One of Australia’s largest architectural practices has been appointed as principal Design Consultant for the National Life Sciences Hub planned for Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga. BVN Architecture has been selected by the University for the $41.67 million dollar project. In the Federal Budget in May 2009, the Commonwealth announced $34 million in new funding for CSU for the construction of the National Life Sciences Hub. CSU is contributing a further $7.67 million towards the project. The new facility will include a Learning and Teaching Laboratory Complex, Research Laboratories, Glasshouse Complex and Controlled-Environment Facilities, Field Laboratory, and support and office facilities. “BVN Architecture was appointed to the project after a significant tender process that attracted more than 20 high quality submissions,” said Mr Stephen Butt, the Executive Director of the Division of Facilities Management at CSU. “With a strong history in tertiary education construction projects, BVN Architecture has a firm understanding of laboratory design and construction as well as the design considerations for university teaching environments.” Read more about the National Life Sciences Hub here.

The Parliamentary Secretary for Health, The Hon. Mark Butler, MP, will officially open the School of Dentistry and Health Sciences building at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga from 10.30am on Wednesday 16 December. The Vice-Chancellor and President of CSU, Professor Ian Goulter, will also attend the opening, which will include a tour of the new teaching, research and academic facilities in the two-storey complex. The building houses a 24-chair Dental and Oral Health Clinic; a patient waiting room; reception and patient counselling/liaison room; academic offices; research facilities; a 20-place simulation laboratory with practise models for teaching pre-clinical skills; and teaching areas including a specialist science teaching laboratory, lecture theatres, and seminar and scenario rooms. Read more about the award winning building at CSU in Wagga Wagga here.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Albury-Wodonga has nearly completed the move of students, staff and facilities from its former location in Albury city to the award-winning ‘greenfields’ site at Thurgoona. Head of CSU in Albury-Wodonga, Professor Allan Curtis, is excited about having all CSU staff and students on one site for the first time since 1995. “We will have nearly 1 900 full-time students and 300 staff   in Thurgoona from February 2010, including the Schools of Community Health, Environmental Sciences, Business, Accounting and Computing, and the Murray School of Education. During the past three years, we have completed over $45 million worth of buildings to help consolidate Charles Sturt University in Albury-Wodonga, including a new Learning Commons, laboratories, learning areas and student accommodation. We are currently completing the refurbishment of the iconic Gordon Beavan and former State Forestry buildings in time for the start of the 2010 academic year.” Building will continue at the campus next year, with the recent start of a dental clinic and planning is underway for a childcare and ‘early years’ research centre.  The CSU Allied Health Clinic will remain on the corner of Olive and Guinea Streets, Albury,  near CSU’s neighbouring Nowik Theatre.

Final year high school students around Australia are receiving their final results and making big decisions about their futures - What do I want to do? Do I study or work next year? Where do I study? Charles Sturt University (CSU) is helping these students make informed decisions with a series of Change of Preference Information Sessions on all campuses next week. CSU Market Development Manager Ms Cheryl Howell says these sessions will help students and their parents think about study options for 2010 at CSU, with academics and support staff available for discussions. "If prospective students want to discuss our courses, preference options, school results or living and learning at CSU, they can attend one of these sessions being run throughout the University's region," said Ms Howell. Victorian students can call CSU on (02) 6051 9962 or 1800 334 733 to discuss their options before their change of preference period closes.

Having worked diligently to ensure Year 12 students had access to the best possible resources, the Charles Sturt University (CSU) NSW HSC Online website  team has taken time out to congratulate students who worked hard to receive notable results in their NSW Higher School Certificate (HSC) last week. "While creating this website, the NSW Department of Education and Training and Charles Sturt University were keenly aware of the crucial information this website delivers to students studying for the HSC," said NSW HSC Online coordinator and CSU senior lecturer Dr Deb Clarke. "It’s wonderful to know our resources helped students gain the marks they wanted in the HSC.” The NSW HSC Online developers are now reviewing the site to ensure the next group of students studying for the HSC can access quality education resources for 50 HSC subjects in 2010. “Each month the website delivered up to 1.65 million pages to students, teachers and parents and we believe this will increase in 2010.”

The School of Human Movement Studies and the Western Region Academy of Sport (WRAS) at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Bathurst received a 2009 NSW Sports Safety Award at a ceremony in Sydney on Friday 13 November. Dr Stephen Bird, lecturer at the School of Human Movement Studies accepted the award on behalf of the program partners for the joint initiative. “The CSU/WRAS Strength and Conditioning Internship (SCI) Program received the Bronze Award for outstanding education and promotion of sports safety for its Strength and Conditioning Internship (SCI) Program,” Dr Bird said. “The program began in 2006, and offers final-year human movement studies students the opportunity for internship placement. The program aims to provide strength and conditioning interns with scientific knowledge and programming expertise that enables the continued development of pre-elite youth athletes to train systematically and safely to improve sports performance and reduce the risk of injury.”

About 20 Indigenous school students will assess their opportunities to undertake university study when they visit Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Albury-Wodonga on Wednesday 9 December. Staff from the Murray School of Education will discuss the opportunities for tertiary studies with students from primary and high schools in Albury as part of a CSU project titled From School to CSU for Indigenous Students: Challenges, Barriers and Initiatives. Visit coordinator Professor Bob Perry said CSU was looking at the challenges and barriers for Indigenous high school students who might aspire to continue their education at CSU. “We then want to use this information to look at joint initiatives by Charles Sturt University and local high schools to increase the numbers of Indigenous students who continue their education. We want to increase the awareness and aspirations of high school students who would not normally consider university study,” Professor Perry said.

The CSU Media team welcomes you to 2010. We hope you had a safe and enjoyable holiday season, and that the year ahead is a healthy one.

For those keen to study medicine and dentistry, it’s good to know there is more than one way to get into these professions at Charles Sturt University (CSU). The University’s Bachelor of Clinical Science is a pre-medicine and pre-dentistry course that offers ten places in medicine at the University of Sydney for regional graduates. Clinical science graduate Ms Tegan van Gemert from Bathurst says, “The subjects I studied and the clinical experience I gained while studying the CSU clinical science course made me more determined that medicine was what I wanted to study. Preparing for the admissions test and interviews was quite stressful, but the subjects I had completed through the course gave me all the background knowledge and skills I needed to succeed. I am very grateful for the opportunity this degree provided me in achieving graduate entry into medicine.”