“The most important thing a teacher can do each day is to teach so that students want to come back tomorrow.” Charles Sturt University (CSU) Ontario teacher education students were challenged by these words from keynote speaker Les Asselstine at the Fourth Annual Integrated Curriculum Conference held in February. Mr Asselstine also spoke about the importance of building inquiry into all school students’ learning activities. Other sessions focused on integrating science and social studies through dance, drama, media, technology, visual arts and literacy activities in the primary and junior divisions.  Students also attended a field trip to Crawford Lake, a 15th Century reconstructed Iroquoian Village. At the end of the conference, one CSU student said, “It’s important not to ‘section off’ parts of the day, but rather to ‘live’ the curriculum all the time, connecting learning to real life at every chance”.

Changing the start of the Charles Sturt University (CSU) nursing course in Albury-Wodonga from July to February has resulted in a major increase in enrolments, says nursing lecturer, Mr Paul Warner. “We have 46 new students starting this week, including a big increase in students straight from school. This is a wonderful vote of confidence in the quality of the CSU nursing course,” Mr Warner said. Teaching facilities for the nursing course will move during 2009 from the University’s Albury City site to Thurgoona. The nursing students will be among 1 800 on campus students who started the new academic year with CSU at Albury-Wodonga on 23 February.

Are your feet, legs or lower back sore? Do you live in Albury-Wodonga or surrounding areas? From Wednesday 25 February, podiatry and physiotherapy students from Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) School of Community Health will assess and treat clients for a broad range of problems in the lower body, supervised by experienced clinical educators and professionals. Problems could include lower back pain, joint pain, soft tissue injury and sporting injury, as well as developmental problems or lower limb pain in children. “The clinic provides a vital health service for the local community while also helping provide CSU health students with invaluable supervised experience that prepares them for their professional lives,” said clinic coordinator, Ms Kristy Robson. The clinic will run each Wednesday from March to June. Contact the CSU Allied Health Clinic, Olive St, Albury on (02) 6051 6922 for an appointment, which will cost $30 per session.

International recognition for his expertise in wetland management has led to the reappointment of a senior Charles Sturt University (CSU) scientist to a scientific panel for the international Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. Director of CSU’s Institute for Land, Water and Society Professor Max Finlayson will be a member of Ramsar's Scientific and Technical Review Panel from 2009 to 2012, specialising in the effects of climate change on wetlands and water and the social and economic effects on people who rely on them. Professor Finlayson said the appointment is a great honour and is recognition of scientific expertise available at CSU. The Ramsar Convention, established in 1975, aims to protect wetlands worldwide, including the iconic Barmah Forest and Lower Lakes on the Murray River and the Macquarie Marshes in central NSW.

Fourteen visitors from Indonesia touring Victoria and Tasmania to bring closer understanding between Muslims and Christians will meet with members of the Border community at Charles Sturt University (CSU) on Tuesday 3 March. Hosted by the Uniting Church in Australia, the group particularly aims to increase mutual understanding and cultural appreciation between the Muslim majority of Indonesia and Australia’s Christian communities. While in Albury, the group will visit the University’s facilities and speak with CSU students at Thurgoona. “The University hopes the visit will enhance understanding and relations between the faiths and our cultures,” said visit coordinator and CSU student counsellor Mr Geoff Simmons. The visit will include a public forum hosted by CSU Professor The Rev. James Haire from the University’s School of Theology in Canberra.

In this Year of the Blood Donor staff and students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) are being asked to donate blood on its five campuses from Monday 2 to Friday 6 March. As part of CSU’s 20th anniversary celebrations this year, the University has issued a ‘North-South’ challenge, with the total staff and student donations at CSU campuses at Dubbo, Orange and Bathurst (North) being tallied against donations at Wagga Wagga and Albury-Wodonga (South). The Head of Campus at CSU at Bathurst, Mr Col Sharp, said the University aims to achieve 1 000 donations during the week. “While we have been planning this event for some time, it is given added urgency and significance by the needs of burns victims from the recent bushfires in Victoria,” Mr Sharp said. “I urge all University staff and students to donate blood if they possibly can. It costs nothing, takes less than an hour and does so much good.” One in three Australians will need blood during their lifetime, yet only one in 30 donates blood.

After more than 40 years in mathematics education, Mr Bob Dengate will retire from the Charles Sturt University (CSU) School of Teacher Education at Bathurst on Sunday 1 March. CSU Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration), Professor Lyn Gorman, praised Mr Dengate as a wonderful colleague who has made an exceptional contribution to the NSW HSC Online project since its inception 11 years ago. “Bob was a pioneer in developing online learning materials for mathematics education in the mid-1990s, when the NSW HSC Online website was one of the earliest quality-assured educational websites in Australia. He has contributed immeasurably over the years to fostering good relationships with the NSW Department of Education and Training and the NSW Board of Studies, which has been fundamental to NSW HSC Online becoming a major educational resource for upper secondary students and teachers. He has also made an inimitable contribution to Bathurst community radio 2MCE and to journalism education.”

Members of the public are invited to attend a multi-faith Celebration of the Commonwealth to be held at Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture in Canberra at 11am on Commonwealth Day, Monday 9 March 2009. The Executive Director of the ACC&C, Reverend Professor James Haire, AM, said “The celebration is modelled on the Commonwealth Observance which Her Majesty the Queen attends in Westminster Abbey each Commonwealth Day, and the theme for the celebration this year is The Commonwealth @ 60 – serving a new generation. Local leaders of major world religions will participate in the reading of six affirmations at the celebration which will feature indigenous participation, cultural performances, a Tongan choir, a Chinese group, a Ugandan quartet and the Woden Valley Youth Choir.” The celebration, which is expected to last for 90 minutes and will be followed by lunch, has been assisted by the ACT Government’s Multicultural Grants Program 2008-09.

The launch of a book of theological studies will precede the commencement ceremony at the Charles Sturt University (CSU) School of Theology in Canberra on Monday 23 February. The book, Embracing Grace: The Theologian’s Task, is a collection of essays in honour of Reverend Canon Dr Graeme Garrett, a Professorial Associate and longstanding member of the School of Theology who has had a formative influence on St Mark’s National Theological Centre. Embracing Grace is a collection of studies written by academic staff members of the School of Theology and other longstanding friends or colleagues of Canon Garrett, and was edited by Dr Heather Thomson, lecturer in theology at the School, who completed her own doctoral studies under his supervision. Following the launch of the book, Canon Garrett will deliver the Commencement Address at St Mark’s.