Their love of chemistry and a common desire to give Charles Sturt University (CSU) students the best possible educational experience in the science is at the heart of the Chemistry Teaching Team at CSU. The eight member team has been named a winner of the 2011 Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence. The team within the School of Agricultural and Wine Sciences at CSU in Wagga Wagga was honoured at a ceremony on Monday 29 August. Leading the team’s award application, Dr Greg Doran said, “Teaching chemistry is a passion for the entire team but it poses challenges. Most of our students are majoring in other areas and our students are from diverse backgrounds ranging from school leavers to those who haven’t studied for 20 years. Despite this, the team’s teaching goals are relevance, flexibility and interactivity.”  The award was presented during the International Year of Chemistry 2011. Read about the 2011 Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence – Individual Award winner Dr Lucy Webster here.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga will again host educators from Japan during a five-day visit to the Riverina to learn more about the Australian school system. The trip is an initiative of the School of Education at CSU in Wagga Wagga as part of an academic cooperation agreement with Yamagata University (YU). The Japanese delegation will be led by Professor Joe Yamaguchi from the Graduate School of Teacher Training at YU. A reception will be held for the international visitors at 9am on Monday 5 September at the Civic Centre in Baylis Street in Wagga Wagga ahead of a tour of the local botanic gardens and zoo. The delegation will also visit classrooms and meet students at Coolamon Central School on Tuesday 6 September, Wagga Wagga High School on Wednesday 7 and Thursday 8 September, and South Wagga Wagga Public School on Thursday 8 September.

The largest-ever group of Charles Sturt University (CSU) students and staff will provide physiotherapy and first aid services during the 2011 Tour de Timor, which commences from the capital of Timor-Leste, Dili, on Sunday 11 September. Six CSU physiotherapy and three nursing students and three staff will follow the Tour ‘peloton’ for six days around the mountainous, 600 kilometre course, providing medical services for tired, sore or injured riders. The CSU coordinator, Mr Tim Retchford, said the CSU students will gain valuable professional experience “while working in challenging conditions in a beautiful, though undeveloped, country”. This is the third time CSU students have provided these services during the Tour de Timor. The students and staff leave for Dili on Sunday 4 September to prepare themselves and riders for the event, as well as visiting local medical facilities. Meanwhile, PhD student at CSU in Wagga Wagga, Ms Nicola Wunderlich will take leave during her research in East Timor to cycle in the 2011 Tour De Timor. Read more on CSU News here.

One of the top five researchers at Charles Sturt University (CSU), Professor Frank Marino, will be honoured with the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Research Excellence (Individual Award) for his exceptional body of work at a ceremony in Bathurst on Monday 5 September. Professor Frank Marino’s publications, as ranked by the ISI Web of Science, place him in CSU’s top five, and his work has been cited over 900 times in high impact journals (average IF=2.8). This achievement is amplified by the fact that Professor Marino has an added administrative load as Head of the School of Human Movement Studies, with a full teaching load between 2003 and 2009, and a 60 per cent teaching load in 2010. He is presently Associate Dean of Research at the Faculty of Education. Professor Marino’s seminal work, which challenges the classical theory and popular belief that the heart is the regulating mechanism limiting exercise, is perhaps the most significant contribution to his award. His contributions to the area of exercise and human fatigue have caused some controversy with scholars in the field, which reflects the significance of this novel understanding of physiology. This understanding of physiology is making its way into university curriculum.

Contributions to university administration, research, and community engagement by a psychology academic at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst will be acknowledged with the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Leadership Excellence (Individual Award) at a presentation ceremony at CSU on Monday 5 September. Dr Rhonda Shaw, lecturer and researcher at the School of Psychology in Bathurst, has a research record that has seen her invited to be a reviewer of a textbook for first-year students, and for a number of high ranking journals, such as the Journal of Health Psychology and Child Neuropsychology. She has also conducted CSU Foundation Scholarship interviews, and convened and facilitated a faculty-wide working party to revise current Honours theses marking guidelines, which resulted in the establishment of benchmarks against other universities. Dr Shaw also organised and co-chaired a CSU staff workshop on Enhancing Staff / Student Interaction: Dealing with ‘Difficult Students’. In addition, Dr Shaw has made significant administrative contributions through her membership of the Faculty of Arts Honours Committee and the School of Psychology Board. Dr Shaw’s community engagement on ageing issues resulted in her being invited by Bathurst Regional Council to participate in the development of the older person’s section of Council’s Social and Community Plan.

Hair, eyebrows and beards were bleached and coloured at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Albury-Wodonga, Bathurst, Orange and Wagga Wagga on Friday 26 August all in the name of raising money for cancer research and patient support. The activities, held at CSU in support of Daffodil Day, raised nearly $2 400 for the NSW Cancer Council. The fundraising was organised by Charles Sturt Campus Services and the Residential Support Scheme at CSU. “There is a competitive streak between staff across the University so we organised a ‘fund-off’ to raise money for the Cancer Council. A total of $510.25 was raised at CSU in Albury-Wodonga, $841.65 in Bathurst and $1 030.70 was raised in Wagga Wagga,” said Ms Vanessa Conlin, a Residential Operations Officer.  In addition to the temporary ‘hair salons’ for the bleaching and colourings, staff also sold daffodils and pins in support of the annual Daffodil Day event.

A special presentation ceremony was held at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst yesterday evening, Monday 5 September, to acknowledge the consistently high level of service provided by the staff of the CSU Contact Centre, who respond to all phone and email enquiries about courses and study at the University. In thanking the staff and presenting their citations for the annual Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Performance Excellence (Team Award), Professor Ian Goulter stressed the importance of their role and acknowledged their dedication and the assistance they provided to prospective students and their parents. “The Contact Centre is a highly professional and committed team that is passionate about customer service,” Professor Goulter said. “The team has maintained this commitment throughout a challenging year of change to core processes and practices, with each member of the team embracing these challenges positively to ensure a smooth transition to university study for students.” At another ceremony earlier in the afternoon, Bathurst campus-based members of the Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) Project Team received the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Performance Excellence (Team Award).

An educational program designed to help local communities deal with confronting issues for young people will be discussed at a Charles Sturt University (CSU) public lecture in Tumut on Wednesday 14 September. The ‘Putting Youth in the Picture’ program was developed in regional Queensland and uses a series of authentic, confronting movie scenes to show how young people can make poor decisions that will alter their lives. CSU has been granted the first NSW licence to roll out the program to all local government areas across its regions. Manager of Residential Operations at CSU in Albury-Wodonga and Wagga Wagga, Mr Peter Bell, said issues presented include sexual assault, binge and underage drinking, and alcohol-fuelled violence. “This program is about empowering local communities through their local councils, schools or sporting groups to use the program’s resources to hopefully prevent their young people from getting into difficulties,” Mr Bell said.

In the rapidly changing field of biotechnology, education is crucial to keep up with cutting edge technology, says Australian scientist and Charles Sturt University (CSU) academic Dr Thiru Vanniasinkam. Dr Vanniasinkam, who works in the School of Biomedical Sciences at CSU in Wagga Wagga, Australia, will visit a number of colleges in Ontario to outline the Bachelor of Science (Forensic Biotechnology). This internationally recognised program is offered through CSU in Ontario and allows graduates with an Ontario Biotechnology, Health Biotechnology Diploma or equivalent to upgrade their qualifications to degree level. “The program can improve job prospects for graduates and open avenues for further education,” Dr Vanniasinkam said. “Students can also undertake short-term study tours in laboratories in countries including Korea, Switzerland and USA.” The program has been developed with industry bodies to address the rapid technological changes and growth in the biotechnology and forensic industries worldwide.