| Charles Sturt University | |
|---|---|
Coat of Arms of Charles Sturt University |
|
| Motto | For the public good |
| Established | 1989 |
| Type | Public |
| Chancellor | Lawrie Willet |
| Vice-Chancellor | Professor Ian Goulter |
| Admin. staff | 2000 |
| Students | 36,000 |
| Undergraduates | 24,213 |
| Postgraduates | 9,038 |
| Location | Albury-Wodonga, Bathurst, Dubbo, Melbourne, Orange, Manly, Sydney and Wagga Wagga, New South Wales and Victoria, Australia |
| Campus | Urban and rural |
| Nickname | CSU |
| Website | http://csu.edu.au/ |
Charles Sturt University (CSU) is an Australian multi-campus university located in New South Wales, Victoria, and the Australian Capital Territory. It has campuses at Bathurst, Canberra, Albury-Wodonga, Dubbo, Goulburn, Orange, Wagga Wagga and Burlington, Ontario (Canada).[1] It also has specialist centres in North Parramatta, Manly (Sydney), and Broken Hill.
CSU courses are also delivered in conjunction with Study Group Australia in Sydney and Melbourne (known as CSU Study Centres) and by many TAFEs (members of TAFE NSW and Holmesglen Institute of TAFE in Melbourne).
CSU is well known for its extensive range of distance education courses, which are online supported.
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The University was established on 1 July 1989 from the merger of several existing separately-administered Colleges of Advanced Education including the Mitchell College of Advanced Education in Bathurst, the Riverina-Murray Institute of Higher Education in Albury-Wodonga and the Riverina College of Advanced Education in Wagga Wagga,[2] through the enactment of The Charles Sturt University Act, 1989 (Act No. 76, 1989). It is named in honour of explorer Charles Sturt.
The Mitchell College of Advanced Education had been formed on 1 January 1971, and the Riverina-Murray Institute in Wagga Wagga and Albury-Wodonga had operated since 1985. The latter institution had earlier succeeded the Riverina College of Advanced Education, which was itself the result of an even earlier merger between Wagga Agricultural College and Wagga Teachers College.
In 1998, CSU established the first Study Centre in Sydney [3] and then in Melbourne [4] in 2007. These study centres are operated by a private education group called Study Group Australia.[5] In 1998 and 1999 the University was the location for the group known as '598'.
On 1 January 2005, CSU formalised moves to assume control of the University of Sydney's Orange campus, which came into force on 1 January 2005. From that date, all new Orange campus students were eligible to qualify for degrees from CSU; continuing students continued to be awarded their degrees from Sydney.
On 10 July 2007, fire destroyed a chemistry laboratory at the University's Wagga Wagga campus [6]
In 2008 CSU opened a new Veterinary Clinical Centre on Wagga Wagga Campus and 2011 sees the opening of a publicly available Dental and Oral Health Clinic.
On 14 February 2011 CSU changed its logo. The sturt desert pea flower is now stylised and made prominent, with the full name of the university as part of its logo.
Charles Sturt University's graduates with the highest public profile tend to come from the degree courses in communication and media offered on the Bathurst campus. It also specialises in the areas of pharmacy, visual and performing arts, viticulture, agriculture, dentistry, veterinary science, nursing, radiography, teaching, theology, accountancy and library and information studies. For over 30 years, the University's winery[8] has been the producer of acclaimed table wines. The University’s cheese factory[9] has also achieved many awards for its specialist range, 'Bidgee Cheese', sold at the Cellar Door, and commercially throughout NSW and overseas.
CSU has four Faculties each offering a diverse range of courses and discipline opportunities:
Initially, CSU was one of a handful of Australian universities not to increase tuition fees by 25%, one of the reforms introduced by federal education minister Brendan Nelson in 2004, but it later voted to increase fees by the full 25% allowable starting from 2006.
On its Bathurst campus, CSU operates a radio station, 2MCE, which also acts as the originating studio for National Radio News, a popular community radio news service.
Students at CSU are represented by Charles Sturt University Student Senate - formerly the CSU Students' Association (CSUSA). The CSU Student Senate is the overarching student body of CSU and comprises the following affiliates:
After Voluntary Student Unionism was passed by the Howard government, the student unions on all campuses of CSU were dissolved and became Student Representative Committees under the university structure.
Charles Sturt University offers a Distance Education program that allows students to choose courses at bachelor and post graduate level as well as the Single Subject Study program. The Distance Education program is designed for students who may be unable to attend the university campus in person, using printed or electronic media to facilitate communication between teachers and students.
Through Distance Education, students undertake courses supported by online forums, wikis, blogs, podcasts, access to library resources and assignment submission. Tutors are available for consultation and if a course is offered on campus, students can attend face-to-face tutorials and lectures. Students can be anywhere in the world while undertaking their study.
More than 21,000 students around the world study via CSU online supported courses, which supports flexibility around the design of their studies to their personal needs their studies to suit their, and around other commitments such as work, family and travel.
Distance education courses include professionally accredited degrees, as well as subjects that may be undertaken to follow an interest or passion.
CSU has the largest number of domestic students enrolled in its postgraduate courses in IT, according to the federal Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. [1]
For people who may not have studied formally for many years, some CSU subjects are open entry, which means there are no prerequisites for study. These subjects can provide an entry point for people who may be looking to engage in further formal study.
NSW HSC Online, an abbreviation of New South Wales Higher School Certificate Online, is a collaborative partnership between the NSW Department of Education and Training and Charles Sturt University. It provides 24/7 access to resources for 48 subjects, covering 76 courses. NSW HSC Online is supported by the Board of Studies NSW and the Professional Teachers Council NSW (PTC).
The NSW HSC Online website resources include sound and video files, speaking and listening tasks, animations, quizzes and virtual visits. Students and their teachers can contact curriculum experts and participate in discussion forums for specific HSC subjects.