Alan Le Grys, an Associate Lecturer in SECL and an Associate Learning Advisor with SLAS, is running the Reading Half-Marathon on Sunday 18 March to raise as much money as possible for the Lawrence and Galton Cancer wards at Medway Hospital.

Alan and Linda Le Grys (CPP) tragically lost their son Peter to cancer in November, but want to thank the hospital staff for their compassion and kindness, as well as their professional skill.

The hope is to raise money to convert one of the side rooms on Lawrence Ward into a Relatives’ Room for families visiting gravely or terminally ill patients.

Please help us to make this happen by sponsoring Alan via the JustGiving page.

Image credit: Alan Le Grys

Why not join 80 other Kent colleagues already registered for this networking opportunity? There is still time to sign up (registration closes on 1 February 2018).

This Valentine’s Day, the Academic Division invites you to attend Kent’s first Strictly Professional Speed-Dating event. This will be a fun event on 14 February 2018 mirroring the well-known speed-dating format!

Sign-up if you would you like to meet colleagues across the University in an informal setting to understand their roles better, enhance collaborative working and build professional networks.

The event is open to all those working at Kent, whether based in schools or in central departments, either in an academic or a professional services capacity, and will take place in the Darwin Conference Suite (Canterbury) and Rochester Building (R2-09, Medway) between 11.00 – 12.00. followed by some additional networking time over a cup of tea/coffee and cake if you wish to stay back and meet yet more colleagues.

This event is part of the Kent Colleagues Connect scheme building on a number of very successful pilot projects run by the Academic Division over the last couple of years which brought together nearly 300 participants across 450 separate interactions. Kent Colleagues Connect will provide various opportunities throughout 2018 for informal meetings between colleagues across the University. The full calendar of events is available here.

Kent Colleagues Connect is the latest scheme from the Excellence Initiative, a professional development programme run by the Academic Division since 2012. The scheme is run with the support and participation of Commercial Services and the Learning & Organisational Development Office.

Please register here for the Speed-dating event before 1 February 2018.

If you have any questions, please contact us on kentcolleaguesconnect@kent.ac.uk

This week, The Street Kitchen is celebrating its 1st birthday. Help mark the occasion by accompanying them for some tasty street food – you might just bag yourself a freebie!

Each day this week, The Street Kitchen will be offering a FREE cookie with every main takeaway dish, courtesy of Vanilla & Muscovado who bake some exceedingly delicious homemade treats, right here on the University campus.

If you want to know what The Street Kitchen is rustling up this week, or what chef, Sam Ranger, had to say in a quick fire foodie quiz, follow the link to the Uni Kent Food blog.

For any enquiries, contact catering@kent.ac.uk

SMFA’s Fine Art Lecturer and artist Tim Meacham’s work Eye of the Needle is on show at the Hantverk & Found Gallery, Margate, from 3 February-18 March.

It is part of the offsite programme for Turner Contemporary’s major exhibition Journeys with ‘The Waste Land’, which explores the significance of T S Eliot’s poem The Waste Land through the visual arts.

Eye of the Needle, made with support from the University of Kent, explores TS Eliot’s relationship with the mechanical sound recording of the gramophone, making particular reference to its role in The Waste Land in providing the machine mediated sound track of modernity. The viewer accompanies the needle on its journey across the landscape of a gramophone record. The role of the needle is considered in first embedding sound, through creating the grooves of the record, and then as a “rider” travelling across the surface of the disc as it plays. 78-rpm records, made of shellac and slate dust, give something of themselves (dust) in order to release their sound, thus changing the landscape with each play.

Tim Meacham is an artist who works across media to explore space within the triangulated world of experience between seeing, hearing and touching. SMFA’s Partner and College Liaison Officer, he is currently undertaking a practice based PhD. For more information, see: www.timmeacham.space

Hantverk & Found is a celebrated seafood café and commissioning art gallery in the heart of Margate Old Town committed to supporting artists to make art, with a small gallery space to exhibit works by local and emerging artists. As well as providing support to artists, they frequently commission new work.

The Preview is Saturday 3 February, 18.00-20.00. Find out more at: http://www.hantverk-found.co.uk/

Are you a carer, or think you could be, would you like to talk to someone about your caring role? Then this new project is for you.

University of Kent and Carers FIRST recognise that gaining support for your caring role whilst studying can be difficult.

We are therefore offering you the opportunity to gain 1 -1 support in your caring role and share your experiences with other carers on campus.

Join us from 12.30 – 14.30 on:

• Wednesday 24 January
• Wednesday 21 February
• Wednesday 21 March

Room: R2- 05, Rochester Building

Carers FIRST Community staff will be on hand to chat to you about your caring role and offer what support they can.

We look forward to seeing you there.

For more information:

• Email medwaywellbeing@kent.ac.uk 
• Visit the Student Support webpages

Central Student Administration Office (CSAO) is seeking to recruit Invigilators for the 2018 examination period.

The task of CSAO and the invigilation team is to ensure that University examinations run as smoothly and efficiently as possible and in accordance with the University’s regulations on the Conduct of Examinations.

The main examination period runs from Tuesday 8 May 2018 to Friday 15 June 2018.

There are two examination sessions per day, Monday to Friday, and a morning session on Saturdays. There may also be sessions held on Saturday afternoons.

Invigilators are required to have good availability during this period.

No previous experience is required as training will be provided prior to starting.

Salary Scale: Grade 2 point 5 – £10.26 per hour

To apply, please see the University of Kent Jobs website.

Closing date for applications: Friday 23 February 2018 (or sooner, should sufficient applications be received).

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us: exams@kent.ac.uk

Exams Team
Central Student Administration 

The Learning and Teaching network have arranged a workshop for administrators who would like to improve the effectiveness and quality of their non-academic writing.

The workshop will take place on Wednesday 4 April 2018, 13.00-16.00, in the UELT Seminar Room, Canterbury.

The ability to write well is an indispensable skill that most people wish they could improve. This inspiring workshop will explore techniques you can use to become a more efficient and persuasive writer. Run by Susan Barker, a novelist with extensive experience as a writing facilitator, this half-day course will include many practical tips and fun activities to strengthen and energise your writing. Participants will complete a pre-workshop questionnaire so specific writing issues can be addressed.

As places are strictly limited, priority will be given to those who can attend for the whole course.

The session is free of charge to participants, but schools/departments are asked to provide a cost code. If a participant fails to attend or cancels without at least 2 working days’ notice, the code will be debited £60 for a half day programme. A charge will not be made in cases of illness or for other valid reasons.

To book a place please email us.