The sessions were held at six of the university’s campuses and an online survey on the subject attracted 1500 participants.

The call for public feedback comes following CSU’s announcement that as part of its 30^th birthday celebrations it was considering major changes.

“Charles Sturt University has sought feedback from the community, students, alumni and partners in relation to the University Strategy and brand refresh,” a CSU spokeswoman said.

“We appreciate the feedback provided at these sessions and through our online survey, which received over 1500 responses, as well as through social media channels.

“It is now time for us to consider the vast amount of feedback received and present a recommendation to University Council.”

The spokeswoman said no decision had been made in relation to the university name change.

Public consultation sessions were held in Bathurst, Dubbo, Orange, Albury-Wodonga, Port Macquarie, Wagga Wagga campuses as well as through an online survey.

A change.org petition that has slammed the name change idea as a waste of money and loss of tradition and history has so far attracted more than 6200 signatures.

“As a CSU alumni I believe this is an unnecessary waste of money and can be better spent improving the education towards students learning,” Tayla Martin posted to the petition.

While Heather Foster wrote: “I am signing this petition as the name "Charles Sturt" is synonomous(sic) with Australia's history and should be kept as such. Stop this insane name changing etc in the name of political correctness. Charles Sturt University should be kept as it is. The way things are going our heritage will become non existant(sic)”.

Sarah Roetmam wrote: “MAs a student of CSU I support this fully [petition]. My fees should be going towards increasing the quality of my education, not re-branding”.

In a poll created by Australian Community Media on the topic, 92.19 per cent (1877 votes) of the 2036 people who took part said Charles Sturt University should not change its name.

While 125 (6.14 per cent) supported the change and 34 voters (1.67 per cent) were not sure.

CSU deputy vice chancellor Jenny Roberts told Australian Community Media last month that she and other senior CSU staff welcomed the debate as it showed how passionate people were about the university.

“We knew that it would get a lot of feedback because we knew people loved this university,” she said.

“It’s very emotive and we understand that, but look at the bigger picture, the strategy.”

The bigger picture is that the institution was working on refreshing its brand and working to ensure it was just as relevant into the future for students, staff and members of the public as it is now.

“It’s important to evolve our brand to meet the needs of the market and ensure we can continue sustainable growth in our student numbers,” a CSU spokeswoman said.

“We want to continue to grow and continue to refresh ourselves.”

Western Advocate