Busy day at The Treehouse

Today, after a slow-moving time of changes to The Treehouse we had a lot of action. We had old bookcases moved from another building and installed, desks and furniture moved, notice boards put up, discussions about getting taps fixed, and a first-aid kit obtained, and a fire-safety team made recommendations. 

We also welcomed Dr Belinda Downey who was bringing the Lego treehouse we purchased using our prizemoney from our CSU Research Excellence Award that was constructed by her children.

It is such a long road to getting our building ready for children and families - but we are getting closer.

Access to The Treehouse

With the announcement of the Children's Voices Centre (https://news.csu.edu.au/latest-news/new-research-centre-champions-childrens-communication-rights), signing the research agreement with the World Health Organization, and learning that we currently do not have funds for refurbishment of The Treehouse - we have come up with a solution to enable us to have access to begin The Treehouse for the work of the Children's Voices Centre. Brandon Schranzer, Operations Coordinator Bathurst Campus Facilities Management has blocked off the stairs (since they are not compliant for children's safety) so we are now able to use the building. We look forward to moving in - and to trying to secure funding so that we can fully use the building.

The Treehouse - Daily users' meeting

Today Sean Sun (CSU) met with Dr Belinda Downey, Dr Kelly Tribolet and myself for the first time as "daily users" to discuss his plans to make The Treehouse compliant to the current disability building codes. Our conversations also enable us to dream about the future use of the building.

Sean, Belinda, Kelly and Sharynne consider public access to different areas

The Treehouse - discussions with the CSU building team

This week I have had three meetings with Matt Newton and the CSU team who are in charge of building works. They are a great team.

Sharynne, Donna Bateup, Kelly Tribolet, Blake Edwards, Shane O'Brien, Matt Newton

After talking with Matt and Sean Sun, I have named The Treehouse's building stages in the following way:

• Stage 1: Horse - what we need - 2024
  
• Stage 2: Zebra - what we want - 2025
  
• Stage 3: Unicorn - what we really want - 2025+

I am very grateful to the DVC-R Mark Evans, Pat McKenna from the DVC-R's office and Michelle Crosby the Chief Operating Officer (COO) who have advanced this work plan. We are now going through all of the documentation, checks, and permissions. We are hoping that it may be able to be completed in November 2024 in time for our ECV2024 conference.

I also learned from Matt Winslade (Associate Dean Research, Faculty of Arts and Education) that our office building has two apartments at the back - so we also were able to look at these during the site visit with Matt Newton. This would be an amazing space for visiting international and national academics, postgraduate students, etc.