Governance News

Council has approved an amended Statute 7 and related ordinances concerning the employment of staff. The new Statute is subject to the approval of the Privy Council.

Council considered revisions to the Code of Practice on Freedom of Speech and agreed: that constraints on freedom of speech should be limited to those situations where  there is a significant risk of a breach of the law; that the Code required updating to reflect a range of legislative changes relating to inciting hatred on religious and racial or gender grounds as well as the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act; and that the University should work with Kent Union to produce a co-ordinated procedure.

Council has considered the Equality Diversity and Inclusivity Annual Report and a Report from the Senate concerning an OFFA EID Project. It has and agreed that there will be a Key Performance Indicator to measure the University’s performance in improving the relative academic achievement of BME students.

The University Council held its annual Strategy Meeting on Friday 27 February 2015.

The day began with a presentation from Professor Madeleine Atkins CBE, Chief Executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England, and topics discussed during the rest of the day included Research and the Institutional Plan 2015-2020.

On 27 November 2014 Council approved a budget for over-cladding the Ingram Building, which will make a significant contribution to the University’s carbon reduction targets and transform the external appearance of the building.  Council also approved a budget for the construction and fit out of the Sail and Colour Loft at Chatham Dockyard, to provide accommodation for Kent Business School at Medway, a budget to fit out the Royal Dockyard Church as a lecture theatre and a budget for the development of the C4 Building on the Medway Campus as a student hub.

Council approved revised Whistleblowing and Fraud Prevention Policies on 27 November 2014.  These new Policies have now been published and can be found here.

The Times Higher Education (THE) has ranked Kent 17th* for research intensity in the REF (Research Excellence Framework) 2014.  The THE ranking takes into account the overall quality, and the proportion, of staff submitted.

Further information can be found at:

http://www.kent.ac.uk/news/kentlife/3537/kent-ranked-17th-for-research-intensity

* among multi-faculty institutions

Vice-Chancellor Professor Dame Julia Goodfellow has been elected President of Universities UK (UUK) for 2015-2017.  Dame Julia was elected following a ballot of UUK members.  She will succeed the current President, Professor Sir Christopher Snowden, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Surrey, on 1 Auugst 2015 and will hold the post for two years until July 2017.  Further information can be found here:

http://www.kent.ac.uk/news/kentlife/3189/professor-dame-julia-goodfellow-elected-next-president-of-uuk

On 4 January 1965 the University of Kent was established through the signing and sealing of a Royal Charter of Incorporation, a date to be celebrated in this the University’s 50th anniversary year.  Further information about this can be found here:

http://www.kent.ac.uk/news/kentlife/3435/celebrating-the-signing-of-our-royal-charter

The next meeting of the Court of the University will be held at 3p.m. on Friday 23 January 2015 in the Colyer-Fergusson Music Building on the Canterbury Campus.  Further details can be found here: http://www.kent.ac.uk/governance/court/2015/Agenda.html

The University has launched its 50th anniversary celebrations with ceremonies at its Canterbury and Medway campuses.

The ceremonies, which took place at Canterbury on 1 October and at Medway on 2 October, marked the beginning of a year-long programme of special projects and events across the institution, including at the University’s postgraduate centres in Brussels, Paris, Athens and Rome.

These include:

• Innovative projects designed to shape the University’s direction over the next 50 years;
• A series of inspiring lectures by University staff;
• Student led history projects to showcase the University’s first 50 years;
• A community open day at Canterbury in March 2015;
• A public debate about Europe, hosted by the University’s Chancellor, Gavin Esler;
• An alumni reunion weekend in September 2015.

The centrepiece of the celebrations is a 33m tall Ferris wheel at the Canterbury campus. Open from 24 September until 19 October, the ‘Kent Wheel’ will provide students, staff and visitors to the campus with a rare opportunity to view Canterbury and its surroundings from a bird’s eye point of view. The Kent Wheel will return to the campus again from 1 July to 15 October 2015. Further information on the Kent Wheel is available at http://www.kent.ac.uk/50/

By the end of its 50th year, the University aims to have raised £1 million for the Kent Opportunity Fund which supports students working through financial hardship, scholarships and extra-curricular activities.

For more information contact 50years@kent.ac.uk

Sir David Warren has been appointed as the new Chair of Council from 1 August 2014 until 31 July 2017.

Sir David Warren served as British Ambassador to Japan from 2008 to 2012. Following language training in Japanese, he was first appointed to Japan in the late 1970s. His career since then has included a term as Assistant Head of the Far East Department at the FCO and five years in Tokyo as Commercial Counsellor, 1993-1998. He has also served as Head of the FCO’s China Hong Kong Department and Director of UK Trade and Investment. He was Director of Human Resources at FCO before going to Tokyo as Ambassador. He is currently the Chair of The Japan Society of the UK.

On his first day Sir David said:

“It is a great honour to take over from John Simmonds today as Chair of the Council.   I am looking forward enormously to working with all of you in this role, and of course with Julia, her executive team, and the staff and students of the University.”