The success of a scholarship program for students moving from TAFE to Charles Sturt University (CSU) is being expanded in the wake of its success. CSU’s ‘TAFE to University’ Scholarship Program was developed last year specifically for Diploma and Advanced Diploma students studying at TAFE NSW’s Riverina Institute and TAFE Western, and the Canberra Institute of Technology. Due to the program’s success, it has now been expanded to include an additional five TAFE institutes. The move doubles the number of scholarships available to TAFE students in 2011. Three scholarships are available to each of the TAFE providers. “Charles Sturt University is committed to creating strong education pathways. Our collaboration with TAFE institutes is a great example of how educators can work together to ensure students reach their potential,” Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) at CSU, Professor Ross Chambers said. Applications for the $2 500 scholarships are open until 5pm on Friday 26 November 2010.

Ms Libby Clark from Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) School of Community Health sometimes feels a twinge of sorrow for tele-operators whose job it is to sit on the phone all day, trying to maintain a calm, clear voice as they either deal with complaints or try to sell a product. “I know we all loath those telephone calls, but after working with these people, and realising how hard this type of work is for the human voice, it really does make me feel sorry for them,” she said. As a discipline leader in speech pathology at the School of Community Health, Ms Clark spends a great deal of time helping people develop their voice for their working life. “Our voice, our speech and our language skills are central to everything we do as human beings,” she said. “It’s It’s how we develop and maintain relationships, but it's also really important for our working lives.” As well as feeling empathy for tele-operators, Ms Clark has concerns for the elderly. “It's important to spend time working with the elderly because if they often find it hard to be heard - especially if they have had some kind of communication impairment like a stroke or have a hearing loss. Just because they are old, doesn't mean they don't have a right to have a say, to be heard, to have a voice in what goes on in their lives.” Dr Clark has worked on voice and speech production skills with tour guides, sport professionals, teachers and business leaders. Speech Pathology Australia is hosting Speech Pathology Week from 22 to 28 August.                                        

Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga will be one of the highlights of a visit to the city by civic and political leaders from sister city, Kunming in the Yunnan Province of China. The 10 member delegation, including the Mayor of Kunming Municipal People’s Government, Mr Zhang Zulin, has been invited to the city by Wagga Wagga Mayor, Councillor Kerry Pascoe. The Head of Campus of CSU in Wagga Wagga, Mr Adrian Lindner, will welcome the group to the University at 9.30am on Tuesday 24 August before leading a tour of the campus. At 10am, the delegation will meet with researchers from the University’s International Centre of Water for Food Security. A lunch will be held in the Convention Centre at CSU from 12midday for the delegation, staff from the University and Wagga Wagga City Council.

A social worker and Charles Sturt University (CSU) graduate Ms Michelle Knight from Wagga Wagga will fulfil a commitment made earlier this year to donate her academic prize to a local charity. During her graduation with a Bachelor of Social Work last April, Ms Michelle Knight was awarded the Lila Kirilik Memorial Social Justice Award by the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at CSU in Wagga Wagga. At 2.30pm on Wednesday 18 August, Ms Knight will donate her $500 prize to The Edel Quinn Shelter, a homeless support service for men in Wagga Wagga. The shelter will receive a further $500 from CSU as Ms Knight’s nominated social justice organisation. She was awarded the annual social justice award for her project, SHINE - Squalor and Hoarding Integrated Networking Enterprise, a directory of services in Wagga Wagga useful during cases of squalor or hoarding. The project was compiled while Ms Knight was doing her social work practicum in 2008 at aged care facility The Forrest Centre in Wagga Wagga.  

The red carpet was rolled out for three environmental science students from Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Albury-Wodonga as they travelled to Wagga Wagga to hand deliver their PhDs on Thursday 5 August. Ms Alison Matthews from Albury, Ms Janet Cohn from Wodonga and Ms Eloise Seymour from Wahgunyah shared the trip to present their years of research to the University’s Centre for Research and Graduate Training for examination. Visibly excited and relieved at the conclusion to their doctorates, the women work for CSU, the NSW Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water, and the Victorian Department of Primary Industries. The three PhDs covered topics such as the common wombat, climate change and natural resource management. In accepting the PhDs, Ms Kim Stone from the University’s Centre for Research and Graduate Training congratulated the students and noted how unusual it was to receive three theses at one time.

Students in their second year of dentistry at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Orange are finding out what teamwork is all about as they start the next stage of their studies working in the University’s Dental and Oral Health Clinic. Supervised by local practicing dentists from Bathurst and Orange, the students are focusing on oral hygiene procedures such as scaling and polishing, fluoride applications and oral hygiene advice. "At this stage, students are also performing comprehensive examinations including x-rays,” Associate Professor Dr Cheryl Chapple from the School of Dentistry and Health Sciences at CSU in Orange said. “They will always be supervised by a professional dentist and will work up to more complex procedures through the five year course. Academics, local dentists and the students are working as a team to ensure that the communities in the central west of NSW receive access to high quality dental health care.”

Central Albury will become a hive of activity this weekend with the national Biodiversity in the City event. Hosted by scientists and students from Charles Sturt University (CSU) and the Albury Botanic Gardens, the event highlights interactive activities such as life in the dirt, collecting the animal kingdom, pond life, and biodiversity in the park. Biodiversity in the City celebrates the International Year of Biodiversity and National Science Week 2010. The event will be held between 12noon and 4pm on Saturday 21 August in QEII Square, the Albury LibraryMuseum and the Albury Botanic Gardens. The CSU team is led by the Head of the School of Environmental Sciences at CSU, Associate Professor Ben Wilson. He will be on hand to explain the various displays and specimens to interested visitors. Read about the related CSU photographic exhibition Biodiversity of the Riverina here.

The Speaker of the NSW Legislative Assembly, Mr Richard Torbay, MLC, will be the guest speaker at an inaugural fund-raising dinner for the Tony McGrane Memorial Scholarship at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Dubbo on Friday 24 September. The CSU Head of Campus in Dubbo, Dr Beverley Moriarty, said, “The dinner is a significant opportunity for the people of Dubbo to honour Mr McGrane and support the development of Charles Sturt University. The Tony McGrane Scholarship Fund has been established to make scholarships available to students from the Orana region and the Dubbo electorate to attend the University in Dubbo. The scholarship fund will be a lasting recognition of the involvement of Mr McGrane in the establishment of Charles Sturt University in Dubbo during his term as Mayor of Dubbo from 1991 to 1999. Mr Torbay was a long- time colleague of Mr McGrane in local and state governments.”

Students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) have demonstrated that their culinary skills go way beyond two minute noodles. Embracing the fever generated by the high rating MasterChef Australia television series, students from the self-catered new Halls of Residences pitted their skills against each other during a cooking competition. Organised by the student Residential Advisors, the challenge was judged by a panel of professional chefs and celebrity imitators on Monday 9 August. Coming up trumps was Bachelor of Health Science (Nutrition and Dietetics) student Ms Georgie Lucas who took out first place with her baked cheesecake with toffee shards, strawberries and ice-cream. “The cooking challenge was initially organised in response to the popularity of the MasterChef program,” CSU Catering Assistant Manager Mr Toby Perry said. “However the students and aspiring chefs were taking it very seriously with some putting in hours of practise to perfect their dishes.” The Division of Student Services hopes to support the event so it becomes an annual feature of campus life.