"I just love seeing the kids achieve, it is so much fun ... I didn’t really want to be a mainstream teacher, special education is where I want to be." Sarah Poulos is seeing her dreams coming true. Currently in her fourth year of a Bachelor of Primary Education (Special Education) at Charles Sturt University (CSU), she describes her professional development goals as “to do my Masters and to secure a permanent job in a Special Education classroom - they are now both set in concrete.” Sarah has received a two-year scholarship from the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children (RIDBC) valued at $15 000. Next year, Sarah will move to RIDBC in Sydney to complete a Master of Special Education degree, specialising in hearing impairment. She will work with children with cochlear implants, getting them ready for mainstream schools. Life is very full for Sarah; she is just back from one of her regular trips overseas, her summer job as a lifeguard and swim school coordinator at Dubbo Aquatic Leisure Centre begins soon in September, and she is getting married at Christmas.

The Australian, Indigenous and NSW flags are flying high as part of a redevelopment of the entrance to Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga. The entrance on Boorooma Street now features a 16 metre-wide ceremonial wall with a planter box, new signage and flag poles. New lighting also makes the new wall an impressive scene at night. The $150 000 face-lift was prompted by the construction of a roundabout at the intersection of Farrer Road and Boorooma Street which meant the old ceremonial wall had to be demolished. Meanwhile, the University has spent $ 1 million re-surfacing and repairing the campus road network in Wagga Wagga, and there are plans for the construction of two new link roads from James Hagen Court to Valder Way past the new student accommodation project, and from the main campus entry around to the CSU Winery, as well as the reconstruction of part of Valder Way later in 2013.

Every year for the past 15 years, Ohkuma in Japan sends a group of school students to be hosted in Bathurst homes in Central West New South Wales, as part of the sister city relationship that has grown between the two cities. And for several years now those students take part in intense English language courses at Charles Sturt University (CSU). CSU education lecturer Dr Pauline Jones describes it as a “community collaboration. Because of the long-standing relationships we are now seeing younger brothers and sisters of the original students, so we catch up on all their news.” Dr Jones says the lecturers like to trial and evaluate their TESOL programs during the intensive English classes, and the Japanese students English language development is dramatic because as well as the lessons at CSU, they are also speaking English with their Bathurst host families.

Riverina schools will have their first chance to compete in the RoboCup Junior Challenge when Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga hosts the 2013 event on Thursday 13 June. Following a training session at CSU in Wagga Wagga earlier this year, 65 local students will compete in the Challenge in the University’s Convention Centre to build and operate mini robots. Associate Head of the School of Computing and Mathematics, Dr Michael Antolovich, said, “Staff from the CSU School of Computing and Mathematics will provide technical advice to students and their teachers, and will be the judges at the 2013 RoboCup Junior Challenge.”

Virginia Falk is driven. While queuing at Centrelink and wondering how she was going to support four children alone, she decided education was the answer. “I did six degrees in five-and-a-half years. I think it’s a record,” she says with some understatement. Starting with three undergraduate courses, including a Bachelor of Vocational Education and Training from Charles Sturt University (CSU), she is currently a Chief Executive Officer with the NSW Department of Natural Resources. Her role there is to establish, administer and implement the Aboriginal Water Trust, a project to increase the level of Aboriginal participation in industries such as nurseries, recycling and “fertigation”. Meanwhile, her studies continue. “My doctoral thesis will be a breakthrough as far as understanding what water means to Aboriginal people, and how competition for water impacts on Aboriginal communities. I think that is going to be a really important area for people to understand.”

More than 500 Riverina Year 12 science students will be guided, challenged and encouraged to achieve their best in the Higher School Certificate at a one-day event on Friday 21 June at CSU in Albury-Wodonga. The students are from 15 schools, from Barham High in the west to Junee High in the north and east to Tumbarumba High and local Albury schools. Presenters are former HSC senior examiners and markers in Senior Biology, Chemistry and Physics as well as Senior Science, and Ms Lindy Billing from the NSW Board of Secondary Studies will also present tips on how students can maximise their marks in HSC exams. The Albury and District Science Teachers Association have organised the two day event, with a similar session being held at Yanco Agricultural High School on Thursday 20 June for Riverina students.

The introduction of four hundred mixed recycling bins at Charles Sturt University (CSU)  in Bathurst has helped the University achieve its largest increase in recycling rates since it set targets in 2006. An assessment of CSU’s waste management in 2012 showed 35 per cent of waste was recycled, up from 28 per cent in 2011. “This significant increase is mostly due to the roll-out of mixed recycling bins on the Bathurst campus,” CSU Green Acting Energy Manager Christopher O’Connor said. Additional bins with signage were purchased for kitchens and common rooms in residences to promote separation of waste materials as part of the scheme. Meanwhile, a trial system of office waste collection using colour-coded bins reduced landfill waste volume by 30 per cent. The system is now used at CSU in Albury-Wodonga, Orange and Bathurst and is due to be rolled-out at CSU in Dubbo and Wagga Wagga in July. CSU Green is also looking into further recycling infrastructure in common areas, such as teaching spaces, and is investigating ways of separating organic waste from general waste, with an overall target of a 70 per cent recycling rate by 2014. “While it will be a challenge, I believe that with appropriate resources and with the right projects CSU can achieve this target,” Mr O’Connor said.

Fine food expertly matched with selected Charles Sturt University (CSU) wines will be celebrated at the inaugural Bathurst Winter Feast at the University on Friday 5 July. Head of Campus, Mr Col Sharp will host the event, and CSU winemaker, Mr Andrew Drumm, will introduce the wines that accompany the special degustation menu prepared by the CSU catering team. Mr Sharp said, “The Charles Sturt University Winery produces quality wines and was rated four and a half stars in the 2013 James Halliday Australian Wine Companion. The Bathurst Winter Feast will feature new and old wines, including the 2012 ‘PG’ Pinot Gris, the first from the University’s vineyard in Orange, and the new 2012 ‘T’ Tempranillo. I encourage food and wine lovers from the Bathurst region to come along for a night of enjoyment and excellent fare.” Dress is ‘smart casual with a touch of Winter’ and tickets are $90 each by booking on (02) 6365 7643 or send an email csuwinery@csu.edu.au. The inaugural Bathurst Winter Feast starts at 6pm on Friday 5 July at The Rafters (in building C4, car park P10) at CSU in Bathurst.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) researchers are investigating what rural and regional Australians know about common, everyday health risks and activities. “Health authorities across Australia are constantly sending out messages to help Australians make better health choices. But residents in Australia’s rural areas have been shown to have greater trouble understanding health messages than people in metropolitan areas,” said project coordinator Dr Andrea Crampton, based in the Faculty of Science at CSU in Wagga Wagga. “We want to see what people actually know about common activities that might pose short and longterm health risks.”  Dr Crampton is conducting the research with her CSU colleague and social scientist Dr Angela Ragusa.  The researchers are seeking metropolitan and rural participants and are especially keen to hear from those in more remote locations across Australia. See the online survey here. For more information on the survey, call Dr Andrea Crampton at the Faculty of Science on (02) 6933 4032 or send her an email.