Monthly Archives: December 2016

KBS Annexe and KBS Main Building

On Thursday 15 December 2016, the Sibson Building fire panel will be added to the University’s fire alarm network, and there may be interruptions to the fire alarm network.  If during this time the fire alarm system is activated, all staff and students are requested to carry out the normal fire evacuation routine. It is requested that Fire Marshalls contact Campus Security during this time.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. If there are any queries please contact the Estates Helpdesk on Extn 3209.

Estates Department – Disruptions to services on Friday 16 December

In order to allow staff from the Estates Department to enjoy their Christmas lunch on Friday 16 December, please be advised of the following disruptions to service on that day:

  • The University switchboard will be not be staffed from 11.30. Any callers contacting the main University number, who know the extension they wish to be put through to will be informed how to do this, and callers will be advised to contact Campus Security in the event of an emergency. Normal service will resume at 08.30 on Monday 19 December.
  • The Estates Helpdesk will also be closed from 11.30 until 08.00 on Monday 19 December. Authorised intranet users will still be permitted to report defects via Web Central; however, all emergencies should be sent to Campus Security on extension 3300.
  • Postal Services will not be delivering or collecting mail after 11.00. Timings will be brought forward for the departments that normally have their first or only delivery/collection after this time. The Post Room will be closed between 11.00 and 15.00 and the Postal Counter service for personal mail will not be open on this day. If mail volumes are not excessive, outgoing items collected before 11.00 should still be processed on the same day. Urgent items of business mail may be hand delivered to the Post Room between 15.00-15.30 on 16 December, where they will be processed in order of priority.

The Design & Print Centre will remain open as usual until 16.30.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused. The Estates Department would like to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

Sarah Cooke
Head of Departmental Administration & Telecoms

Registry – Noise disruption

On Wednesday 14 December 2016, the refurbishment of G17 will commence and there will possible intermittent noise disruption. The refurbishment is expected to be completed by the 4 January 2017.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. If there are any queries please contact the Estates Helpdesk on Extn 3209.

Call for papers: Law in Times of Crisis

A call for papers has been issued by Kent Critical Law Society (KCLS) in advance of its annual Critical Law Conference on 18/19 March 2017: ‘Law in Times of Crisis.’

Papers are welcomed from academic staff, undergraduate students and postgraduate students and contributors are asked to submit an abstract of no more than 250 words and a biography of no more than 50 words to conferencekclsoc@kent.ac.uk by Tuesday 31 January 2017.

In their Call for Papers, the Society says: ‘In recent years, states have faced increasing challenges to economic and political stability, social cohesion, environmental sustainability, cultural diversity and human welfare. Law has played a crucial role in framing, facilitating and implementing diverse and multiple responses to these contemporary problems. We believe that it is not only interesting but also necessary to study the broader context within which these legal responses emerge. We also want to critically explore their wider impact on states, communities, and citizens. We are particularly interested in papers of an interdisciplinary nature that offer fresh contributions towards the exploration of these complex and contentious issues. We therefore encourage undergraduate and graduate students to submit their proposals on a range of methodological and theoretical approaches to law.’

A detailed list of the topics sought within the categories of: political crises; social crises; humanitarian crises; and economic crises are available to view in the Call for Papers document. Informal enquiries can be emailed to presidentkclsoc@kent.ac.uk

A limited amount of funding is available for invited speakers outside of the University of Kent who may apply for a cover of travel and accommodation expenses. For more information, email: conferencekclsoc@kent.ac.uk

KCLS is a student-led critical lawyers’ group, providing a forum for the debate of critical legal issues. The society’s annual conference will be held in Woolf College.

Jennison Building – Fire alarm testing

On Monday 12 December until Thursday 15 December 2016, essential fire alarm testing will be carried out in the Jennsion Building. The testing will last no longer than 2 minutes and will be silent testing under controlled conditions. All rooms will need to be accessed as this is a legal requirement.

Due to the importance of this work your assistance is appreciated. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and if there are any queries please contact the Estates Helpdesk on Extn 3209.

Keynes College – Replacement of flooring

Between Monday 19 December and Wednesday 21 December, the flooring is being replaced in Keynes College from the rear doors to the bottom of the slope past the laundry room. During this time there will be no access into the building from the rear doors, K bar doors, K block and from the inside door from E block.

This work is being undertaken by Kent Hospitality.  If there are any queries please contact Chris Scrutton the Assistant Housekeeping Manager on Extn 16456.

Consistent Excellence in Customer Service Award

Kent Hospitality is proud to announce that our Consistent Excellence in Customer Service Award winner for 2016 is Joanna Atherton.

We would like to take the opportunity to share with you why she has received this award:

“Jo has for three years had a student living in the accommodation where she works, who has severe sight impairment.  She has built up an excellent rapport with him and just very simple things like ensuring everything is put back in the right place in his room and in the kitchen plays a significant part in him being able to live independently with ease.  When Jo is on leave she will always highlight to a colleague the specific needs of this student and her excellent attendance record ensures that continuity of service is achieved.

“She is also one of the 25 strong team who actively participate in the annual fire drills and her customer service excellence was also noted by another manager during one of these drills.

“When the alarm was activated she went directly to the student with the visual impairment and assisted him out of the building and to the assembly point before carrying out the room checks in her assigned area.  This is something she did without being asked as she has the understanding of how frightening and disorientating this situation can be for someone with loss of sight.

“I believe the enthusiasm shown in delivering high standards is truly representative of many of our front line staff.  But this team member deserves to be recognised for this award because she also gave up 22 of her 27 days leave during the conference period to support her colleagues in delivering a high standard of cleanliness to our bed and breakfast guests and as such contributed to achieving the rating of 4/5 on trip advisor, booking.com etc.  Her cleaning standards during term time were monitored on 13 separate occasions and she achieved a score averaging 99% which shows she consistently exceeds our expectations and delivers to the highest level all year.

“Jo is someone who can be relied upon to provide support to guests, her colleagues and the management team whenever needed and nothing is ever too much trouble. Her happy disposition is warm and welcoming and she can naturally brighten anyone’s day and I feel totally justified in nominating her.”

Kent Hospitality and Gulbenkian Annual Awards Ceremony

A big congratulations to all Kent Hospitality and Gulbenkian staff that received awards at this year’s Annual Awards Ceremony.

Over 130 staff were recognised on Thursday 8 December for having achieved nationally accredited qualifications in the last year. The event really celebrated our passion to learn and develop, pride in what Kent Hospitality and Gulbenkian achieve and our professionalism.

The touching event also gave us the opportunity to announce our CECS Award winner, Joanna Atherton.

Sarah Turner talks about Public House on BBC R4 on New Year’s Eve!

First broadcast on 20 November, A Vision on Peckham Rye, in which Sarah Turner, Director of Research in the School of Music and Fine Art, talks about recreating Blake’s ‘Vision of Angels’ for her Grierson award nominated film Public House, will be repeated on BBC Radio 4 on New Year’s Eve, a prime slot. The programme also features Dulwich Folk Choir performing music composed for the film by SMFA’s Director of Marketing and Recruitment and Music Lecturer, composer Duncan MacLeod.

The broadcast is available on i-player here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b082wwlm
More info on Public House here https://www.kent.ac.uk/smfa/news.html?view=2154.

Employability Festival 2016 Prize winners

A group of Kent undergraduate and postgraduate students won the opportunity to visit Parliament, meet Senior Civil Servants and observe parliamentary business this week. All part of EmpFest16.

The students all applied for the opportunity through the Careers and Employability Service who are working closely with the Civil Service Fast Stream to help boost applications from Kent students and graduates. This year has seen a significant increase in the UK Civil Service’s presence at Kent and has resulted in more than 600 students applying to join the Civil Service from Kent.

A Senior Whitehall Civil Servant encouraged Kent students ‘to persevere with their applications, as too many students give up early in the application process, often because the process is unfamiliar.’ There was an interesting conversation about the need for greater diversity in the organisation at the heart of British Government with the Senior Civil Servant stating ‘candidates should not exclude themselves based on a characteristic. We need people from all walks of life to work here.’

To get support with applications for graduate roles or internships, go online to www.kent.ac.uk/ces or pop into the Careers and Employability Service. We have term time daily drop-ins, Monday to Friday 10.30-12.30 and 14.00-16.00 at Canterbury and 14.00-15.00 at Medway.