Charles Sturt University (CSU) will be well represented at a national education forum in Melbourne on Monday 13 October. The National Curriculum Board Science Forum is being held to develop a national science curriculum for Australian schools in 2011. Third year science teaching student Ms Lisa Davis from Wagga Wagga will attend the forum with Dr Colin Boylan, a senior lecturer with CSU’s School of Education, also in Wagga Wagga. They will be among the 150 delegates from across Australia. The National Curriculum Board has begun a series of consultations for input into a national curriculum in English, mathematics, the sciences and history, for school students from kindergarten to Year 12.“Participation in such a forum is a rare opportunity and to have a staff member Dr Colin Boylan and student Lisa Davis both heading for Melbourne is an acknowledgement of the University’s engagement with the wider professional and policy bodies that help to shape education in Australia,” said Head of the School of Education, Associate Professor Roslin Brennan-Kemmis.

Plans by Charles Sturt University (CSU) to invest tens of millions of dollars in infrastructure for inland Australia in coming years will be delivered directly to the construction and building industry during briefings this month. Hosted by CSU’s Division of Facilities Management (DFM), the industry briefings will be held in Wagga Wagga on Wednesday 24 September and in Bathurst on Tuesday 30 September. “The briefings allow us to talk directly with local and national building professionals, contractors and consultants that are interested in partnering with CSU to deliver the extensive infrastructure investment across our campuses,” said Mr Stephen Butt, Executive Director of DFM. “The University’s programs of Veterinary Science in Wagga Wagga and Dentistry in Orange and Wagga Wagga are well advanced but we also have plans that include major refurbishment of teaching spaces and laboratories across the campuses, construction of student amenities and facilities, office upgrades and improvements to sporting facilities,” said Mr Butt. “The University Strategy is supported by between $150 million to $175 million dollars worth of capital expenditure over the next three to five years.” A recent national call for expressions of interest for the registration on the University’s ‘Multi Vendor List’ prompted 400 companies to download documents from CSU.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) will host a visit this week from the US Consul General, Mrs Judith Fergin. CSU Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Ian Goulter, will welcome Mrs Fergin to the University’s Wagga Wagga Campus on Tuesday 23 September. While at CSU, the US Consul General will tour the CSU Winery, the new Veterinary Clinical Centre and the Equine Centre where she will be shown the large 3 000 square metre indoor arena. CSU equine studies students will also present a dressage display at the centre. Head of the CSU Wagga Wagga Campus, Professor David Green, will then accompany Mrs Fergin to a lunch with senior CSU staff. Mayor of Wagga Wagga, Councillor Kerry Pascoe, is also expected to attend the lunch. Mrs Fergin has been the US Consul General in Sydney since July 2007.

Assisting the Chinese government to improve its management of water resources in large irrigation systems is the motivation behind a visit to Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga by a delegation from China. The nine officials from China’s Ministry of Water Resources, the Yellow River Commission and Irrigation Department and Research Institutes will meet with representatives from CSU’s International Centre of WATER for Food Security (IC WATER) in Wagga Wagga on Friday 19 September. The Australia-China Environment Development Program (ACEDP) is a five year, $25 million Australian Government, AusAID initiative. Managing large irrigation systems using remote sensing is one of 11 approved projects under the ACEDP initiative. IC WATER is working with Chinese agencies to improve water use efficiency in the People Victory Channel Irrigation System in China. While at CSU, the delegates will learn about the novel remote sensing application for irrigation water management, while the delegation will also travel to Coleambally in southern NSW on Saturday 20 September. “The visit demonstrates how state-of-the-art remote sensing based hydrological assessment tools could be used for efficient water management in data sparse environment,” said the new Director of IC WATER, Associate Professor Mohsin Hafeez. Read more about Professor Hafeez here.

The Veterinary Clinical Centre at Charles Sturt University (CSU) will play host to senior staff from the Wagga Wagga City Council on Tuesday 9 September. Council's new Director of Environmental and Community Services, Mrs Janice Summerhayes, acting Director of Planning, Mr Mark Gardiner and acting Manager Natural Environment and Regulatory, Mr Greg Minehan will inspect the new facilities for the CSU veterinary science program from 8.30am. Fourth year veterinary science students are the first CSU students to benefit from the clinic which was officially opened in July. The clinic includes modern surgical facilities for large and small animals, diagnostic imaging and reproduction services for horses. In agreement with Wagga Wagga City Council, fourth year students conduct health checks and spey dogs and cats from the Council’s Glenfield Road Animal Shelter. New homes are then found for the animals. The visit to the Veterinary Clinical Centre will be hosted by the Head of the School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, Professor Kym Abbott. Read more about the clinic here.

The surgical skills of staff at the Veterinary Clinical Centre at Charles Sturt University (CSU) will come to the fore today Tuesday 26 August when a hoof is removed from the head of a three week old calf. The animal will be operated on by the Centre Director Associate Professor Bryan Hilbert from 1.30pm. The Veterinary Clinical Centre on CSU's Wagga Wagga Campus was officially opened last month when its experienced clinicians were praised for their vital role in producing well rounded professionals for inland Australia. As Associate Professor of Equine Medicine and Surgery at CSU, Professor Hilbert heads the team overseeing modern surgical facilities for large and small animals, diagnostic imaging and reproduction services for horses. Fourth year veterinary science students are first CSU students to benefit from the Veterinary Clinical Centre.

In his first full-length collection of poetry, Charles Sturt University (CSU) lecturer Mr David Gilbey has drawn on his international travel in 2006 for inspiration. Death and the Motorway will be launched in Wagga Wagga this Thursday 31 July at the Wagga Wagga City Library by local arts commentator Mr Fred Goldsworthy. Mr Gilbey is a senior lecturer in literature and creative writing in the CSU School of Humanities and Social Sciences in Wagga Wagga. He is President of the Booranga Writers’ Centre on CSU’s Wagga Wagga Campus and has edited the group’s annual anthology of poetry and prose, fourW. Published by IP Press, Death and the Motorway was completed after Mr Gilbey travelled to the United States, United Kingdom, France, Japan and China on study leave in 2006. Author and poet Ms Kate Llewellyn has described the CSU academic as “a poet of the people, never pretentious or obscure. He has a clear voice which goes straight to the heart of the matter.”

Construction has commenced on vital new student accommodation facilities on the Charles Sturt University (CSU) Wagga Wagga Campus. The work, being undertaken by Joss Construction, will provide 200 new on-campus beds for CSU students at the start of the 2009 academic year. The ten modular concrete and corrugated iron buildings will provide self catering accommodation. The work is part of a large scale project for 600 new on-campus beds across CSU campuses. It will expand the range of student accommodation at the University to about 3 000 beds. “The development will include open plan kitchens and living areas will feature in each block. “The corrugated iron, which is light, strong, adaptable and durable, highlights the heritage of Australian agricultural buildings while shielding the internal concrete walls from the summer heat,” said Executive Director of CSU Division of Student Services, Mr Andrew Callander. “This will enable the buildings to maintain a more constant temperature without the use of expensive air conditioning. Rainwater collected from roofs will be used to flush toilets and for irrigation.”

Five visiting Japanese students will join 15 Charles Sturt University (CSU) animal science and production students in a training day at local abattoirs to hone their meat judging skills, ahead of their participation in the 2008 Australian Intercollegiate Meat Judging Competition. The students will train in local facilities including Cargill Beef and Knights Meats in Wagga and Junee Abattoir. “The competition and the training beforehand is a unique opportunity to develop a career in the meat industry while mixing with industry representatives and other students,” said lecturer in Animal Production, Dr Bindi King. “This year the team will be coached by Mr Richard Sanders, a fourth year veterinary science student and previous national team member who has considerable experience in carcase judging.” The Japanese and Australian students will compete in the meat carcase and cut grading competition being held in Armidale, NSW, at the beginning of July. Winners of the Australian competition will head to the United States later in the year to compete for international honours.