In recognition of the quality and popularity of its short courses and study days, and as part of a wider plan to showcase the Medway campus to the local community, the Tonbridge Centre was asked to deliver Saturday lectures for the University of the Third Age (U3A) Medway group at the University’s Medway Campus.
 
The three-hour lectures were designed to appeal to U3A members and subjects covered included The Black Death, Tudor and Elizabethan Propaganda and Art History. They were a great success, inspiring the audience with both the subject and the enthusiasm and knowledge of the lecturers. 
 
Feedback from the enthusiastic audiences has provided suggestions for future lectures and study days in these and other subjects and the Tonbridge Centre staff are now planning the programme for 2017-18. 
 

  

About the event
On Tuesday 4 July, the Hub for Innovation and Enterprise collaborated with Enterprise Educators UK (EEUK) to hold an Enterprise Exchange event focusing upon ‘The European Perspective – Innovative approaches to delivering enterprise / entrepreneurship education’. The one-day conference took place on the University campus at Darwin Conference Suite and greeted guests from across Europe.

Guest speakers
Guest speakers included Jolien Coenraets from the University of Ghent, Dragos-Cristian Vasilescu from Vienna University of Technology in Austria, Dr Ben Graziano from Zurich University of Technology and Prof Andy Penaluna from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. Enterprise Relationship Manager Marcus Wright from the University of Kent, began the day after a welcome from both Deputy Vice Chancellor Philippe De Wilde and EEUK Co-host Kate Beresford.

Aim of the event
The aim of the event was to obtain a European perspective on enterprise and entrepreneurship education within universities, whilst comparing and contrasting different approaches to support entrepreneurs in universities and the local ecosystems. The latter part of the afternoon saw similarities and key issues across Europe and universities brought to life thanks to a question and answer session as well as round table discussions. Some of the themes highlighted were: the encouragement of societal change; development of creativity; and attitudes towards addressing motivation.

Encouraging societal change
Encouraging societal change domestically and globally through entrepreneurship was spearheaded by the University of Ghent but a theme fellow institutions have also taken away. Meanwhile, the need to develop creativity at a higher academic level, led to the discussion of introducing primary school age children to work alongside postgraduate students as suggested by Director of Innovation and Enterprise at Kent (KIE), Carole Barron.

Entrepreneurial qualities development
Whereas, the motivation behind why students want to develop entrepreneurial qualities and entrepreneurship appeared to be a re-occurring question amongst universities. Instead of assessing motivation, we need to change how we address, develop and encourage motivation amongst students, was the key message portrayed by Professor Andy Penaluna from UWTSD.

The day was a huge success and the Hub for Innovation and Enterprise at the University of Kent looks forward to the next event held in collaboration with EEUK.

Congratulations to Dr. Anne-Maria Brennan, a lecturer at the Centre for Professional Practice for being admitted a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Educators by the Master and Court of Assistants in a Declaration Ceremony held in the City of London.

An alumnus of the University of York, Imperial College and the University of Wales, she is currently Director of Education and Lecturer in Professional Practice at the Centre for Professional Practice at the University of Kent.

Anne-Maria’s field of research is public engagement with science, particularly the interface between science, technology, culture and the arts. Author of five books (one of which formed a plotline in The Archers), she is also an acknowledged expert on the ecology of golf courses and formulated the industry standard guidelines on their sustainable design and management. She is also a specialist in forensic biology, in particular the investigation of wildlife crime.

About the Worshipful Company of Educators
The Worshipful Company of Educators is the 109th Livery Company to be granted this status by the City of London. It provides a forum through meetings and social occasions to bring together members from all parts of the education world to discuss and exchange views on matters of topical interest. In pursuit of these aims, the company is inclusive in its membership and activities, transcending the traditional boundaries between the different sectors, and particularly between academe and business insofar as the latter concerns itself with education, training, and development.

The summer term always creates a challenge for the Recycling and Waste Team as we deal with the annual student departure. Adhering to the principles of the Waste Hierarchy, in which reuse is rated more highly than recycling, the team partners with the British Heart Foundation and FareShare to encourage students to pass on their unwanted clothing, bric-a-brac and food rather than throw it away. 

While the promotions are directed towards students, the Recycling and Waste Team is delighted to see staff join in so enthusiastically too. The results for the summer term 2017 are now in, and there was a huge increase of 78% in clothing donations and 83% in book donations, compared to the same period last year. That’s a staggering 5.5 tonnes more being reused for good causes.

Offsetting this improvement, the food bank donations sadly weren’t quite as positive, with a 25% drop from last year. Despite this reduction, we still achieved in excess of a quarter of a tonne of food, and our first donations came from staff members.

Finally, the Warp It furniture reuse programme are redistributing unwanted office furniture across and between Canterbury and Medway campuses and continues to go from strength to strength. It has seen a phenomenal 170% increase year-on-year. First introduced in January 2016, the scheme has now saved the University some £211,000. Not only that, but the Recycling and Waste Team is now linking up with local charities to pass on items which cannot be reused by the University. 

Thank you to all for your continued support in making our world just that little bit greener! 

  

LibrarySearch is upgrading to a new system at the end of July. Books and services in the Templeman Library are also moving. Find out how this affects you – from borrowing, fines and reservations, to finding books on the shelves. 

We’ll do our best to run a smooth service, but some items and services may be unavailable for a few days. If you can’t find what you’re looking for or need help, please contact the library service. 

The Footsteps Project was launched in 2014 as part of the University’s 50th anniversary celebrations.

Almost 800 alumni, students, staff and members of the wider community have already made a gift to the project and had a personal message engraved on a brick and set in the Crab & Winkle Path alongside the Templeman Library.

Their donations have helped build the Kent Opportunity Fund, which supports scholarships, hardship bursaries and student projects. To date, the Footsteps Project has raised over £50,000, allowing the Kent Opportunity to increase the number of bursaries available for students experiencing financial hardship, and to allow two full postgraduate scholarships – the Alumni Postgraduate Research Scholarship – to be awarded each year to talented Kent graduates pursuing research degrees.

Thank you to everyone who has taken part so far – not only are you leaving a lasting legacy on campus, but you are supporting the next generation of students to walk in your footsteps. If you would like to be part of the next ‘wave’ of bricks (due to be installed in September) the deadline to make your gift is Monday 31 July.

To find out more about the Footsteps Project, please visit www.kent.ac.uk/footsteps or email giving@kent.ac.uk.

KMTV, the county’s first dedicated television channel is now available on Freeview 7 and Virgin 159 or online at www.kmtv.co.uk

A unique partnership between the KM Media Group and the University, KMTV broadcasts from a purpose-built studio at the Medway campus.

Watch county-focused news, sport and entertainment around the clock. Programming also includes a live one-hour news roundup, ‘Kent Tonight’, every weekday evening at 17.30.

Once again the University is celebrating excellent teaching and learning support with the announcement of 2017 University Teaching Prizes. The winners are:

Barbara Morris Prize for Learning Support
Johanne Thompson (Kent Law School) 
Irena Jennings (Kent Business School) 
The Go Abroad Team: Emma Marku, Jan Lowe, Janet Wilson-Sharp; Francoise McKee; Brechje Klok-White; Hazel Lander; Sophie Baker; Sammy-Jo Foster 

Humanities Faculty Teaching Prize
Chloe Street Tarbatt (School of Architecture) 
Professor Murray Smith (School of Arts) 

Sciences Faculty Teaching Prize
Professor Sally Fincher, Dr Colin Johnson, and Ian Utting (School of Computing)
Dr Dan Lloyd, Dr Tobias von der Haar, and Professor Martin Michaelis (School of Biosciences) 

Social Sciences Faculty Teaching Prize
Dr Stefan Rossbach (School of Politics and International Relations) 
Dr Anna Brown (School of Psychology) 

You can find further details of the awards at: https://www.kent.ac.uk/teaching/reward/index.html 

The prizes will be presented by the Vice-Chancellor at a lunchtime ceremony on
Wednesday 4 October 2017, from 12.30-14.00 in Darwin Conference Suite.

All colleagues are welcome. Please email cpdbookings@kent.ac.uk if you wish to attend.

Applications are now open for Aurora 2017/18, a leadership development programme for females in higher education.

The University is proud to announce its continuing participation in the Aurora programme, a Leadership Foundation for Higher Education (LFHE) sector-wide development programme for women in higher education.

The Aurora programme aims to enable a wider range of women to think of themselves as future leaders, to develop the skills they will need, and to help their institutions to maximise the use of the skills they acquire. Aurora is for female staff in academic (up to Senior Lecturer level), and professional services (grades 7+) roles who would like to develop and explore issues relating to leadership roles and responsibilities.

This initiative is a response to the LFHE research which shows there are fewer women in the most senior positions in higher education than ten years ago and identifies features that could be addressed to change this. Many influential stakeholders including vice-chancellors, Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and the Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) have agreed the situation calls for action and the feedback from the sector has supported encouraging more women to plan and prepare better for leadership roles at an early point in their careers.

Female staff are invited to apply by emailing the Learning and Development Team ldev@kent.ac.uk

The closing date for applications is Wednesday 2nd August 2017.

If you have any further queries at this stage please contact Jena Dady, Learning and Organisational Development Adviser J.Dady@Kent.ac.uk

This Saturday (15 July) Gulbenkian will host Uprising, a one-day festival event focussing on the biggest challenges young people are currently facing, including mental health and wellbeing, employment and education. The event has been planned and delivered by the ART31 Youth Board, a Kent wide group based at Gulbenkian.

Audience members will come together with young people, creative industry professionals and artists to challenge ideas and ignite change in the arts, through panel discussions, Q&As and workshops.

Panel speakers include Darren Henley (Chief Executive, Arts Council England), writer and poet Dean Atta, MC and rapper Envy, ex-Anonymous hacker Jake Davis and more, alongside young people and members of the ART31 Youth Board.

Alongside the discussion, there are animation, music, rap and dance workshops, with artists such as Matthew Bourne, New Adventures & Re:Bourne. Throughout the day there’ll be spoken word, music, dance and theatre performances, including an Acrojou double-bill, All At Sea and its brand-new sequel, Vessel. 

The evening will also feature the ART31 Awards ceremony, where young people will be presented with awards of £500, recognising their achievements in the arts. 

ART31 is a movement, empowering 13-25 year olds across Kent and giving them access to artistic opportunities as well as teaching them creative skills. The ART31 Youth Board is made up of young people from locations all over Kent, who have organised UPrising. The event will also involve ART31’s technical theatre and film strands, TECH31 and SCREEN31, ensuring that the event is run by young people from start to finish.

UPrising will be at Gulbenkian on Saturday 15 July. For more information and tickets please visit www.art31.co.uk or call the Gulbenkian Tickets and Info team on 01227 769075.