Border's Charles Sturt and La Trobe university campuses open doors to prospective students

In the wake of COVID lockdowns, which forced Albury's Charles Sturt University and La Trobe in Wodonga to largely shift to an online model in recent years, the importance of face-to-face interaction hasn't been lost on the Border's two tertiary institutes.

Both Charles Sturt and La Trobe held open days on Sunday, August 13, with hundreds of future students, of all ages, exploring the campuses.

Charles Sturt University Albury-Wodonga director of external engagement David Bardos said more than 250 people registered for the open day within the first hour, which showed there was plenty of interest in future students embracing face-to-face learning.

"We are welcoming that with open arms," he said.

"There's really nothing more endearing than when you have that social interaction within a classroom setting, or to have a coffee and engage with fellow students and do activities.

"The interactions and activities that go into the courses are hands-on, and we encourage those interested to take it on board and take advantage of it."

Head of La Trobe University's Wodonga campus Dr Guin Threlkeld was equally impressed with the turnout across the border.

"I think we're about 70 per cent up on registrations this year from last year, which is fabulous," she said.

"It has taken a while for people to want to come on campus, but we are seeing that again. We've also seen an increase in demand for hybrid courses, where you're a bit on-campus and a bit online, and increasing demand for online courses.

"Everyone's circumstances are quite different now. On-campus is thriving and growing, but so are other forms of learning."

Dr Threlkeld said interest was shown in La Trobe's biomedical program, which partnered with University of Melbourne, as well as education, psychology, social work and nursing.

"It's good to see people are now making choices about their future less shaped by their experience during COVID and more shaped about where they see themselves in the future," she said.

"I was delighted when a grandmother said to me she'd brought her seven-year-old grandson along because it was important he saw uni as a normal part of life."

Catholic College Wodonga year 10 student Maddie Gibson used the open day as a chance to look into La Trobe's early entry options and is considering a possible career in social work.

"One way is off your year 11 scores and another is where you do community work, so they look at all your community work and they can let you in early to a certain course," she said.

"I do youth ministry at school and we do lots of community work for that."

Milawa's Charlotte Tilbrook is considering a degree in psychology or occupational therapy and used Charles Sturt University's open day as a chance to explore some options.

"I'm not really sure where I want to go and I'm thinking of doing a gap year, but I just wanted to have a look around," she said.

Moyhu's Bree Finger came along to the event with her sister Amber, who is in her third year at Charles Sturt University studying to become a physiotherapist.

"I'm looking at studying environmental science and I went on the environmental course tour today," Bree said.

Amber also enjoyed the experience after she missed out on the open day before she started at Charles Sturt due to COVID restrictions.

"I came here for a week and then all my classes moved online. We couldn't have more than 20 people in a classroom," she said.

Albury MP Justin Clancy was also in attendance at the Charles Sturt open day and was pleased to see hundreds take a look around.

"Campus life is a really important part of university and the university is really important part of our community, so seeing people out and about and starting to get a taste of what campus life might be like at CSU is fantastic," he said.

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