Students attending Charles Sturt University in Dubbo will now have 24-hour access to learning spaces as part of a $2.5 million refurbishment.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The new facilities were officially opened on Monday by CSU Vice-Chancellor Andrew Vann and NSW Education Minister Rob Stokes.
As well as the 24-hour access to the Learning Commons area, the university also has an additional quiet study room, a new parent and a multi-faith room, a staff kitchen and two flexible teaching spaces.
The layout has also been modified, Professor Vann said, to make a more modern, open campus.
“We’ve got a lot more open plan space we refurbished the library so that it runs together now with the cafe so they’ve got access to food. If people are coming in after hours or they’re coming in late they’ve got support, they’ve got things to eat, things to drink, so it’ll help them with their study,” he said.
The university currently has 250 students on campus and another 450 online students. Many of those were not school leavers, but mature-aged students Professor Vann said, who were juggling family and work responsibilities.
“The students really seem to be enjoying it as far as I can make out. When we see them sitting around they look very relaxed in the spaces, they’re working collaboratively in spaces like the cafe,” Professor Vann said.
“In all our campuses that’s what we’re really trying to do now, is to provide spaces where the students can really socialise and work from each other.”
Mr Stokes was full of praise for the new design of the campus. It was beautifully designed, but intimate, he said, which gave it a special feel.
The CSU Dubbo campus opened 20 years ago. Since then there has been some amazing work done by the staff and students, Professor Vann said.
The next step for the university was to collaborate with the community to ensure the city continued to thrive, he said.
“What we really want to do is work out how we can best help Dubbo grow. We know this town has an amazing future. We really want to understand how we can best work with the community to really help Dubbo advance,” Professor Vann said.
Mr Stokes said he would like to see the campus itself expand and for CSU to look at adding residential courses.