wagga Wagga. Read more about the Guild's Rural Pharmacy Scholarship here.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga will this week host young robotic innovators from across the Riverina with the RoboCup Junior Challenge to be held from 9.30am to 2pm on Wednesday 11 June. On the day of the competition in the CSU Convention Centre, over 100 students from schools around the region will participate in three separate team challenges; dance, rescue, and soccer. The Challenge aims to develop teamwork and technical skills in an environment of participation, fun and excitement. Lecturer at the CSU School of Computing and Mathematics, Mr Allen Benter, said, "The competition is the culmination of plenty of hard work by students in building and programming their robots, and is an opportunity to show their ingenuity and creativity to solve complex problems. Robotics is an emerging career and maybe some of these students will be designing and building the domestic, industrial and manufacturing robots of the future." The competition follows an earlier training day for the Riverina students at CSU in Wagga Wagga on Thursday 27 March.

Two PhD students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) have been recognised at the recent 2014 Speech Pathology Australia National Conference in Melbourne. Ms Sarah Verdon from the School of Teacher Education at CSU in Bathurst was awarded Best Student Paper Prize. Ms Sarah Masso, also from the School of Teacher Education, was awarded one of four Best Poster Prizes at the conference held from Sunday 18 to Wednesday 21 May. Both students are PhD scholars at the University's Research Institute for Professional Practice, Learning and Education (RIPPLE). They are supervised by Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Professor Sharynne McLeod. In June, Professor McLeod and three of her PhD students – Ms Verdon, Ms Masso, and Ms Suzanne Hopf - will present papers at the International Clinical Phonetics and Linguistics Association in Sweden and will host a meeting of the International Expert Panel of Multilingual Children's Speech. Professor McLeod will also visit the Icelandic National Hearing and Speech Institute in late June. Her trip will focus on multilingual children's speech acquisition. : Read more about Professor McLeod's work in her "Speaking my language" blog here.

Two Charles Sturt University (CSU) academics are among the guest speakers at a conference in Wagga Wagga which will tackle the issue of better approaches to mental health in family law on Friday 30 May. The Riverina Family Law Pathways Network is hosting the conference for professionals wanting to know more about this complex area of the law. Among the guest speakers are Family Court Justice Hilary Hannam; Dr Sarah Cavanagh, the Manager of Strategic Development and KidsMatter at the Australian Psychological Society; lecturer in social work in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at CSU in Wagga Wagga, Ms Ruth Bailey; and lecturer in biomedical sciences Dr Wouter Kalle from the School of Biomedical Sciences at CSU in Wagga Wagga. The Chair of the Riverina Family Law Pathways, Mrs Robyn Gooden said, "This is an important conference for those working in domestic and family violence, legal, mediators, counsellors, housing, schools, hospitals and mental health services."

The people of Hillston can help develop a better way of accounting for the social impacts of new projects or natural disasters through research being undertaken at Charles Sturt University's (CSU) Institute for Land, Water and Society.  PhD candidate Ms Jenni Greig is seeking participants to complete a survey that aims to gather simple information to assess whether we can anticipate how major changes affect a community. "I hope this study can help develop future government policies, particularly those that affect rural and regional Australians," Ms Greig said. "We can anticipate how major changes will affect the local environment or local economy, but decisions are often made with little information on what is really important to people, and how their lives might be affected. Not everyone will be affected in the same way by a major change, so it is important to get a whole picture of various opinions in a community." Ms Grieg and three CSU researchers will be in Hillston from Thursday 12 June, going door-to-door to distribute the survey to residents. "Through this survey, you can make a difference to the way changes in regional communities around Australia are viewed by decision makers," Ms Grieg said.

The risks of driving while under the influence of alcohol or illicit drugs. or while tired, are being brought home to students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) during a drug awareness campaign until Friday 6June. Organised by the University's Health Promotions Service, the campaign involves parking damaged motorbikes and cars at CSU in Albury-Wodonga, Bathurst, Dubbo, Orange and Wagga Wagga. Health Promotions Officer at CSU Ms Coleen Pearce said, "These vehicles, which are on loan from local businesses, have been sign posted and cordoned off. They aim to show students what can happen if they drink and drive or take drugs and get behind the wheel. The awareness campaign supports the Plan B road safety campaign."

Scholarships worth over $300 000 will be presented to 90 Charles Sturt University (CSU) students in Wagga Wagga from 4pm on Wednesday 21 May. The prizes, in recognition of students academic excellence and personal achievements, include cash awards from local councils, international corporations, local businesses, community groups and individuals. Bachelor of Social Science (Social Welfare) student Ms Theresa Singhdeo has been awarded the Job Centre Australia Disability Scholarship. "At school I'd been told I wasn't smart enough to go to university but now years later I'm studying via distance education and loving it," she said. "After experienceing years of domestic violence, I'm passionate about supporting other women and this scholarship will help me study to gain the skills and qualifications I need to do that." It will be the last student scholarship ceremony officiated by CSU Chancellor Lawrence Willett, AO in Wagga Wagga, ahead of his retirement in late 2014. Read more about CSU scholarships here.

The influence of wine packaging on the behaviour of shoppers will be raised during the latest free seminar from the School of Psychology at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga on Wednesday 21 May. The University of South Australia's (UniSA) Professor of Wine Marketing Larry Lockshin will speak on Shopping behaviour and the influence of packaging with a focus on wine in the seminar from 4pm to 5pm in room, 216 in building 26 atCSU in Wagga Wagga. Professor Lockshin said, "Shopping is one of the main activities for consumers and comprises over 30 per cent of Australia's GDP. The presentation covers recent research, which shows shopping is mainly a top of mind activity with little cognitive thought. Therefore, many marketing activities aimed at in-store shoppers are ineffective. The second part of my presentation covers four different experiments focusing on different aspects of packaging: What are the most important packaging elements that influence consumer recognition? What is the effect of shelf information on consumer choice? What is the effect of non-price promotions in wine stores? How much does the taste of wine matter in wine choice?" Professor Lockshin is UniSA's Pro Vice Chancellor Strategic Coordination and Head of the School of Marketing. He has spent more than 20 years working with the wine industry, first as a viticulturist and now as a marketing academic and consultant. The University's School of Psychology offers undergraduate and post-graduate studies in psychology, and may be studied on campus or by distance education. Read more here.