Latest news with #CharlesSturtUniversity
Sydney Morning Herald
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
The River: Chris Hammer, crime writer, returns to the source
Chris Hammer had a singular stroke of fortune when, in 1982, not quite knowing what he wanted to do with his life, he enrolled in a journalism course at a small institution then known as the Mitchell College of Advanced Education in Bathurst, in the central west of NSW. The college, which later became Charles Sturt University, retains a near-legendary reputation as a cradle of first-class Australian journalism. For Hammer, it laid the foundations for what – after he had completed a grand career roving the turbulent world as an SBS TV news documentary maker, and later writing for a magazine and this masthead – led to his current status as one of Australia's most outstanding crime writers. All these decades later, Hammer and I find ourselves enjoying lunch at Port Melbourne's excellent The Graham Hotel and discussing Hammer's wild success as an author of 'rural noir', a genre of Australian crime fiction that the legendary political correspondent and connoisseur of mystery novels, Laurie Oakes, once dubbed 'dingo noir'. 'It was a very small course,' Hammer recalls of Mitchell, painting something approaching an idyll of youth awakening to life's promise in an untroubled countryside. 'There were probably only 50 or 60 people a year in the three courses, all combined. There was print journalism, broadcast journalism and public relations, and a theatre course went along with it. '[Bathurst] is west of the mountains, and in those days, there was no internet. Telephone calls were prohibitively expensive. You're cut off, and all we had was each other. So we played in bands. And there were plays being produced constantly. 'We did radio shows on the local community radio station, which was based on campus, and still is. 'I'm incredibly fortunate – I made lifelong friends.'
The Age
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Age
The River: Chris Hammer, crime writer, returns to the source
Chris Hammer had a singular stroke of fortune when, in 1982, not quite knowing what he wanted to do with his life, he enrolled in a journalism course at a small institution then known as the Mitchell College of Advanced Education in Bathurst, in the central west of NSW. The college, which later became Charles Sturt University, retains a near-legendary reputation as a cradle of first-class Australian journalism. For Hammer, it laid the foundations for what – after he had completed a grand career roving the turbulent world as an SBS TV news documentary maker, and later writing for a magazine and this masthead – led to his current status as one of Australia's most outstanding crime writers. All these decades later, Hammer and I find ourselves enjoying lunch at Port Melbourne's excellent The Graham Hotel and discussing Hammer's wild success as an author of 'rural noir', a genre of Australian crime fiction that the legendary political correspondent and connoisseur of mystery novels, Laurie Oakes, once dubbed 'dingo noir'. 'It was a very small course,' Hammer recalls of Mitchell, painting something approaching an idyll of youth awakening to life's promise in an untroubled countryside. 'There were probably only 50 or 60 people a year in the three courses, all combined. There was print journalism, broadcast journalism and public relations, and a theatre course went along with it. '[Bathurst] is west of the mountains, and in those days, there was no internet. Telephone calls were prohibitively expensive. You're cut off, and all we had was each other. So we played in bands. And there were plays being produced constantly. 'We did radio shows on the local community radio station, which was based on campus, and still is. 'I'm incredibly fortunate – I made lifelong friends.'
ABC News
27-06-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Charles Sturt University to cut jobs to save $35m amid drop in international enrolments
One of the largest regional universities in Australia has told staff jobs will be cut as it looks to save $35 million from its budget. Charles Sturt University (CSU) says a substantial drop in international student placements has left the university needing to make cuts. CSU has campuses across regional NSW in Bathurst, Wagga Wagga, Albury-Wodonga, Dubbo, Orange and Port Macquarie. In its latest annual report, CSU recorded a net shortfall of almost $44 million at the end of the 2024 financial year. In a statement, CSU vice-chancellor Renée Leon said the cuts were distressing but unsurprising given government policies to restrict the number of international students. "In Charles Sturt's case, international students cross-subsidise students from regional, rural and remote locations," Ms Leon said. "In 2019 Charles Sturt had 8,460 international students. In 2024, we had approximately 10 per cent of that number. CSU union representative Anna Corbo Crehan slammed the announcement as lacking clarity. "Staff are left with more questions than answers, we're stuck in a crushing limbo," Dr Corbo Crehan said in a statement. "Cutting jobs would be a devastating blow not just for staff and students, but the regional communities that rely on CSU. "Staff have stood behind CSU giving so much to the institution since the COVID pandemic; there is no need for management to target staff now." CSU is the latest university to announce job cuts in the wake of a ministerial direction from the federal government that saw 60,000 fewer international student visas issued in 2023–24 compared to the previous year. Fellow NSW regional university the University of Wollongong has already slashed more than 90 full-time academic positions, and confirmed more than 180 non-academic places will also go to make up for the international student shortfall. In her statement, Ms Leon also called for changes to the one-size-fits-all university funding model, saying it "disproportionately handicaps regional universities". Federal MP for Riverina Michael McCormack said he had written to Education Minister Jason Clare asking the government to take action on supporting regional universities. "They desperately need to find a way to support regional tertiary students with real, meaningful policy and funding," Mr McCormack said. With campuses located in six regional communities, Mr McCormack said the CSU cuts would have a knock-on effect. "The ripple effect will be like a tsunami across those regional economies," Mr McCormack said. "The government has talked up its Australian universities accord, its funding equity students and supporting regional students. "Well, now is the time for action."
News.com.au
03-06-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Australia's Best Teachers: Fixing our maths, science teaching ‘crisis'
Two in five Australian high school students are learning maths from teachers without formal qualifications in the subject. But universities are boosting teachers' skills through new short courses – and are calling for support to rapidly expand them to tackle the nationwide issue. News Corp has this week launched the third year of its Australia's Best Teachers advocacy series to celebrate the positive impact educators have and tackle workforce challenges in our schools. This year's series is presented in partnership with Officeworks, Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools, Education Perfect and Big Ass Fans. Teachers around the country, through no fault of their own, are being forced to teach subjects outside their areas of expertise due to workforce shortages. A 2024 report by the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute found maths was taught by out-of-field teachers 40 per cent of the time. And the most recent Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership workforce survey found 20 per cent of maths teachers, 29 per cent of technology teachers and 11 per cent of science teachers had no formal qualifications in those areas. Southern Cross University and Charles Sturt University have each developed microcredentials to upskill out-of-field teachers in maths, trialling them on pilot cohorts. Maths lecturer and Southern Cross course co-ordinator Lewes Peddell said out-of-field teaching had reached a 'crisis point' where thousands of students went from years 7 to 10 without being taught by a teacher with a maths degree. Dr Peddell's 350-hour course is designed to upskill teachers and improve their 'confidence and competence' in six main areas of the maths curriculum. 'We have to remember that these are qualified teachers – they're just not qualified in mathematics, so it's about finding ways to bridge what they know from their own discipline areas into teaching maths,' he said. 'This micro-credential is a drop in the bucket, but it is a drop.' Mathematical Association of NSW executive director Darius Samojlowicz said out-of-field teaching had become so common that he 'quite regularly' encountered non-maths-trained teachers who have become head of their school's maths faculties. 'We can't solve this problem overnight but we can support those teachers who are in this situation right now,' he said. Dr Janelle Hill coordinates a short course for out-of-field teachers at Charles Sturt. 'There's an overall teacher shortage and a very unequal distribution in regional and rural and remote communities,' she said. 'It's a tricky one to solve, but something like this microcredential is making a big difference.' Kat Crow, head teacher at St Paul's Anglican Grammar School in rural Victoria, said she benefited enormously from the Southern Cross course after feeling 'like a unicorn' among maths teachers. Ms Crow said teachers must be given the time – and money – to access such programs. 'If I didn't have the school assist me with that, I may or may not have been able to make that choice,' she said. Australian Education Union president Correna Haythorpe said STEM graduates were in high demand in the broader economy, so teaching needed better pay and conditions to attract more into the profession. The federal government's $18.5 million micro-credential trial, which includes a range of qualifications besides teaching, will end in June 2026. Education Minister Jason Clare said both student teacher training reform and support for current teachers was needed. 'Part of turning this around is improving teacher training at university to make sure teaching students are taught the fundamentals about how to teach children to read and write and do maths and how to manage disruptive classrooms,' he said.
Daily Mail
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
University students wanting to be teachers now required to complete 'woke' mandatory modules before they even step foot in a classroom
The NSW government now requires teachers to be certified in Aboriginal culture and anti-racism in order to work in schools. In the latest push to politicise education, a student studying to be a teacher at Australian Catholic University (ACU) told 2GB's Ben Fordham they need to complete a compulsory module on Aboriginal culture before their placement in a school. ' Woke ideologies are being forced onto students again. All they want is to study and graduate. They don't want to be treated like primary school kids or to endure a shame session about Australian history,' Fordham told listeners on Tuesday. It follows backlash earlier this year over a decree from Sydney 's Macquarie University that all students attend lessons which described non-Indigenous Australians as 'settlers' and 'guests' in their own country. While elsewhere across the state, James Cook University instructs physiotherapy students to learn about 'white privilege', and Charles Sturt University requires students to pay to do yet another course on Indigenous culture. The new training module is from the NSW Education Department and is compulsory for any student studying to be a teacher in NSW. An ACU spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia: 'The NSW Department of Education requires all pre-service teachers to complete a mandatory training module on Aboriginal Cultural Education. 'Students can graduate from ACU education courses without this, but can not teach in government schools in NSW unless they complete this mandatory training module.' The cultural module contains six parts including language, significant people and sites, impacts of past government policies, and the journey to reconciliation. 'All staff must complete the mandatory training, Aboriginal Cultural Education – Let's take the first step together... and training on the Anti-Racism Policy and their responsibility to actively challenge racism,' the department states. The department said the module would build students' capacity and responsibility to improve cultural safety for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. 'This training supports the department's partnership agreement with the Aboriginal Education Consultative Group to respectfully acknowledge and understand the importance and diversity of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples, histories and cultures and see our work through a cultural lens,' it said. 'Many staff are also taking part in 'Connecting to Country' learning which provides deep insight into the myriad of social, cultural, historic, economic and political issues that continue to affect and concern Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities.' The University of Newcastle also requires students to complete the training, according to its online course information.
