Students from a range of science degrees at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Orange will graduate at a ceremony on Friday 25 March. The Head of Campus at CSU in Orange, Professor Kevin Parton, said, “There are 160 students from allied health, medical sciences, and agricultural sciences graduating from Charles Sturt University in Orange this year, and a large proportion of these students will take up employment in regional NSW, contributing to our workforce and communities.” The Occasional Address will be delivered by CSU medical school consultant Professor John Dwyer, AO, with active student Ms Nicole Forbes giving the vote of thanks on behalf of the students. The graduation ceremony starts at 10.30am at the Orange Civic Theatre, Byng Street, Orange.

It is hoped that some good old fashioned inter-campus rivalry at Charles Sturt University (CSU) will encourage staff and students to donate to the Australian Red Cross Blood Service. The Red Cross 2011 Inter-campus Blood Donation Challenge is being run until July. The mobile blood bank will parked in the CSU car park near Beres Ellwood Oval, Nathan Cobb Drive at CSU in Wagga Wagga from 8.30am to 3pm on Monday 28 March, and from 10.30am to 6pm on Tuesday 29 March. Appointments can be made online here or by calling 13 14 95. Read about blood donor arrangements for CSU in Bathurst here.

About 50 senior students from 12 high schools in the region will gain information and insights about nursing and paramedic courses they can study when they attend the MyDay promotion at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst on Tuesday 29 March. CSU Prospective Student Adviser, Ms Fran Dwyer, said, “This MyDay will provide general information sessions and interactive sessions with academics from the nursing and paramedic disciplines and courses at Charles Sturt University. These are important disciplines with increasing employment opportunities and expanding career options, so we aim to confirm the students’ interest in these fields.” Participating high schools include Canowindra, Coolah, Crookwell, Bathurst, Kelso, La Salle Lithgow, Mudgee, Orange Christian School, Orange High, Peak Hill, Springwood, and Henry Lawson Grenfell.

The cultural diversity at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga will be on show when the national 2011 Harmony Day is embraced with the theme of ‘Everyone Belongs’. Staff and students will celebrate Harmony Day on 21 March by coming together to taste foods from around the globe. “We are urging staff and students to come along to our local Harmony Day celebrations dressed in their traditional national costume, and with music from their country of origin,” Student Support Officer (International) Ms Jacquie Blomfield said. The local event is being organised by the University’s Division of Student Services and supported by the Health Promotion Service, Rivcoll Student Representative Council and Halls of Residences at CSU in Wagga Wagga.

CSU graduate Kathryn Suttie has won a 2007 Australian Government Quality Schooling award. Kathryn was Highly Commended in the Excellence by a Beginning Teacher category. At the ceremony at Parliament House in Canberra, Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop said, “Today’s award winners are examples of some of the outstanding teachers in this country”. Kathryn, who studied Bachelor of Human Movement/Bachelor of Teaching (Secondary) and now teaches PE and dance at Wagga Wagga High School (WWHS), said she “is very, very honoured. I trained as a PE teacher but I always wanted to teach dance. Dance is my passion. Here at WWHS we now have two dance ensembles, we have doubled the numbers in elective dance, and we are running HSC dance. CSU was a great university to attend. The experience that I gained as a teacher was excellent, and I owe it to them for my achievements at WWHS in some ways”.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) student Sarah Pickthall and 2007 Orientation Week coordinators on the Wagga Wagga Campus recently donated $1 719 to the ”Drought Appeal” held in February on the campus. “We decided to support a local charity during ‘O Week’ as it is an ideal time to get students and their parents involved with the community and ‘Drought Appeal’, which covers the geography of the CSU community,” Sarah said. The money raised from a raffle supported by local businesses was handed to Salvation Army Captain Steve Dorman by Sarah Pickthall and ‘O Week’ team members. Captain Dorman praised the CSU efforts, saying that “The donation will go a long way toward bringing relief to our brothers and sisters on the land and will give us much greater flexibility in identifying the areas of greatest need and making a significant response”.

International students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) will host an annual Harmony Day event in Albury-Wodonga to recognise and celebrate cultural diversity in Australia and the Border. Activities will include tasting food from around the globe (including an Aussie barbeque), as well as demonstrations of Tae Kwon Do, cooking and traditional Chinese dance, organised by the CSU International Club. The event will commence at 1pm today, Monday 21 March, outside the Gums Café on the University’s Albury-Wodonga campus at Thurgoona.

Local radio station ABC Goulburn Murray and The Border Mail will host a political forum at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Albury-Wodonga on Wednesday 23 March. CSU political commentator Dr Troy Whitford will be a guest speaker for the evening event, which will be facilitated by ABC morning show presenter Mr Joseph Thomsen and Border Mail journalist Ms Di Thomas, who will take questions from the floor and online. The public forum will be an opportunity for the Albury community to meet with candidates for the coming NSW election and question them on their policies and plans for the state seat of Albury.

A Charles Sturt University (CSU) student will present a seminar on Wednesday 16 March at CSU in Albury-Wodonga about how she is using her research experience in the USA to monitor threatened species in Australia. Last year, environmental sciences student, Ms Gaye Bourke, spent the final semester of her degree working as a fieldwork biologist with the Cascades Carnivore Connectivity Project in Washington state, evaluating how highways act as barriers to the movement of American black bears in the North Cascades Mountains. Ms Bourke lived in the tiny community of Newhalem (population 27) in the centre of the spectacular North Cascades National Park. “The three months were a steep learning curve, especially given the lack of large carnivore species in Australia. There were some magic moments, like our first close-up ‘bear encounter’ where we stood watching a female foraging for berries while her cub bounded playfully from rock to rock in front of us,” she said. “The techniques we used with the US black bears are applicable in Australia and they have already been used to monitor populations of threatened species here.”