Monthly Archives: July 2014

Footsteps Project

As part of the University’s 50th anniversary celebrations, students, staff, alumni and members of the wider University community can become part of the very fabric of Kent by having a short message or memory engraved on a brick, and set in our new celebratory pathway by the Templeman Library.

The Crab and Winkle Path will commemorate the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway route (known locally as the Crab and Winkle Line), which ran directly below this part of the University grounds.

Set at the heart of the Canterbury campus, this new path will recognise those who have made the University what it is today.

All funds raised will help build the Kent Opportunity Fund, which supports students at Kent by funding scholarships, student projects and bursaries. Minimum donations are £50 for a two line brick, and £90 for a four line brick.

Join us, and help the next generation of Kent students to walk in your footsteps.

To find out how you can become involved: 

Academic recognition for professional knowledge

The Centre for Professional Practice’s programmes offers the opportunity to attain academic recognition for skills and knowledge developed in the workplace.

You will also have the opportunity to focus on a specific area of practice relevant to your work and career progression.

This programme is suitable for a variety of professional settings including the private, public and third sector, for example:

  • University Administration
  • Health and Social Care
  • Education
  • Local Government
  • Public Services

To find out more,  visit the CPP webpages or email: cppmedway@kent.ac.uk.

Staff research at student services conference

Dr Andy Velarde from the Student Services Department will present findings from his research into how universities support international disabled students at a national conference for student services organisations in Manchester this month (July).

Dr Velarde conducted his research alongside project assistant Philippa Moreton, who will also be presenting, and Head of Student Support and Wellbeing Graham Gorvett. The project sought to uncover how British universities manage issues such as funding, equipment and cultural differences for international disabled students, who are not subject to the same structures as UK and EU students in the HE sector. Around 40 British universities participated in the project.

‘I had the realisation that HE is one of the main exportable services that the UK has, and I thought it would be a good idea to look at the standard of service we are providing,’ said Dr Velarde, who is the department’s International and EU Student Adviser.

Dr Velarde and Ms Moreton will present their findings in a workshop at the Association of Managers of Student Services in Higher Education’s (AMOSSHE) ‘Brave New World’ conference from 16-18 July. It is the second project the pair have worked on following last year’s research into Inclusive Learning Plans, which was published by AMOSSHE in July 2013.

The project was funded by AMOSSHE, and selected from a university sector call for project proposals.

For further information, please contact: Philippa Moreton.

Stonewall Staff Feedback Questionnaire

Kent is participating in the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index and as part of this, employees at the University are invited to fill in the questionnaire giving feedback directly to Stonewall on your experiences working at Kent.

For the first time this year, the questionnaire is open to heterosexual as well as lesbian, gay and bisexual staff. Further information can be found on the EDI webpages.

Contact: equalityanddiversity@kent.ac.uk

KRIMSON goes live in August

This summer will see the implementation of a new research information system – KRIMSON (Kent Research & Innovation Management System On-line) to support the funding application process. The system will be used by Research Services, and Kent Innovation and Enterprise, as well as academics.

The KRIMSON system will provide an online approval process and will hold information on applications and awards across the University. Eventually, KRIMSON will integrate with the Kent Academic Repository and will also allow academics to produce ‘mini CVs’ – linking projects, publications and awards.

A pilot phase has been successfully running since April 2014 with the School of European Culture & Languages, Kent Law School and Engineering & Digital Arts entering their funding applications into KRIMSON.

The system will go live University-wide from August. Therefore, all new applications for funding from August onwards must be entered into KRIMSON. If you are going to be involved in an application for funding around this time, you will need to attend a training session to get to grips with the system. For more information on training availability and booking instructions, please visit the KRIMSON webpages.

For general enquiries, please email krimson@kent.ac.uk.

PA Network Lunch

Join the PA Network for lunch in Darwin Rose Gardens on Wednesday 23 July from 12-2pm.

Bring your packed lunch with you and meet like-minded PA and administrative colleagues. Free tea and coffee will also be available.

What is the PA Network?

A new professional network for likeminded, skilled and enthusiastic professionals to meet, share good practice and foster new ideas. Opportunities include:

  • Career advancement with the opportunity to diversify skills through targeted workshops supported by the Learning and Development Department
  • Mentoring and shadowing scheme
  • Job secondment, ‘job swap for a day’
  • A forum to encourage confidence and empowerment through motivational workshops and training
  • Building relationships with colleagues to promote the importance of the role which is pivotal to organisational life
  • Career guidance and advice
  • Advice for aspiring PAs
  • A forum to discuss opportunities and challenges in the role

The Network will meet in a workshop format once a term with a conference at the end of the academic year.

In addition, members can access the PA Network Forum on SharePoint all year round.

Email PANetwork@kent.ac.uk for more information.

Contact: panetwork@kent.ac.uk

Language video to celebrate 50th Anniversary

Take part in a video to celebrate our 50th Anniversary.

The Centre for English and World Languages is making a short video of students telling the world why they are Kent, in 50 different languages.

Would you like to be involved?

How would you finish the sentence, ‘I am Kent because…’ in all the languages you speak?

The department will be filming during three sessions:

  • One session on 21 July
  • Two sessions during the week starting 28 July

If you’d like to be involved, but can’t come to the filming session, you can still be included with an audio recording and/or a written sentence.

Get in touch by email with your name, the languages you speak and your completed sentence.

Please also confirm how you’d like to be included: video, audio or written sentence.

Contact: cewl@kent.ac.uk

Kent students at Bastille parade

Two Kent students will be representing the UK in the Bastille Day parade in Paris on Monday 14 July.

Ellie Clampin, an MA student at University of Kent at Paris (UKP) and Mark Harrison, a Drama and French student awarded a 50th anniversary scholarship to study at the University’s summer school in Paris in 2013, were nominated for the honour following a request by the British Ambassador to France.

This year’s Bastille Day celebrations will be used by the French to launch commemorations for the centenary of the First World War. More than 70 countries involved in the war have been invited to send military and youth representations to take part in the annual military parade along the Champs Elysées.

The British Ambassador to France, Sir Peter Ricketts, asked Dr Ana Medeiros, Director of UKP, to nominate two Kent students to be among four young people representing the UK.

He wrote: ‘As well as having a solid reputation for educational excellence, it would be particularly fitting for the University to provide students for the Bastille Day parade given the close association that Kent has with the First World War and the millions of men and women who embarked from its ports on their way to the Western Front.’

Ana de Medeiros commented: ‘I would like to thank the Embassy for honouring the University of Kent with this invitation. Ellie Clampin and Mark Harrison are delighted to play a role in this historic event and represent the University in such a meaningful manner.’

Contact: Communications@kent.ac.uk

Gulbenkian receives Arts Council funding

Gulbenkian is delighted to announce that it has been accepted onto Arts Council England’s national portfolio programme.

Arts Council England announced their three year funding strategy on Tuesday 1 July, unveiling Gulbenkian as one of only 30 new National Portfolio Organisations (NPOs) outside London.

Gulbenkian’s status as a National Portfolio Organisation means in addition to the current support from the University of Kent, Gulbenkian will receive an Arts Council England grant of £220,000 for each of the next three financial years (starting April 2015).

In its response the Gulbenkian’s application, Arts Council noted that the organisation’s vision reflects Arts Council’s own priorities, specifically working with and for children and young people.

The Arts Council stated in their report:

‘The organisation under the current Director has become one of the leading deliverer of arts experiences for and by children and young people in Kent.

‘They continue to run the pilot for ART31, a project which empowers young people, they connect nationally and internationally to children’s theatre and festival programming and are proposing their own children’s theatre festival with strong management involvement by young people’.

Gulbenkian Director, Liz Moran comments:

‘All of us at Gulbenkian are so excited and over the moon. We can now begin to realise our ambitions to make Gulbenkian the pioneer and leader of work with, for and by children and young people. Thank you Arts Council!’