Mr Fraser Corfield, a theatre/media graduate of Charles Sturt University (CSU) has been appointed artistic director of the Australian Theatre for Young People (ATYP) in Sydney. The appointment was welcomed by Mr Jerry Boland, course coordinator in theatre media with the CSU School of Communication at Bathurst, who said Mr Corfield was incredibly accomplished. "Fraser has been a quiet achiever since he left Bathurst in 1993; writing plays, working with youth in Queensland, and picking up multiple awards along the way,” Mr Boland said. “His appointment at the ATYP is only the latest evidence of the high regard that his peers have for his track record of leadership and innovation in youth performing arts. He has also been appointed to the Theatre Board of the Australia Council, the nation's peak arts policy and funding body, recognition that he is an insightful and accomplished practitioner who has much to offer the highest councils of arts practice and policy development in Australia."

For the second successive year, a Charles Sturt University (CSU) student has been selected as the Sydney Royal Showgirl. Twenty-one year old Ms Kimbalee Morris was named the 2009 Sydney Royal Showgirl during a ceremony on Saturday 18 April. Ms Morris, from Coonabarabran in Northern NSW, is a fourth year human movement student at CSU at Bathurst. “It was such a surprise, but I am so honoured to have been selected as an ambassador for both youth in agriculture and women in agriculture, and also for my local community. It is going to be a very busy 12 months but I am so excited by what is ahead,” said Ms Morris. As part of the title, Ms Morris receives $11 200 from the Royal Agricultural Society and The Land newspaper. She must also undertake activities as part of her role as an ambassador for rural NSW, including opening shows, public speaking events and promoting the showgirl competition. In 2008, pharmacy student at CSU at Orange Ms Anna Unger was named the Sydney Royal Showgirl.

A catalogue for an art exhibition held at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in 2008 has been short-listed for a national award. The catalogue for the exhibition ELEMENTS: Dianne Fogwell is up for a Museums Australia Multimedia and Publication Design Award 2009. The catalogue was produced by the Charles Sturt University Art Collection to coincide with the exhibition held during graduation ceremonies at CSU at Wagga Wagga in April 2008. A total of 406 entries were received for the awards from over 100 Australian and international organisations. The CSU Art Collection is one of 17 collections short-listed in its category.

Two officers with the Department of Lands in Bathurst will be awarded their doctorates in information technology at the Charles Sturt University (CSU) Faculty of Business graduation ceremony at Bathurst on Friday morning 8 May. The Department of Lands sponsored the research work of Dr Peter White and Dr Steven Woodhouse in an endeavour to find solutions to complex information technology challenges faced by the Department. “An interesting point is that both sets of research complement each other and provide a basis for organisations to improve the security of their digital information assets,” Dr White said. “My research thesis, Managing Enterprise Complexity: The Use of Identity Management Architecture to Control Enterprise Resources, is based on a case study of eight Australian public sector agencies that had designed identity management systems. The study allowed the essential elements of identity management systems to be identified with these elements enabling the development of a new Identity Management Architecture (IdMA).” Dr Steven Woodhouse’s thesis, titled Protecting our Critical Assets: A Management Approach to Information Security, is based on a series of studies, interviews and surveys that examined both peoples’ and organisations’ perceptions of risk. “This research identified the key issues in implementing information security and allowed the development of an Information Security Maturity Model and Information Security Quotient,” Dr Woodhouse said.

The Dean’s Merit Awards ceremony of the Faculty of Education will be held at Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Dubbo Campus on Monday 12 May. The Dean of the Faculty of Education, Professor Toni Downes, will present awards to about a dozen teacher education students who performed at a high academic level during the period of their studies at CSU. The awards acknowledge outstanding academic performance by undergraduate students who have achieved a Distinction or High Distinction grade in four subjects undertaken during one semester for full-time students, and in four subjects undertaken over two consecutive semesters for part-time students.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) will host a rugby union reunion this Friday 2 to Sunday 4 May to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the victory for the Mitchell 1st XV in the 1978 NSW Central West Rugby Competition. In 1979 the reserve team won the Central West competition - the next time CSU won the competition was in 2006. All players, coaches and managers associated with the Mitchell Rugby teams of 1978 and 1979 have been invited. Sixty will attend the Reunion Dinner, including the Vice-Chancellor and President of CSU, Professor Ian Goulter, and CSU Rugby Club representatives and the winners of the 2007 and 2008 Bathurst Rugby Alumni Scholarships and 2008 Encouragement Award. Many players in the 1978 and 1979 teams also played for NSW and for carious Sydney clubs, including Ross Reynolds who went on to play for Australia in seven tests. Since July 2006, the Rugby alumni have contributed an annual scholarship worth $2 500 each year for three years for a worthy CSU student. 

Recipients of Charles Sturt Foundation scholarships for 2008 will be recognised during a presentation ceremony at Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Albury-Wodonga Campus on Wednesday 23 April. Fourteen scholarships for new and continuing students at CSU are awarded on the basis of academic merit, leadership and contribution to the community. The Presentation Ceremony, lead by CSU Deputy Chancellor Kathryn Pitkin, also provides an opportunity for the students to meet their scholarship donors, which include local business and community organisations. The ceremony will be held at the Nowik Auditorium, CSU Albury City site, Guinea St, Albury, starting at 6.30pm.

Making a wish upon a star is becoming more difficult in Australia, especially as more of us live in towns and cities. “The stars in our town night skies are disappearing in the glow of light pollution from street lights and advertising boards, and children born in Albury-Wodonga need to go to well outside the city limits to actually see many stars,” says concerned Charles Sturt University academic and stargazer, Associate Professor Dirk Spennemann. “Although light pollution is greatest in the northern hemisphere, Australia is not immune.” Scientists and decision makers met in La Palma, Canary Islands – where many of Europe's optical telescopes are located - and developed the Declaration in Defence of the Night Sky and the Right to Starlight in 2007. The first anniversary of the declaration, Sunday 20 April, has been declared World Night in Defence of the Starlight to raise awareness of this growing problem. “Local governments and private citizens need to consider how their outside lighting contributes to light pollution and what they can do about it,” Professor Spennemann said.

The multi-award winning Charles Sturt University (CSU) Winery is looking forward to a good 2008 vintage with grape harvesting and pressing well underway. CSU Head Winemaker Andrew Drumm says, “Good rainfall during the growing season ensured grape vines were unstressed and produced high quality fruit.  While the vintage started early, the cool February has slowed ripening, allowing time for the grapes to develop flavour and colour.” The CSU Winery, located on the Wagga Wagga Campus, is receiving fruit from its vineyards in Wagga Wagga and Orange, as well as from growers at Wagga Wagga, Young, Tumbarumba, and Orange. Grape varieties include Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot, for table wine production. The Winery is taking Pinot Noir and Chardonnay to produce sparkling wine as well as a Portuguese variety Touriga to make CSU Port.