Workplace learning in communities is a vital part of professional education in Charles Sturt University's (CSU) undergraduate courses, including the criminal justice degree at CSU in Bathurst."It is vital that students receive this experience to hit the ground running when they receive their degrees. We want them to put their knowledge into practice. This continues the University's status as having the highest graduate employment rate in Australia," said lecturer Lisa Coates with CSU's Centre for Law and Justice."For example, one of our students, who graduated last year from the Bachelor of Criminal Justice, helped prepare for and attended an entire criminal trial as part of her placement with Ireland Killen Lawyers in Bathurst. This experience is invaluable on a resume."In 2016, 71 students were placed in 66 locations around NSW and the ACT with 32 different organisations, ranging from NSW Community Corrections and Juvenile Justice to Barnardos Australia. In 2016, CSU was also the first Australian university outside of ANU and University of Canberra to place students with ACT Legal Aid and Aboriginal Legal Aid (ACT).In addition, this year the ACT Law Courts in Canberra will offer a student placement to CSU, the first-ever placement in criminology offered by the Court and the first to a non-ACT university.To assist such a dispersed student group during their placements, Ms Coates has developed a Workplace Learning Resource website, which will serve CSU students from Bathurst and Port Macquarie  as well as those studying through CSU online around Australia."With students placed as far as Taree, Lake Macquarie and Griffith across regional NSW to inner-city Sydney, this website is an interactive resource for students to prepare, inform and support them during their placements.  It will also assist them in transitioning into graduate working life," Ms Coates concluded.The new resource website will be launched with final year criminal justice studies students at 1pm on Monday 13 March at CSU in Bathurst.

Residents in the NSW Central West with ideas for innovations can learn the latest in startup and innovation strategy at a 'Starting a Business' boot camp to be held in Bathurst in March.Hosted by CenWest Innovate, based at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst, budding entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs and innovators will gain an understanding of agile planning, creating a minimum viable product, proof of concept development, ideas validation, risk mitigation, business modelling and more during the two day workshop."A major challenge for new entrepreneurs is developing products that customers will want to buy, will be competitive in the market, and generate enough cash flow for their business to remain viable," said CenWest Innovate director, Professor Mark Morrison from the University's School of Management and Marketing."New businesses need to be able to develop and test their ideas in the market in a way that helps refine their product or service and reduces the costs of not getting it completely right the first time."This boot camp aims to overcome some of these issues."The free boot camp will be led by Troy Haines, CEO of theSPACE in Cairns, who will share his ideas on the fundamental processes of effectively 'Turning Ideas into Reality' to invigorate and inspire a start-up business community in the NSW Central West.The boot camp will run from 6pm to 9pm on Friday 24 March and from 9am to 5pm on Saturday 25 March.To enrol or find out more information, contact Ms Marie-Christine Sweeney at CenWest Innovate on telephone (02) 6338 4503, or send an email.

Students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) are aiming to change their behaviours to significantly reduce their carbon use in 2017.During the recent Orientation Week, nearly 300 students at CSU in Albury-Wodonga, Wagga Wagga, Dubbo, Orange, Bathurst and Port Macquarie signed a pledge to reduce their personal carbon footprint.CSU Green Manager, Mr Ed Maher, said that the students' behaviour changes would also contribute towards the University's carbon neutrality status."Charles Sturt University is currently the only University in Australia that has been certified as carbon neutral by the federal government. This means that we have done a lot of work to reduce our emissions and the remaining amount of greenhouse gases we emit into the atmosphere are equal to the amount that we offset through certified offset projects associated with reforestation in central NSW and a range of internationally-based renewable energy systems," Mr Maher said."The student pledges, which are a new Orientation activity, also make students aware of what it takes to be carbon neutral. The students embraced the initiative with absolute enthusiasm. This reminds us that our strong leadership in this area is important to these future leaders and professionals in the making."Student pledges included actions aimed at reducing waste and improving energy efficiency as well as in conserving water.Mr Maher said popular pledges included 'I'm committed to turning off my computer at the power point when not in use, using reusable bags and saying no to plastic and packaging, and get my coffee in a Keep Cup because I know disposable cups are rubbish and are not recyclable'."Charles Sturt University is supporting the students' pledges by employing four student Sustainability Advisers who live on campus and will lead sustainability initiatives with students and help them fulfil their pledges," he said.The advisers will live on CSU in Albury-Wodonga, Bathurst, Orange and Wagga Wagga.

Meeting cancer patients during her work placement has inspired a Charles Sturt University (CSU) student to shave her head to raise money to help people with the disease.Bachelor of Medical Radiation Science student, Ms Rachel Hindi, is taking part in the Leukaemia Foundation's World's Greatest Shave fundraising campaign."I'm specialising in radiation therapy and spent a work placement at a cancer therapy centre at Liverpool Hospital in Sydney," Ms Hindi said."It was very humbling to spend time with the patients I was treating and to gain a better understanding of the challenges they face and the impact that cancer has on them and their families."The other staff on my work placement we involved in fundraising and I decided that I wanted to do something to help."The money raised through The World's Greatest Shave gives families facing blood cancer emotional and practical support, as well as funding research."Ms Hindi's long curly locks will be shaved at The Crow Bar at CSU on Friday 17 March. You can support the CSU student here.Ms Hindi is in the School of Dentistry and Health Sciences at CSU in Wagga Wagga. The Bachelor of Medical Radiation Science (with specialisations) is a four year program offered by CSU in Port Macquarie and Wagga Wagga.

High school students from the Riverina will have the chance to explore careers in technology as the Big Day In makes its way to Charles Sturt University (CSU) on Wednesday 8 March.The Big Day In is an IT careers event designed for students in Years 9 to 12 as well as university students interested in careers in technology.The conference is hosted by CSU in conjunction with the ACS Foundation which facilitates sponsorship of technology education and research projects.CSU in Wagga Wagga is the first of 10 locations hosting Big Day In conferences around Australia. The free event be held in Joyes Hall, Pine Gully Road at CSU in Wagga Wagga from 9am to 2.30pm.Exhibitors at this year's event include Digital Careers, WiseTech Global, Adobe, Technology One, Agrihack, Westpac Group, PDK, TAFE, and Silvertone Electronics.ACS Foundation Executive Director Mr John Ridge, said "We aim to attract students who have an interest or passion for IT and technology, and give them the opportunity to hear from people in the industry, and ask them questions. "This allows them to be better informed before making decisions about their future careers."This is the third consecutive year that CSU has hosted the Big Day In conference, with over 400 students attending last year. Further information is available here.

A new state-of the-art 25 tonne five-colour printing press will arrive on trucks and be installed by heavy-lift cranes at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst on Tuesday 6 March.Chief Financial Officer in the CSU Division of Finance Mr Paul Dowler said, "Despite there being a general decline in the need for printed material, there is still a requirement for this technology. The University has assessed this as being both worthwhile for its needs, and it will also allow the University to service regional clients for printing work on a competitive basis."CSU Print production coordinator Mr Alex Ward said the purchase of the fully-refurbished five-colour Ryobi 685 printing press gives CSU Print the capacity to handle all the University's printing in-house."This will be one of only two five-colour printing presses in the NSW central west, so it will also make CSU Print a very competitive player in the commercial market in the region," Mr Ward said."The printing press has come from Singapore by ship and arrived in Sydney last week. Delivery and installation is due to commence at approximately 8am on Tuesday 7 March."A Sydney-based transport company is organising the delivery using two semi-trailers as the total weight of the machine 25 tonnes and it's about 13 metres long."The full installation of the printing press should take three to five days to complete, followed by operational training for staff.The types of material printed for the University by CSU Print includes booklets, brochures, posters, exam papers, campus maps, orientation material for new students, graduation programs, the certificates presented to graduates at graduation ceremonies, banners, signage, and book printing and binding for local self-publishers.

Staff and students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) are doing their bit to help save Australian lives through blood donations.The annual Intercampus Blood Challenge is being held over the next four months and blood donations made by staff and students will be tallied.There's fierce competition amongst the campuses for the two award categories: the most total donations; and the highest percentage of donations.CSU in Port Macquarie has taken out the Challenge's highest percentage category for the past two years. CSU in Bathurst won the highest total donations in 2016.The University is also supporting the Australian Red Cross Blood Service's latest group donation campaign, known as Red25, with a large number of new students registering interest in donating blood during orientation week.In the 2016 Red25 program, staff and students at CSU in Albury-Wodonga won the Most Plasma Donations (Education) category and took second place in the Most Lives Saved category. A total of 183 donations were made, saving more than 450 lives.At CSU in Wagga Wagga, the student club, the Pharmers Society won both the Most Number of Plasma Donations (Education) for 2016 and took out third place in Most Lives Saved category. The pharmacy students were responsible for 118 blood donations, saving 354 Australian lives.To donate blood, call 13 14 95 or visit the website to make an appointment.

A leading expert will discuss truffles and fungi at the first Explorations Series public lecture for 2017 at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Orange on Thursday 9 March.Ecologist and environmental photographer Ms Alison Pouliot will speak on the significance of fungi in an address titled 'Between sex and death – Unearthing Australia's charismatic fungi'.Head of Campus at CSU in Orange Dr Heather Robinson said Ms Pouliot lives and works in Australia and Europe, and her special interest are lesser known lifeforms, particularly fungi and 'the spineless'."The lecture title derives from one truffle forager's description of the smell of the prized Périgord truffle from Europe," Dr Robinson said. "Ms Pouliot will explain that while this particular fungus is highly prized for culinary use, it doesn't occur naturally in Australia. It requires environmental modifications to flourish here despite Australia having a vast number of native truffles, and far more than Europe."Ms Pouliot says it's little known and underappreciated that nearly every eucalypt tree lives in association with native truffles.Her lecture will examine why biodiversity protocols rarely consider fungi as worthy of conservation despite their nutritional and potential economic value.The free public lecture starts at 6pm Thursday 9 March in room 120, building 1004 at CSU, Leeds Parade, Orange.

A Charles Sturt University (CSU) academic is a member of this year's Australian Literary Society (ALS) Gold Medal judging panel.Adjunct senior lecturer in the CSU School of Humanities and Social Sciences in Wagga Wagga Mr David Gilbey (pictured) said he was delighted to have been invited onto the panel to confer this year's ALS Gold Medal for Australian Literature.The panel's convenor is Dr Bill Ashcroft (UNSW), who has written widely on post-colonial literature and the Sacred. Other members of the 2017 ALS judging panel are Dr Bernadette Brennan (formerly of Sydney University) who has written on Brian Castro and Helen Garner; and poet and CSU academic Mr David Gilbey.The ALS Gold Medal is awarded under the patronage of the Association for the Study of Australian Literature (ASAL) which exists to promote the study, discussion and creation of Australian writing. Many significant Australian authors have won the ALS Gold Medal including Patrick White, AD Hope, and Mary Gilmore."I have been impressed with the variety, depth and imaginative complexity of the 45 books in a range of genres that were nominated for the 2017 award," Mr Gilbey said.In other news, a new writer-in-residence at Booranga Writers' Centre at CSU in Wagga Wagga has been announced.Mr Gilbey said, "I'm also delighted that author, Rajith Savanadasa, is the first writer-in-residence at the Booranga Writers' Centre in Wagga Wagga for 2017. I think his book Ruins is a brilliant first novel. Ruins is set in Colombo and I thought the background political struggles in Sri Lanka and some of the tensions between Buddhism and Hinduism were worked into the language of the novel convincingly. I loved the novel's narrative subtlety."