Monthly Archives: November 2014

Julia Twigg to give Stockholm Jubilee Lecture

Julia Twigg, Professor of Social Policy and Sociology, has been invited to speak at the 50th anniversary of the Faculty of Social Science at the University of Stockholm on Wednesday (26 November 2014).

Professor Twigg’s lecture on ‘Clothing, Embodiment and the Cultural Turn’ will be part of a day of speeches, followed by a forma; dinner to mark the Faculty’s Jubilee.

The distinguished Faculty has been home to many notable academics, including Nobel laureate Gunnar Myrdal, and Professor Twigg said she was ‘honoured’ to have been invited to speak.

Interruption to telephone voice system – 27 November

The University voice mail system is due to be upgraded on Thursday 27 November at 5.30pm. 
The voice mail will be unavailable for approximately three hours from 5.30pm.  Should you experience any problems with your voice mail account on Friday morning, please email the Telephone Exchange at telexchange@kent.ac.uk
 
Following the upgrade, the voice mail facility will be available to users with either 4 or 5 digit extension numbers.
 
We apologise for any inconvenience caused during this time.
 
Sarah Cooke
Telecoms & Administration Manager

Green Impact is go!

It’s the last year that Green Impact is running at Kent and we want 50 teams to sign up.

We need your support to make this year bigger and better than ever.

Get together with your corridor, office or department to take part in exciting environmental enterprises, have a bit of friendly competition with your colleagues and get rewarded for your achievements.

New for this year

If you’ve had a team in the past, you can ‘migrate’ your workbook so you don’t have to do everything again. There are also no compulsory criteria, so you can pick and choose what you want to do. This way, you can focus on the fun stuff rather than just ‘ticking boxes’. You can also nominate an individual or your entire team for an Environmental Champion of Champions Award which will be awarded at our awards ceremony at the end of the year.

If you haven’t already signed up a team, please email Green Impact or Laura to arrange a short meeting and receive your USB Starter Pack, which contains loads of useful resources and guides to get you started.

If you’d like more information then get in touch with Laura and she’ll be happy to help.

Templeman Library open 24/7

In response to student feedback we are pleased to provide 24/7 opening of the Templeman Library from Monday 24 November until the end of this term.

24/7 opening will then start again on 18 January right through until the end of the summer term. That means the Library won’t close at all for over 5 months!

See the full opening hours.

You’ll need your card!
Between 9pm and 8am you can access the Library only by scanning or showing your KentOne card. So make sure you take it with you if you pop out.

To put it simply: no card, no access from 9pm-8am.

What service you can expect
Between 9pm and 9am the Library will be self-service.

If you need assistance with any services, do ask the staff on duty. They’ll help you as far as they can, but may have to refer some queries to day time staff.

The main role of the duty staff is to monitor the study environment. Let them know if there are any issues by emailing library-report@kent.ac.uk.

Look after yourself
Just because we’re open 24 hours doesn’t mean you should always work through the night. Make sure you take regular breaks and don’t burn the candle at both ends!

Getting home
If you live on campus, staff from Campus Watch can walk you home. Phone 01227 82 3300 to book.

If you live in Canterbury, the ‘nite’ Unibus runs until the early hours, Monday-Saturday during term time. Download the timetable.

Image of students filling boxes

Christmas Shoebox Appeal

An amazing total of 49 shoeboxes, decorated and packed with Christmas presents, were donated to Smile International to be sent to disadvantaged children.

Over the first two weeks of November 41 Kent Union Student volunteers decorated shoeboxes and they were filled with gifts thanks to student groups, individual students and Kent Union staff donating gifts.

Smile International is one of Kent Union’s 50 charities to support as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations.

Wear Red for Ruby on 1 Dec

You may be aware that the University of Greenwich is holding a charity fundraising day on Monday 1 December at the Medway campus Blake Building in support of the Wear Red for Ruby campaign.

The main theme of the day is for everybody to wear something red. It would be a good idea if University of Kent staff could also get involved too.

However, we also need your help. One of the highlights of the fundraiser will be wet sponge throwing. We’d like to give our students the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to throw wet sponges at staff for a nominal charge.

If you would like to volunteer your services for this wonderful and very worthwhile cause – could you let us know. If you have any other ideas for fun activities please contact us:

We are raising as much money for Ruby Laura Young, a 2 year old girl from Rainham, Kent who has been diagnosed with an aggressive childhood cancer called Neuroblastoma.

She is currently receiving treatment but there is an 80% risk of relapse. If she relapses, there are no further treatment options in the UK. The Neuroblastoma Children’s Cancer Alliance UK (NCCA) are helping Ruby’s family and other families to raise vital funds to pay for further treatment in the United States for children with Neuroblastoma.

To read more about Ruby, please visit her JustGiving page.

History of donations at Kent – tell us what you know!

As part of the University’s 50th anniversary celebrations, the Centre for Philanthropy has been researching the history of donations to our University since it was founded in 1965.

We are looking for any accounts of philanthropic acts or donations within your department, either to or from the University. If you know of any examples, then it would be great to hear from you.

These could be:

  • cash donations
  • equipment
  • trees/benches/statues (anything that changes the University landscape)
  • books
  • working with charities off-campus

The findings will be published in a Beacon Project-funded book provisionally entitled ‘Kent: The Philanthropy Story’, to be launched at the ‘Understanding Philanthropy’ conference on the Canterbury campus, 29-30 June 2015.

Please contact Dr. Triona Fitton, with any suggestions, examples, stories and accounts of gifts, volunteering or donations (no matter how big or small) that you know of, that may not have been widely documented and that you think deserve a place in the history of philanthropy at the University of Kent.

We would be glad to give you a free copy of the book and/or an invitation to the conference in return.

Dean for Internationalisation vacancy

There is an exciting opportunity to apply for the role of Dean for Internationalisation on a five-year renewable contract.

The Dean for Internationalisation will oversee the development, implementation and review of our international activity across the University. Reporting to the Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor, the post-holder will work closely with all members of the Executive Group, the Faculty and Graduate School Deans, as well as the Dean for Europe, the Centre for Europe and World Languages (CEWL), and the Academic Division.

The Dean will be a member of Senate and Managers’ Forum. He/she will be an ex officio member of the Faculty Boards and work closely with Faculty Internationalisation Leads.

The vacancy is open to internal applicants only and the closing date is 11 December 2014.

Further information is available on the Jobs webpages.

How could technology improve your neighbourhood?

The Innovation Day, on Saturday 29 November, is a culmination of the ‘Embrace Your Space’ challenge,  run by the Kent Connects partnership and co-sponsored by the University of Kent. The challenge has already caught the imagination of local people and University students, who have posted over 100 ideas onto the Transformed by You website.

During the Innovation Day at Woolf College from 9.30am to 4.30pm, everyone interested in the challenge is invited to come together and bring their ideas to life.  All ideas will be presented to a panel of judges and an overall winner will be announced at the event. The winner will be given the support they need to develop and launch their idea.

Entry to the day is free and lunch and refreshments will be provided. People can sign up  now at http://bit.ly/transformedbyu.

Professor Simon Thompson, from the School of Computing, explained: ‘We have chosen to sponsor Embrace your Space in the School of Computing for three reasons. Firstly, we are pleased to make a contribution to the wider Canterbury and Kent community by supporting technology-based innovations that are set to enhance people’s experience of public spaces. Secondly, our first year students in computer science are benefiting from the competition by working on projects alongside the formal competition. Finally, this is part of a wider collaboration with public sector IT organisations under which our students take sandwich placements and staff deliver ‘masterclasses’ to members of the Kent Connects partnership.’

For further information, contact Orla Garratt.

Managing your time

As we approach the end of term we know that assessment deadlines are looming for many of you. So here are some time management tips from the Student Learning Advisory Service:

  • Get organised
    Get yourself a term planner or student diary and get into the habit of writing every commitment down, with times, locations and contact details. These should include university related commitments like deadlines, exam dates and study groups as well as medical appointments, work shifts and social engagements. Make sure that you carry it with you and keep it up to date. Even though your mobile may be able to hold all this, it may be a good idea – to get an overview of your workload – to use a wall planner anyway (free wall planners are available at the Student Learning Advisory Service).
  • Prioritise
    With so much to do, you will need to prioritise some tasks or commitments over others. It may be a good idea to spend a few minutes each Sunday sorting through the tasks for the week ahead. Group tasks into ‘needs to be done within 48 hours’, ‘needs to be done this week’, ‘longer term tasks’. Revise your lists daily and cross completed task off and add new ones.
  • Develop a work routine
    What works best for you in terms of time management? Does your head work better in the morning? Or late a night? Try to use your productive time for more demanding study related tasks and the less productive time for mundane tasks such as sorting, tidying or doing housework. Are there any tasks – such as shopping, looking after the kids – that can be shared or delegated?
  • Use time productively
    Try to make good use of the ‘in between’ times, eg travelling or waiting times. Carry some material around with you and use this time to go over notes or read. During gaps between lectures, use the time to check out or return books at the library or even to do some research.
  • Break tasks down
    When working on assignments it might help to break them down into manageable chunks and work on one of these at a time. Use the online Assignment Survival Kit to plan and complete your assignments.
  • Ask for help
    There is a lot of help available at the University. If you can’t locate sources in the library, ask the library assistants or the relevant subject librarian. If you can’t get to grips with an assignment ask the seminar leader or consult the Student Learning Advisory Service. If you are feeling very stressed about your studies, you might want to visit the Counselling Service in Keynes College or Gillingham Building in Medway. Should you feel unwell, have problems sleeping or eating properly, drop in at the University Nursing Service (Keynes EG3 ext: 3503) or visit the Medical Centre or contact your own doctor. If there is a problem, ask for help and it can be sorted out. If something is seriously affecting your studies, let your tutor know as soon as possible. Do not miss deadlines without telling your school what is wrong.
  • Take a break, enjoy yourself
    Make sure that you take enough breaks and plan in leisure time. Studying all day non-stop is rarely productive. Study in short blocks of time with brief breaks, then review what you have studied before moving on. Try to do some sort of regular physical exercise, even if it is only a 15-minute walk around campus. This gives your brain a chance to relax and get energised again. Plan in some regular study free time.
  • Keep a record and keep it tidy
    When researching and reading material for your assignments, keep a record of the sources that you have used. Make sure you have enough details to write up the full reference. Once you have taken the books back to the library or moved on online it may be very time consuming to retrieve the relevant bibliographical details (eg name, date, title, edition, volume, page number, publisher etc). Also, try to keep your notes in one place (have a folder for each module) and label them with a heading, keywords, the date and, of course, the source. Add new material or comment on your notes throughout the term. When it comes to exam preparation, revision planning will seem less daunting.
  • Learn to say NO
    Get those around you – family, friends and colleagues – to take you seriously as a student. You have the right to study and to have that respected. Learn to be assertive when people want to make you do things that interfere with your study time. Even those students who pretend to ‘only party’ will have to study sometimes if they want to pass and do well. As a full-time student you are expected to put in about 40 hours of work per week. So, learn to say NO to time stealers and learn to restrict time wasting activities (such as TV, facebook etc).
  • Plan ahead
    It might be a good idea to think about what else you could get out of your time at university. Personal development planning (PDP) helps you to take charge of your learning, recognise your strengths and weaknesses and plan for your short term and long term future. To find out more and to produce your very own e-portfolio.