The Charles Sturt University (CSU) Koori Admissions Program (KAP) will run at the University’s Dubbo Campus this week. The manager of the University’s Indigenous Student Services, Mr Ray Eldridge, said KAP is an alternative entry program designed for Indigenous students. “KAP allows the staff of the Indigenous Student Services on our various campuses to assess the individual’s level of skills need to complete tertiary study and to offer successful participants a place in a course at CSU,” Mr Eldridge said. “This program provides a ‘test drive’ of life at university by allowing prospective students to meet staff and current Indigenous students, and experience and explore the facilities, courses and the career paths that may open to them.” For more information contact the Barramielinga Indigenous Student Services at CSU at Dubbo on 6885 7305 or visit here.

Two Charles Sturt University (CSU) researchers have celebrated their prestigious Fellowships as guests of the Hon. Kevin Rudd, MP, Prime Minister of Australia, and Senator the Hon. Kim Carr, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research. On Wednesday 28 October, Associate Professor Gary Luck and Professor Sharynne McLeod were among over 600 distinguished scientists, science leaders and science educators invited to attend the Prime Minister's Science Prizes Dinner in the Great Hall at Parliament House in Canberra. Associate Professor Luck from the School of Environmental Sciences at CSU at Albury-Wodonga and Professor McLeod from the School of Teacher Education at CSU at Bathurst were named as Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellows by Senator Carr in September. Read more here. As an ecologist, Professor Luck’s Fellowship will facilitate his work on Integrating the conservation and ecosystem-service value of Australia’s Catchments. Professor McLeod was awarded the Fellowship to work on Speaking my language: International speech acquisition in Australia.

A group of Charles Sturt University (CSU) students have seen another side of teaching and culture when they recently completed one week of their teaching practice in the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu. As part of the requirements for the award of their early childhood and primary school teaching degrees, the 12 third-year students worked in three schools in Port Vila, the capital of Vanuatu. Lecturer in Creative Arts and Special Needs and trip coordinator Ms Sharon Milsome, from CSU’s Murray School of Education, said the students were completely immersed in the local Melanesian culture while teaching. “The students gained valuable insight into multicultural settings, tolerance, patience, and how people who have so little can be so happy,” Ms Milsome said. Between their busy work schedules, the students also had time to visit beaches and waterfalls, and snorkel on tropical reefs.

A Charles Sturt University (CSU) student has been named The Wine Society Young Winemaker of the Year 2009. At a ceremony in Sydney on Friday 20 November, Mr Ryan Aggiss, from Flying Fish Cove winery in the Margaret River region in Western Australia, was named the winner of the award. Mr Aggiss is a Bachelor of Applied Science (Wine Science) student studying by distance education through the School of Agricultural and Wine Sciences at CSU at Wagga Wagga. The Wine Society Young Winemaker of the Year awards aims to encourage and recognise excellence in young winemakers in Australia and New Zealand. The judges found Mr Aggiss produced and made the most outstanding wines of all 10 finalists. As part of the award, the winemaker receives a return trip to Europe for vintage 2010 and $5 000. "I am still pinching myself every day after being recognised by the Wine Society as the Young Winemaker of the Year,” Mr Aggiss said. “It’s extremely gratifying to know that all the years of vintage work and hours of study at Charles Sturt University have enabled me to be in this very fortunate position. I am passionate about continuing the production of well-priced, great wines for Flying Fish Cove and finishing my last year of study. I also look forward to spending a month travelling through the Old World wine regions; France, Italy, Germany and Spain.”

The sixth edition of a key text advising occupational therapists on working with people with physical impairments will be launched at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Albury-Wodonga on Friday 4 December. CSU academic staff in the occupational therapy course at the School of Community Health provided substantial contributions to Occupational Therapy and Physical Dysfunction: Enabling Occupation. Course coordinator Dr Michael Curtin was the book’s leading editor. “This edition of the book is significantly different to the previous editions in an attempt to respond to international changes within the profession,” Dr Curtin said. “This book shows how an occupational perspective can be used in practising occupational therapy.” Occupational Therapy and Physical Dysfunction: Enabling Occupation will be launched at 4.30pm on Friday 4 December in CSU’s The Cedars building, Olive Street, Albury.

An international education program that encourages high school students from underrepresented low income groups in society to go to university will meet with Border education leaders on Monday 7 December at Charles Sturt University (CSU). Hosted by CSU’s Murray School of Education, representatives from the US-based Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program will meet with secondary school principals from NSW and Victoria, representatives from the Aboriginal Education Consultative Group, curriculum developers, school administrators and parent organisations to discuss and promote their program. Meeting coordinator Dr Sally Knipe has led visits by groups of CSU middle school teaching students to AVID professional development conferences for the past three years. These students have then become tutors in local AVID programs. “AVID is an internationally recognised program that prepares students who would not go to university for tertiary studies. The program serves nearly 400 000 students in the US and 16 countries and US territories around the world.” The day’s discussions will include how AVID has been implemented on the Border with the assistance of CSU students. The meeting will run from 9am to 3pm on 7 December at CSU’s Albury-Wodonga Campus, off Elizabeth Mitchell Drive, Thurgoona.

A short film by Charles Sturt University (CSU) adjunct senior lecturer in history Dr Robin McLachlan will have its first public test screening on Wednesday 2 November. The 20 minute-long film, The Letter, stars another CSU adjunct lecturer, Mr Bill Blaikey (and his co-star dog, Merry), from the School of Communication in Bathurst. Dr McLachlan said the film developed from and is part of his international research into the participation by Australians and New Zealanders in the 1897-99 Klondike gold rush in north-west Canada. “This was the first significant wave of Australians and New Zealanders to leave the southern hemisphere to seek their fortunes in the northern hemisphere. During the course of my research I found numerous letters from them to home, as well as a unique complete run of a Dawson City, Canada, newspaper, The Klondyke Miner and Yukon Advertiser, held by the Mitchell Library in Sydney, Australia,” Dr McLachlan said. “The script for The Letter is based closely on historical evidence from first-hand accounts published in Australian newspapers at the time, as well as information gleaned from Yukon archives and published histories.”

There are many charities and fundraisers vying for the public’s money to support international humanitarian and developmental efforts. A small group of Charles Sturt University (CSU) staff is contributing to a little-known group building a school in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Africa. The African non-government organisation (NGO) Mission in Health Care and Development (MHCD) provides assistance in communities straddling the DRC, Rwandan and Burundi borders which have suffered from years of war and unrest. The NGO is involved in health care, food production, and its education project aims to erect school buildings for the students who have never before had access to a school. CSU staff member Mr William Adlong says the group of six Learning and Teaching Services staff were among those who originally contributed the prize from an award win of $100 last year, and who’ve since started contributing individually through regular deductions from their pay. “We recently received an email from Dr Luc at the school at Korohoro. He said two mud brick buildings were completed but they would use a tarpaulin until they raised enough money to roof the building with iron. He is concerned that the buildings will deteriorate through the rainy season,” Mr Adlong said. “I think we each feel that what we contribute is a small amount for us, but a few of these contributions together actually make up a salary for a teacher. We love the idea that we’re contributing to the education of, and a better future for, children, especially those growing up where there has been such strife,” he said.

It was a long, hot, dry summer for Bathurst residents, who had to cope without a public pool. That is set to change in September when Bathurst Regional Council (BRC) unveils the new $12.5 million Aquatic Centre, and Charles Sturt University (CSU) project management students are keen to help with celebration ideas. Andrew Mashman from CSU’s School of Marketing and Management explains 30 students have divided into five teams, to work on launch plans that will “engage the community or specific target markets in events surrounding the opening of the pool – it is important to get everyone from all walks of life to the Aquatic Centre in the first weeks”. Victoria Jackson, BRC’s manager of marketing and communication says Council was “looking for launch ideas and now the students have a chance to throw their ideas into the ring. As an added resource for our events team, it helps to have fresh eyes.”