It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Professor Michael Sheringham, who died peacefully at home on Thursday 21 January 2016.

Michael (known to many as Micky) studied for undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at Kent between 1966 and 1973. He was Lecturer, Senior Lecturer and latterly Professor of French Literature at the University of Kent from 1974 to 1995, and Professor of French at Royal Holloway, University of London from 1995 to 2004, before his appointment to the Marshal Foch Chair of French Literature at the University of Oxford from 2004 until his recent retirement in 2015. He maintained close links with Kent even after he had been appointed elsewhere, returning, for example, as an invited speaker and as External Examiner for the undergraduate programme in French.

Michael Sheringham was one of the leading figures in French studies of his generation. He made a profound impact on the field of modern French literary and cultural study with works on French autobiography, everyday life, and a wide range of contributions on modern and contemporary poetry and prose fiction, Surrealism, and most recently on memory and the archive. He was also a hugely likeable person with a warm sense of humour.

Michael Sheringham’s funeral will take place in the chapel of All Souls College, on Friday 5 February 2016, beginning at 1.30pm. Our sincere condolences go to his family, friends and former colleagues.

The government has announced changes to National Insurance contributions from April 2016 as a direct consequence of changes to the State Pension.

These changes will affect all members of staff who are below State Pension Age and are members of USS or SAUL.

From 6 April 2016, members of these schemes will no longer receive the 1.4% National Insurance rebate and will pay a higher rate of National Insurance.

For more information on why this is happening and what difference this will make to your contributions, please see: http://www.kent.ac.uk/campusonline/news.html?view=4840

University staff are warmly invited to attend the next series of brief, informal lunchtime bitesize talks given by specialist staff from Student Services on ‘Understanding and Supporting Student Needs: Student Disability’.

Have you ever come into contact with a student with a particular need that you were unsure how to deal with such as a mental health issue, a physical disability, an autism spectrum disorder or dyslexia? Many of us feel we could increase our understanding of these areas and thankfully we have many trained experts amongst us who are willing to share what they know. Even if you deal regularly with these sorts of issues, it may be a useful refresher and we would welcome your input in sharing your experiences with other staff.

The sessions will take place from 13.15 to 13.55 on the dates listed below and will be video linked to Medway campus. Talks will start at 13.15.

Tuesday 9 February 2016
Autism Spectrum Conditions
Tom Sharp (Disability Team Manager)

Canterbury KS17
Medway M1-16

Tuesday 16 February 2016
Mental Health
Kate Pitchforth (Senior Wellbeing Advisor)

Canterbury KS17
Medway M1-16

Tuesday 23 February
Physical Difficulties and Disability Support for Home Students
Tom Sharp (Disability Team Manager)

Canterbury KS17
Medway M1-16

Room information KS17: http://www.kent.ac.uk/timetabling/rooms/room.html?room=KS17
Room information M1-16: https://www.kent.ac.uk/timetabling/rooms/room.html?room=M1-16

You are welcome to bring your lunch along and listen to a talk of 10-15 minutes which outlines the background to the issue, the types of support we can offer at Kent, and some tips for recognising and dealing sensitively and effectively with students who are experiencing these conditions. The rest of the hour will be left open for Q&A and discussion – so please bring along your questions and your examples of good practice to share with others.

Many thanks to all staff who responded to our survey on Campus Online. Among the key findings were:

• Campus Online is primarily accessed from desktop PCs and used mostly for staff notices and the Online Directory
• However, the majority of respondents feel that the current page lacks focus and that the most interesting content isn’t given the right prominence
• Staff notices update too quickly for the small space they’re in. They would also benefit from more images
• Upcoming events are unhelpful due to lack of curation/choosing what’s shown
• Kent Life features are nice to read but aren’t updated often enough
• Most respondents are in favour of the removal of the banner at the top of the page.

In response to these findings, we are making some short-term changes to the Campus Online layout, including:

• Making the staff notices section more prominent and, wherever possible, adding images
• Simplifying the Contents listing – to focus on staff notices, the Online Directory, with less prominent links to the News Centre and Events Calendar
• Removing the site banner
• Providing clearer guidelines on writing style, copy length and image format.

We are also investigating other potential longer-term changes to Campus Online and how we use it to interact with staff around the University. We would like to invite staff to help with this investigation by attending one of our focus groups on:

• Tuesday 16 February, 9.30-11am, or
• Tuesday 23 February, 9.30-11am

Please email us at communications@kent.ac.uk stating which date you would like to attend and we will then send out further information prior to each meeting. Note that places are limited and will be given on a first come, first served basis. Refreshments will be provided.

Wendy Raeside, Etienne Donzelot and Allie Burnett
Corporate Communications

On Wednesday 3 February it will be necessary to remove some bricks from outside the Eliot College Luggage Store. A breaker will be needed to carry out this work so this will incur some significant noise. The work will commence at 08.00 and is expected to last for approximately 10 minutes. This work has been arranged for 8am so it does not interfere with the academic/working day.

The work will be carried out by Concrete Corrosion Consultancy Practice (CCCP).

We apologise for any inconvenience caused, if you have any queries please contact the Estates Helpdesk on ext. 3209.