The following published books explore past aspects of Charles Sturt University and its precursor institutions.
In addition to those available for download here, some are available in the Archives' Search Room for research onsite in Wagga Wagga while others may be borrowed through the Charles Sturt University Library.
Paradigm Shifts, by Neil Hall, is an account of Riverina College of Advanced Education (RCAE) from 1972 to 1985, firstly in Wagga Wagga and then in Albury Wodonga.
In 1972 Australia there were no degrees other than through traditional universities. The design of RCAE programs of study began with a blank page. How did staff cope with inadequate facilities and what innovations did this blank page approach necessitate? Paradigm Shifts captures the excitement of RCAE.
Portia Dilena's 2022 publication traces the arrival of tertiary education in the Albury-Wodonga region through the story of Charles Sturt University.
Through the use of oral history interviews with past staff and students, it demonstrates the necessity of tertiary institutions in regional Australia in providing equity in services, promoting regional development, and strengthening communities. Dilena reveals why the Albury-Wodonga/Thurgoona campus is "here to stay in the public good."
Sherry Morris' second commission by the Division of Facilities Management in 2018 traces the history of the staff and student accommodation known collectively as "Nappy Alley" and the families who called the cottages home.
The story explores what life was like for families at the Wagga Experiment Farm (and later at the Wagga Agricultural College), an aspect of college life that has never been fully investigated.
Doman, by Sherry Morris, was published in 2018 by the Division of Facilities Management to recognise the history and legacy of Doman Block, the 64-room student accommodation block on the Wagga Campus (1964-2017), and the man it was named for: Bernard 'Dick' Doman, first Principal of Wagga Agricultural College.
Dick Doman's efforts to develop the College into a modern educational institution were hampered by financial difficulties, mixed with a lack of accommodation which limited enrolments. Doman Block was his solution.
This 2015 book by Nancy Blacklow, commissioned by the Division of Facilities Management, was a vital part of capturing a definitive history of the tertiary education site in Wagga Wagga known as South Campus.
Its diverse history includes a Royal Australian Air Force hospital, the Wagga Wagga Teachers' College, the Riverina College of Advanced Education (RCAE), the South Campus Pre-School, the Riverina Archives, the Riverina Conservatorium of Music, the Kay Hull Veterinary Teaching Hospital, the St Mary MacKillop Colleges and, now, an aged-care home.
A history of Charles Sturt University, by Senior Lecturer in Journalism, Margaret Van Heekeren, was written in 2015 to commemorate the first 25 years of the second rural university in NSW.
Her story traces the "turbulence of birth, youth and fast growth under Foundation Vice-Chancellor Cliff Blake, to the consolidation years of Vice-Chancellor Ian Goulter." Van Heekeren's conclusion, looking back over the past 25 years was, "the University has become comfortable living regionally but looking outward."