Congratulations to the University of Kent Rowing Club who won the selfie treasure hunt with a grand total of 68 people in their selfies on Saturday 17 March. Meeting in the Pavilion Cafe Bar, the Sports Development team gave clubs their treasure hunt target destinations across Kent Sport facilities from which point the race was on.

We can see from the fantastic UKCrowing pictures on Instagram that the rowing club had a good time. They reached quite a few destinations including a college noticeboard with a poster of Kent Sport events and activities, the front of the Sports Centre, the Sports Centre balcony overlooking the Main Hall, The Cycle Hub, the Indoor Tennis Centre and of course the Pavilion Cafe Bar. We were particularly impressed with the human bikes in front of the Cycle Hub – the Rowing Club don’t just take any old selfie!

For their efforts the Rowing Club have won the £200 prize money towards their club. To cash in on their prize all they have to do now is email the Sports Development team sportsdevelopment@kent.ac.uk. Follow UniKentSports on Facebook to be sure to hear about other competitions and opportunities in future.

Join the eggs-travaganza and be in with a chance of winning one of over 100 prizes!

From 27-31 March there will be 100 eggs to be found, and over 100 prizes to be won!

To join the eggs-travaganza, and be in with a chance to win cracking prizes, you need to find the eggs that Kent Bunny has hidden across the Canterbury and Medway campuses, as well as at the University’s centres in Paris and Brussels. He has also hidden 15 ‘onscreen’ – take a selfie in front of them and submit to Twitter, Instagram or post to this Facebook event using #KentBunny.

Prizes up for grabs include: Amazon vouchers, sports massages at Kent Sport, Gulbenkian tickets, meals out on campus, In Conversation tickets, a branded varsity jacket, University of Kent Monopoly sets and much more….and lots of chocolate eggs of course!

At the end of the week, everyone who has found an egg will then be entered into the grand prize draw for the chance to win a camera or an iPad mini.

The competition is open to all University of Kent staff, students and alumni.

Follow the clues each day which will be posted here and on Twitter @unikentevents.

#KentBunny

The Year in Arts 2017 start application is open to all stage 2 students. You will take this year after your second year and before your third year.

Modules that may be on offer to you during your Year in Arts include:

• Screenwriting
• Images of War and Violence
• Media and Performance
• Beauty in Theory, Culture & Contemporary Art
• Art and Film
• Film Criticism
• Digital Domains
• Animated Worlds
• Television Series

By studying a Year in Arts you will:

• Learn skills suitable for a career in arts, media and the creative industries.
• Apply an arts subject to your primary area of study.
• Gain arts knowledge and skills that will be of lasting value in a field that is constantly changing.
• Develop an understanding of the history, theory and practice of film, drama, arts and/or media that can be applied in your future employment or further study.
• Develop general critical, analytical, creative and problem-solving skills that can be applied in a wide range of different work and life environments.

If you are interested, then make sure you apply by Saturday 1 April 2017.

If you would like more information then please do feel free to email us.

Please note that the Year in Arts will only be available to students who achieve 60% (merit) or above in their years prior to entering the Year in Arts.

After 18 weeks of exciting competition, the Intercollege Football League (ICFL) season has come to an end. This year’s competition was dominated by two teams: Rutherford Raiders and Medway Mavericks, who kept each other at one game’s distance for most of the season. The results were so close that the winners could only be decided during the final round on 22 to 23 March 2017. Raiders having just one point advantage had to win in order to be certain of becoming the champions.

On Wednesday 22 March, Raiders lined up against Darwin Evolution. An overwhelming win 8-1 crowned them the victors of the League and diminished the relevance of an impressive 8-2 win by Medway Mavericks against Turing FC the following day. Raiders take the title with 46 points and 15 wins, 1 point ahead of the Mavericks.

Raiders, Mavericks and the rest of ICFL teams will now progress into the group stages of the cup competition, which starts on Wednesday 10 May. If you wish to join an Inter College Football team for the cup competition email sportsdevelopment@kent.ac.uk who will put you in contact with the relevant captain. The transfer window is open from now until Friday 5 May.

The Spring Elections for the 2017/2018 Student Reps have begun, and nominations are now open! Have you got ideas for changes you want to make on your course? Do you think you’ve got great leadership skills? Do you think you could represent the voices of students on your course to improve the academic experience?

Each year, our members elect the students that they want to see represent them on their course and in their school. Our student reps act as the link between students, the Union and the University, to ensure that the academic changes that happen are in your best interests and come directly from students. The hours you log as a Student Rep count towards your KSCV award, and give you great employability skills for after you graduate. You might have seen them doing some of this work during your time here at Kent; now is the chance to become one of them! If elected, you will receive a full programme of training to prepare you for your role (as well as a free Student Rep hoodie!) You can find out more information about the role by reading the nominations pack, role descriptions and school specific information on our student rep resources page. Got any questions? Just e-mail us at representation@kent.ac.uk and we’ll be happy to help.

Being a Student Rep is open to all years of study- both undergraduate and postgraduate!

If you think you’re the person to make the academic changes students want to see next year, nominate yourself now!

We’re looking for volunteers to tell us what they think about staff communications at Kent!

Focus groups will be taking place next month (April) at our Canterbury and Medway campuses to seek your views on internal communications – what do you currently send out and receive, and what changes would you like to see?

The research is being carried out as part of the Simplifying Kent Internal Communications Project, which is being managed by Wendy Raeside in Corporate Communications.

The Project is one of nine set up by the Simplifying Kent programme board in response to findings by the Kent Service Delivery Diagnostic review completed last year. That review found that while we devote a lot of time to internal communication, many staff are dissatisfied with the volume of information they receive, particularly via email.

The first phase of the Internal Communications Project will review current staff communications at Kent, explore best practice across the HE sector and beyond, and then come up with recommendations on how we could improve what we’re doing here.

We’d love to hear what you think – please join us if you can at one of the following focus groups:

• Tuesday 11 April, 10.30-12.00 – Senate Committee Room 2, Canterbury campus
• Tuesday 11 April, 14.00-15.30 – Senate Committee Room 2, Canterbury campus
• Wednesday 12 April, 10.30-12.00 – Rochester Board Room, Medway campus

The focus sessions should last no more than 1.5 hours and will include refreshments – tea, coffee and cakes!

Email us at Communications@kent.ac.uk asap – by 31 March latest – if you’re able to join us. Please confirm which of the three focus groups you’d prefer to attend.

Further information about the Internal Communications Project and the other Simplifying Kent projects, on SharePoint.

We look forward to seeing you soon.

Wendy Raeside and Etienne Donzelot
Corporate Communications