The name of the University honours the noted explorer, soldier and public servant Charles Sturt. Sturt’s major achievement was as an explorer. He was particularly associated with explorations of the Macquarie, Lachlan, Murrumbidgee, Darling and Murray River Systems - the principal rivers of the region which CSU was established to serve.

The University was created as a federated, network university with semi-independent member campuses and a central administration. Amendments to the Act in 1998 now encapsulate in the legislation the structure of the University that evolved during the University’s first ten years of operation.

The new structure may be described as an integrated, multi-campus structure in which the major academic units, the Faculties, are represented on at least three campuses of the University and the administrative divisions have University-wide rather than campus-specific responsibilities.

As required by the Act, the University operates main campuses in Albury-Wodonga, Bathurst, Dubbo and Wagga Wagga. CSU operates from other locations including the City of Sydney, Manly, Goulburn, Canberra, Morpeth and Broken Hill. The University’s headquarters, the Chancellory known as The Grange which houses the Vice-Chancellor’s office, is located on the Bathurst campus.

The mission of Charles Sturt University is to produce graduates with a professional edge who are competitive in meeting the present and changing needs of society, commerce and industry.

It seeks to achieve this mission by:

• balancing professional and vocational course needs with the development of skills for and positive attitudes towards life-long learning;
• attracting students nationally and internationally because of the excellence of its courses, teaching, scholarship and support to students;
• being committed to open learning through access, articulation and student support programs;
• providing a variety of learning environments to meet the different needs of students drawn from diverse educational, social, ethnic and economic backgrounds;
• conducting high quality research of regional significance and international distinction;
• combining a dynamic regional commitment with a growing international reputation;
• and providing a flexible, innovative and challenging environment in which to teach, learn, research and work.

Charles Sturt University:

• is committed to the discovery, preservation, refinement, and dissemination of knowledge;
• recognises the primary importance of its students, local communities, and the other client groups it seeks to serve;
• pursues quality and excellence;
• accepts the need for accountability and ethical conduct and integrity;
• prizes flexibility and responsiveness;
• is committed to the pursuit of social justice and the provision of equity of access and opportunity;
• recognises the contribution of all staff;
• and is an active participant in the globalisation of higher education.

This Charter sets out the expectations that you as a member of the University community may have of us (the University) and your fellow students; and the expectations that we and other students may have of you. We recognise that teaching and learning is a cooperative endeavour and this is reflected in the Charter that we regard as a statement of practice not just intent.

Expectations you and other students may have of us:

Expectations that we and other students may have of you:

The governing body of the University is the Council. It has a membership of nineteen comprising: the Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor and the Presiding Officer of the Academic Senate as ex officio members; two parliamentary members; four members appointed by the NSW Minister for Education and Training; four graduate members nominated by the Council and appointed by the Minister; three elected staff members, two student members; and one of the Heads of Campus who serve for one year on a rotational basis. The Council meets at least five times each year.

The Council is assisted in its work by five committees: the Finance Committee; the Audit Committee; the Personnel Committee; the Honorary Awards Committee; and a Standing Committee which meets only to deal with urgent matters.

The Vice-Chancellor is the chief executive officer of the University and is accountable to the Council for the good government of the University. The Vice-Chancellor is assisted by a Deputy Vice-Chancellor and three Pro-Vice-Chancellors.

Each of the four main campuses has a Head of Campus who, as a member of the executive, has University-wide accountabilities as well as being responsible for representing and promoting a particular campus.

Each main campus has an advisory committee to the Head of Campus with particular responsibility for campus services and facilities and for establishing and enhancing links between the campus and the communities it serves. Campus advisory committees comprise representatives of the communities served by the campus.

The administrative and academic support services are provided by the Divisions, Departments and Centres of the University. Each of these organisational units is headed by a Pro-Vice-Chancellor or an Executive Director or a Director who have University-wide responsibilities.

The Divisions include: Planning and Development; Learning and Student Support; Public Affairs; Human Resources; Financial Services; University Properties; Information Technology; Communications and International Relations; and Library Services. The Departments include: Student Administration; Student Services; Residences and Catering; the International Office; the University Secretary; and the Aboriginal Education Unit. The Centres include: the Centre for Research and Consultancy Services; the Centre for Graduate Studies; the Centre for Enhanced Learning and Teaching; the Continuing and Professional Education Centre; and the Learning Materials Centre.

The Academic Senate is the principal academic body of the University. It has delegated authority from the Council to make and monitor academic policy.

The Senate has a membership of twenty-three comprising: two members of the professoriate elected by the Senate as the Presiding Officer and Deputy Presiding Officer; the Vice-Chancellor, Deans of Faculty; Executive Director of Library Services, Director of the Centre for Graduate Studies; and the Director of Aboriginal Education as ex officio members; three Pro-Vice-Chancellors appointed by the Council; one elected academic staff member of each Faculty; and two students nominated by the student associations.

The Senate meets five times each year and is assisted in its work by seven committees.

The Academic Programs Committee advises the Senate on matters relating to undergraduate programs and postgraduate coursework programs and has delegated authority from the Senate to approve new and revised programs submitted to it by the Faculties.

The Board of Graduate Studies advises the Senate on matters relating to higher degree research programs including professional doctorate programs and has delegated authority from the Senate to administer these programs.

The Research Management Committee advises the Senate on research development and management. The Committee also allocates research grants.

The Senate has a number of other committees to perform specialist functions. These include: the Academic Appeals Committee which decides student appeals against exclusion and other academic decisions; the Academic Awards Committee which certifies that students have met the requirements of their courses and are eligible to graduate; the Quality Audit Committee which is responsible for auditing the effectiveness of Senate’s policies; and the University Medals Committee which awards University Medals to academically outstanding students.

The University’s academic activities (teaching, research and consultancy) are the province of the five Faculties of the University: Arts; Commerce; Education; Health Studies; and Science and Agriculture. Each Faculty is headed by a Dean who is responsible to the Vice-Chancellor through the Deputy Vice-Chancellor for the management of the Faculty.

The Faculties, which are multi-campus, comprise campus-based Schools and, in a few cases, campus-based academic units. Each school is managed by a Head of School who is responsible to the Dean.

Faculties are responsible for the development and delivery of courses whereas Schools are responsible for the curriculum and the teaching of the subjects that comprise courses.

Each Faculty has a Faculty Board, chaired by the Dean, which is responsible for the quality of the Faculty’s courses, research, consultancy and other academic activities. Each School of the Faculty is represented on the Faculty Board.

The Faculty Boards have a number of committees to perform specialist functions on behalf of the Board. These include: a Courses Committee which advises the Board on new and revised course proposals; an Assessment Committee which approves the awarding of grades; a Graduate Studies Committee which monitors the Faculty’s higher degree research students; a Research Committee which monitors the Faculty’s research and consultancy endeavours; and a Standing Committee to handle urgent issues.

Each School has a School Board, chaired by the Head of School, which is responsible for the quality of the teaching and assessment of the School’s subjects and the other academic activities of the School.

Each Faculty course is managed by a course coordinator who is a member of the academic staff of the Faculty. The course coordinator is responsible for ensuring that students in a course meet all the requirements of the course required for graduation and abide by the regulations and other policies approved by the Senate.

From the outset, CSU focused its research effort in those areas where it had particular depth and strength of academic and research capability. As a consequence of this approach it has established five research centres and five research groups/support units.

The University is also a partner or associate in four cooperative research centres established and supported under the Commonwealth Government’s Cooperative Research Centre Program; and it has established several professional centres that conduct collaborative research with industry partners.

A brief description of each of these centres and groups follows.

The Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics (CAPPE) was established in Canberra in 2000 as an Australian Research Council Special Research Centre. CAPPE is a collaborative enterprise between CSU and The University of Melbourne. The purpose of CAPPE is to contribute to national and international scholarship and to influence public policy on issues in applied philosophy and public ethics. The Centre is organised in twelve integrated research program areas within themes of criminal justice ethics, social responsibilities, business and the professions, and international perspectives.

The Centre for Cultural Research into Risk was established to research the socio-cultural dimensions of risk in contemporary societies. It currently researches risk in the areas of health, media, citizenship and childhood and youth. Examples of research projects recently undertaken include fear of crime, risk and youth culture and risk in the culture of professions.

The Centre for Rural Social Research was established to research social issues affecting rural communities and to bring the results of that research to the notice of policy makers. Current research areas include rural social conditions, rural social policy and human service delivery, communications, technology and community development, and the social aspects of agriculture, the environment and sustainability. The Centre is a vital source of information on rural social issues, particularly through its unique nationally-refereed journal Rural Society and its Web site. Other publications include technical papers, conference proceedings, bibliographies, an occasional paper series, a keynote paper series and commercial books. The Centre also hosts of a number of international and national conferences.

The Farrer Centre was established to advance the sustainability of agricultural production and the rural environment through research, education and consultancy. The Centre comprises CSU staff and representatives of NSW Departments of Agriculture and Land and Water Conservation, CSIRO and industry. Current research focuses on farming systems, integrated pest management, soil and waste management, biotechnology, Internet technologies, and education and technology transfer.

The Johnstone Centre is an interdisciplinary centre of teaching and research with five diverse but inter-related program areas that focus on the management of ecosystems and protected areas. The research examines the relationships between public policy, biodiversity conservation, community development and management of natural resources. The Centre also undertakes commissioned research and industry consultation to solve more immediate problems. The Centre develops and promotes specialist subjects in support of the University’s undergraduate and coursework master programs in protected area management and ecotourism. These programs have been developed cooperatively with state conservation agencies and the Ecotourism Association of Australia, and are offered on-campus and by distance education to enable access to those working in industry.

The Adaptive Informatics Research Group studies the structure, behaviour and communication of natural and artificial systems that adapt to changes in their environment. Research themes include: virtual environments such as human-computer interaction; adaptive systems including the development of complex behaviour from simple rule-based systems; and self-describing systems including self-organisational automatic indexing of large data collections.

The Forensic Psychology Research Group researches: community concern about children as witnesses; jurors’ decisions as influenced by the complexity of evidence and trial processes; public perception of the role of intent and consequences in sentencing; competency to stand trial; eyewitness identification in evidence and criminal profiling of missing persons; and child sex offenders.

The Group for Research in Employment and Training is a cross-disciplinary group from the Faculties of Commerce and Education which carries out applied research, consultancy and professional continuing education in workplace training and learning, vocational education, management ethics and organisational change.

The Teacher Education Research Group’s mission is to conduct high quality research into teacher education at local, regional and national levels in changing times. The Group takes a broad view of research into teacher education including the study of pre-service and in-service teacher education and the interface between them; teachers and their work; and alternative modes of curriculum delivery. New projects include the innovative use of technology, flexible delivery of on-campus subjects, and enhancement to distance education using the Internet.

The Spatial Analysis Support Unit supports research, education and consultancy in the areas of geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing and spatial statistics. The Unit facilitates research into human and physical problems in the Murray-Darling Basin and provides a University-wide set of computer-based tools and training.

The Cooperative Research Centre for Viticulture focuses Australia’s collective research, extension and education activities in viticulture for dried fruits, table grapes and wine grapes to produce higher quality, more efficiently grown and contaminant free grapes. Member organisations include the National Wine and Grape Industry Centre (CSU and NSW Agriculture), The University of Adelaide, the CSIRO Division of Horticulture, the Australian Wine Research Institute and the Victorian Department of Agriculture.

The Cooperative Research Centre for Weed Management Systems aims to: reduce the impact of weeds on farm productivity and profitability; develop practical integrated weed management systems for the sustainability and productivity of Australian temperate perennial pastures and natural ecosystems; and provide a coordinated approach to the education and adoption of weed management strategies. The University makes specialist contributions in allelopathy, herbicide resistance and weed biology. Member organisations include the CSIRO Divisions of Entomology and Plant Industry, NSW Agriculture, The University of Adelaide, The University of New England, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Victoria, the Grains Research and Development Corporation, Agriculture Western Australia and Avcare Pty Ltd. CSU is an associate of the Centre.

The Co-operative Research Centre for Sustainable Tourism was established as a tourism research company in late 1997 under the Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centres Program. The Centre aims to underpin the development of a dynamic, internationally competitive, and sustainable tourism industry, and to deliver strategic knowledge and projects to business, community and government to enhance the environmental, economic and social sustainablity of tourism. The University contributes to the CRC through the Nature Tourism Program with current projects in China, Nepal and Papua New Guinea.

The Gilmore Centre, named after the poet, humanist and internationalist Dame Mary Gilmore, was established to improve rural health. The Centre is funded by the University, the NSW Department of Health and the Greater Murray Health Service. The Centre’s objectives are to improve the quality of, and access to, rural health services; encourage entrepreneurial activities in rural health; and research rural health needs. Consumer consultation, research and education are principal themes.

The National Wine and Grape Industry Centre was established to research the areas of viticulture and wine science, and related areas of food science. Research within the Centre focuses on improvements in viticulture, grape and wine quality, pest and disease management and food technology. The Centre is a partnership between CSU, NSW Agriculture and the NSW Wine Industry Association. It conducts collaborative research with many wine and food companies and receives funding from the Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation.

The Western Research Institute undertakes research and consultancy on economic issues that impact on regional Australia. Research areas include regional aspects of competition policy, finance, trading area development, cost benefit and economic impact analysis, and exports and rural industries. The Western Research Institute is an independent research collaboration between State and Federal governments and community agencies from the Central West, Orana and Far West regions. Its first corporate sponsor is Advance Energy. It supports business and industry developments in western NSW through research and the provision of information.

The Psychological Services Centre is a professional consulting body of the University staffed by senior academics and consultants in the field of applied and clinical psychology. The Centre provides psychological services to the regional communities of the Central West and, in the future, to the Riverina region of NSW; serves as a resource and consultative body for relevant organisations, practitioners and the community; enhances the teaching of psychological skills to psychology students and particularly to interns in the Master of Psychology; and facilitates and promotes applied psychological research especially in regional areas of Australia. The Centre offers clinical; educational; research; organisational and forensic psychological services. Each of these services provides professional help to members of the community as well as development/training programs for the professionals within the University and wider community.

The Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture was established by the University and the Anglican Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn with the support of the National Council of Churches. The Centre is co-located with the University’s School of Theology in Canberra. The Centre aims to: promote the study of the diverse Christian traditions and expressions of faith in Australia, particularly as they encounter each other and other aspects of Australian culture; encourage dialogue between Christian denominations and between Christianity and the other faiths in Australia; and support the exhibition and performance of the arts in their interactions with Christianity.

The Australian Centre for Co-operative Research and Development (ACCORD) is Australia’s only research and development centre serving co-operatives, mutuals and the social economy. ACCORD’s objectives are to advance the theory and practice of co-operatives and mutual organisations and improve the governance and management of the co-operatives sector. Research areas include public policy, regional development, capital and governance structures, and linking mutuals and co-operatives to the development of social capital. The activities of ACCORD encompass both a national and international perspective supported by an extensive network of researchers and practitioners. The Centre is a joint venture between CSU and the University of Technology, Sydney, supported by the NSW Government.

The Centre for Information Studies supports and commissions research and publications in library and information science. It also encourages and facilitates the planning and implementation of activities aimed at improving the employment competencies of information professionals, and coordinates consultancy activities through which members of the community may access the broad information and research skills of the Centre.