Cindy Vallance

Why are people interested? I believe this is due to what we have loosely called our values and the qualities that we are working to exemplify as a group:

Involving students                  Openness                           Collaboration                    Innovation

Listening                     Equality                               Partnering                          Inspiration         

Fun                                        Respect                                                Trust     

Who wouldn’t want to work and study with people who are trying their best to demonstrate these qualities, especially in a time of increasing change, uncertainty, unrest and pressure?

A memorable quote from Tom Ritchie (Kent Union President) at the end of the Residential event: I thought that the Change Academy event would be boring, would not be of any value and that I would be treated as the token student. Instead, I found the experience interesting, the activities valuable, and I have had an equal voice with others at the table.

At the Residential, we spent a great deal of time shut away in a small room, talking and sharing our thoughts of what we would like to collectively achieve.

We came up with some thoughts of what we would like to see at University of Kent by the time we celebrate our 50^th anniversary in 2015. In no particular order here are some of our key themes:

Everyone feels that change is possible – giving people better work (‘getting things working better’)

1. People feel able to implement change
2. Good teaching is recognised and respected as much as good research
3. Innovative techniques,  inter-institution collaboration and best practice sharing occur
4. There will be an effective, clear, and positive communications strategy
5. We will reinforce positive messages through our language and our interactions with others
6. There will be joined up thinking everywhere
7. All are respectful and all voices are listened to
8. Income streams for the University are transparent and understood by all staff
9. Technology really works including consistent good quality use of Moodle
10. All are involved within the fabric of the University
11. There are opportunities to have debate and conversations around liaison and learning
12. Students and staff feel proud to be at Kent and recommend Kent to others
13. We form lasting relationships between staff, students, and employers
14. There is early exposure to senior, characterful and dynamic teaching staff
15. Students are helped to define why they are there and what they want from the experience. When they leave the university they know what they have achieved and gained
16. Staff provide useful references and career advice to students
17. There is a realisation that there really is no ‘typical’ staff or student
18. Staff and students are involved in and have input into the creation and implementation of he institutional plan
19. Staff and students integrate with other, different, staff and students – we break down silos

We will not achieve this vision through the efforts of only a few. We are on a journey and this journey has only just begun. Join in by commenting on these blogs and share your thinking with us. Learn more about our thoughts, ideas and plans in the blogs that will follow.