Since 2009 the University of Kent and Ghent University have enjoyed a strategic international relationship within the context of an inter-institutional cooperation agreement. This agreement has been the framework for partnership activities in staff and student exchange, Erasmus Mundus, co-supervision of research, joint research and the exchange of knowledge and best practice between staff in professional services.

In order to stimulate further Kent-Ghent cooperation, since 2013 the two universities have put out an annual call to staff to submit proposals for collaborative projects.

2017 call for projects
We are pleased to announce the call for 2017. This call aims to support joint Kent-Ghent projects by funding mobility between colleagues at the two institutions For example – short-term staff/student exchange, seminars, workshops, preparatory meetings to establish longer-term collaboration such as double degrees, joint research projects and other activities such as those funded through the Erasmus+ Key Actions.

Funding available: Maximum funding available per project: £1,000 or €1,150.

For more information including the selection criteria and application form, please visit our webpage.

During the month of July there will be various service disruptions across campus. Please see below for details.

Nickle Court
From Monday 10 July until Friday 14 July 2017, essential fire alarm testing will be carried out in Nickle Court.

Each test will last no longer than 2 minutes and will be silent testing under controlled conditions. All rooms will need to be accessed, as this testing is a legal requirement.

The testing will be carried out in-house by the Estates department fire alarm engineer.

Bossenden Court
From Wednesday 5 July until Friday 7 July 2017, essential fire alarm testing will be carried out in Bossenden Court.

Each test will last no longer than 2 minutes and will be silent testing under controlled conditions. All rooms will need to be accessed, as this testing is a legal requirement.

The testing will be carried out in-house by the Estates department fire alarm engineer.

Keynes College
From Sunday 9 July 2017 until Sunday 16 July 2017, essential maintenance works are due to take place in the plant areas of B and E block in Keynes College. For health and safety reasons, there will be no hot water in B and E Block whilst these works take place.

There will also be small generators running in the courtyard works but there should be no other noise disruptions for these works.

Eliot College
From Monday 10 July 2017 until Thursday 13 July 2017, essential maintenance works are due to take place within the below mentioned areas:

Monday 10 July – Tuesday 11 July: N2 Female WC Facilities will be closed.
Tuesday 11 July – Wednesday 12 July: N2 Male WC Facilities will be closed.
Wednesday 12 July – Thursday 13 July: E2 Female WC Facilities will be closed.

There will be some noise disruption whilst dismantling some of the boxing in and around the ductwork in these areas.

Becket Court
On Monday 10 July 2017 between 11.00 and 14.00, the annual emergency light test is due to take place.

The test will take approximately 3 hours and lighting levels will be reduced for the duration.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused by any of these service disruptions. Your patience in this matter is greatly appreciated. If there are any queries please contact the Estates Helpdesk on Ext 3209.

Kasia Senyszyn, Volunteer Management Officer in the Development Office, who also happens to be a Kent alumna, is directing a show at the Marlowe Theatre at the end of this month.

The play, entitled ‘Talk’, will be performed from Thursday 27 July to Saturday 29 July at 20.00. In a time blighted by NHS cuts to mental health care, Talk is at once a scathing rebuke of treatment of the mentally ill in the past, and a moving and thought-provoking story about how we inter-relate and connect with one another in the present.

As well as Kasia directing, Emma Reeder (an Assistant Lecturer in Drama in the School of Arts and also a Kent alumna), is playing one of the main roles, that of Emily Clayton, poet and inmate in Bethlem Asylum.

The story is a heart-breaking, funny and scarily relevant play about sharing the stories that define us.

After the show on the Friday 28 July, there will be a Q&A with the playwright, Mark Wilson, as well as the cast and directors.

Student Services are looking to recruit staff to the Sexual Assault Responder (SAR) teams in both Canterbury and Medway.

The role of the Sexual Assault Responder is to provide immediate support to victims of serious sexual assault or rape at the Canterbury and Medway campuses out of hours (between 17.00 and 9.00) and at weekends. Full training is provided, and SARs operate on a rota system. The role is to provide advice and guidance to victims of serious sexual assault or rape with regards to aftercare support procedures. The role is NOT a counselling role.

SARs receive a £100 remuneration for joining the team and completing the training, and receive £70 for the first hour of a call out, with time and a half for subsequent hours. Any transport costs are also reimbursed.

A Sexual Assault Responder must meet the following criteria:

• Be a University of Kent member of staff
• Be able to access the University of Kent Canterbury or Medway campuses within 45 minutes of receiving a phone call from Campus Security out of hours (considering the accessibility of a staff member’s usual mode of transportation when accessing the University)
• Attend a training session
• Have the permission of their line manager to register for the role of SAR.

For more information, to request a role description, or to express an interest in becoming a SAR, please contact Becky Lamyman in Student Services on R.S.Lamyman@kent.ac.uk.

More than 1200 staff enjoyed an al-fresco lunch last week thanks to the Vice-Chancellor and a spell of good weather.

Professor Dame Julia Goodfellow invited staff to join her for a lunchtime BBQ on Tuesday 4 July in Medway and Wednesday 5 July in Canterbury. The events provided the perfect opportunity for staff to come together and celebrate another busy and successful year.

The staff BBQs have become a regular annual event since the University’s 50^th anniversary in 2015, and have established themselves as a highlight of the year.

Yet again, the catering staff did everyone proud with amazing food, from the classic BBQ fare of sausages and burgers to tasty paellas, and ice creams all round for dessert.

A special thanks goes to Kent Hospitality and the Development Office for arranging such a well-organised and successful event.

On Monday 10 July 2017 until approximately Friday July 2017 between 8.00 and 16.30, the remedial works to the calorifier are due to take place. It is anticipated that the works will take approximately 1 week to complete (circa 14 July 2017).

The hot water system will be affected during this time.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and your patience in this matter is greatly appreciated. If there are any queries please contact the Estates Helpdesk on Extn 3209.

Wayne Nixon
Mechanical Team Leader

On Monday 10 July 2017 until approximately Friday 28 July between 8.00 and 16.30, a new boiler and hot water system is due to be upgraded in Olive Cottage. It is anticipated that the works will take approximately 3 weeks to complete (circa 28 July 2017).

The heating system and hot water systems will be affected during this time.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and your patience in this matter is greatly appreciated. If there are any queries please contact the Estates Helpdesk on Ext. 3209.

Wayne Nixon
Mechanical Team Leader​

A new book by Kent Law School lecturer Dr Asta Zokaityte presents an original contribution to the understanding of an under-researched area of financial education.

Financial Literacy Education: Edu-Regulating our Saving and Spending Habits introduces new conceptual frameworks offering academic audiences an innovative way of thinking about the project on financial literacy education.

What is the book about?
Using the concepts of ‘edu-regulation’ and ‘financial knowledge democratisation’ to analyse the financial education project in the UK, the book exposes serious, and often ignored, limitations to using information and education as tools for consumer protection. It challenges the mainstream representation of financial literacy education as a viable solution to consumer financial exclusion and poverty. Instead, it argues that the project on financial literacy education fails to acknowledge important dependences between consumer financial behaviour and the socio-economic, political, and cultural context within which consumers live.

Dr Asta Zokaityte
Dr Zokaityte teaches commercial law at Kent. Her research interests lie in the areas of financial services regulation, consumer protection, law and development, gender, and socio-legal studies. She has years of professional legal experience having worked as a lawyer in Lithuania, where she advised corporate clients across different fields of practice, including but not limited to: consumer credit, capital markets and securities law, corporate restructuring and insolvency. Dr Zokaityte has published her work in international journals.

Sent in by Andrea Shieber

Join your University colleagues between 08.00 – 09.00 at the Pavilion Café Bar for a free tea or coffee when you cycle to work on Wednesdays. Just complete the Doodle poll  to let us know you are coming.

While you’re there why not drop your bicycle in to Dr Bike at the Cycle Hub for a safety check before you head off to the office.

Further information about the Pavilion Café Bar is available on the website and follow @ThePavilionCafeBar on Facebook for updates. View the Canterbury campus map for directions.