Monthly Archives: September 2018

FREE Language Taster Sessions in Arabic, Japanese, Mandarin and Russian

Are you interested in learning a language? Come along to our FREE taster sessions in room CHSR2 and CHSR3 in the Chipperfield Building. Choose from either Arabic, Japanese, Mandarin or Russian.

 The sessions are open to all students and will provide you with a short introduction to the basics of each language.

 We will be offering taster sessions at the following times on Thursday 20 September and Friday 21 September:

 Arabic: 12:00-13:00

 Mandarin: 13:00-14:00

Japanese: 14:00-15:00

 Russian: 15:00-16:00

 Book your place via the Workshops page in SDS or contact us at languageexpress@kent.ac.uk

FREE British Sign Language taster session

Come along to our FREE taster sessions in British Sign Language on Thursday 20 or Friday 21 September in room GS8.

 The sessions are open to both staff and students and will provide you with a short introduction to the basics of British Sign Language.

 We will be offering 4 sessions at the following times:

 Thursday 20 September 12:00-13:00

Thursday 20 September 14:00-15:00

Friday 21 September 12:00-13:00

 Friday 21 September 14:00-15:00

 Book your place here https://kent.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/british-sign-language-taster-sessions

 

Players offer staff a dramatic break

The University of Kent Players are holding a read-through and open auditions for their next production, a radio play of Scarlet Pimpernel. 

The play will be performed to a live audience by the University of Kent Players at Mungo’s, Eliot College, Canterbury campus, on Friday 30 November and Saturday 1 December 2018.

The University of Kent Players will be holding a friendly script read-through and get together at 17.30 on Tuesday 25 September  in Cornwallis South Room S33. This will be an opportunity for people to have fun, mingle and sit together reading through the script aloud. Please note that no casting decisions will be made from the read through.

Auditions will be held at 12:00 on Tuesday 2 October (Rutherford Cloisters room 15) (you don’t have to attend all two hours) and 17.30 on Thursday 4 October (in Templeman Library, Room D G 01).

The friendly group welcomes anyone regardless of experience and also welcome anyone who would like to assist backstage or with foley (sound effects). Please feel free to just turn up to auditions or contact the group (players@kent.ac.uk)

University of Kent Players:

The University of Kent Players are an amateur theatre group, consisting of staff from the University of Kent, Canterbury, raising money for charity on each production. They perform two productions per year at the Gulbenkian Theatre, Canterbury the most recent, a successful adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility.

Use your KentOne card to register at lectures

From the start of the 2018/19 academic year, we are trialling the use of KentOne card scanners to register your attendance at some of our larger lecture theatres on the Canterbury Campus. Watch the video to find out more.

Is my school part of the trial?

If you belong to one of the following schools you will be able to scan your card to register your attendance at certain lectures:

– School of Mathematics, Statistics and Actuarial Science

– Kent Business School

– Kent Law School

– School of Computing

– School of Economics

– School of Physical Sciences

– School of Psychology

Which lecture theatres are part of the trial?

– Woolf Lecture Theatre (W-LT)

– Rutherford Lecture Theatre 1 (RLT1)

– Marlowe Lecture Theatre 1 (MarLT1)

–  Keynes Lecture Theatre 1 (KLT1)

– Cornwallis Lecture Theatre 2 (COLT2)

– Woolf seminar rooms 1-6 (W1 – SR 1 to SR 6)

We are only trialling the card scanners in larger lecture theatres initially to check the system works effectively.

What are the benefits?

This new system will do away with paper registers and improve attendance monitoring. This will not only save time and costs but improve reliability and the overall student experience.

Feedback and questions

If you have any feedback or questions during this trial, which you would like to be included in the future development of this system, you can let us know by contacting the project team.

Meet Kent Businesses

The Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce is hosting the Kent B2B Medway on Thursday 20th September 2018 at The Historic Dockyard Chatham. It is an opportunity to speak to Kent businesses from a variety industries and make new connections.

It is a free event on all day (08:30 – 16.00) so pop in before, after or in between classes.

There will be signs up around the Dockyard but the event itself will be taking place at No 3 Slip.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Time is running out to submit your Pride Award nominations

The PRIDE (Personal Responsibility In Delivering Excellence) Award recognises members of Kent Hospitality staff who go out of their way to deliver excellent customer service.

Any Kent Hospitality staff member (permanent or casual) may be nominated from Canterbury and Medway campuses. The award is given out four times a year with each winner receiving £100 of shopping vouchers, a certificate and badge.

Nominations can be made by any member of University staff, students or visitors. Make your nomination online or alternatively you can pick up a paper form next to the red nomination boxes located in all Kent Hospitality’s catering outlets in Canterbury and Medway, as well College reception areas.

The closing date for submitting your nominations is before 12.00 pm on Wednesday 26 September.

Please make your nominations detailed, providing as much information as possible why the nominee is being put forward for a Pride Award. The panel are looking for staff who achieve more than just what is expected in their role (i.e. hardworking, professional, positive and friendly attitude).

Congratulations to March’s Pride Award winner – Dave Jordan, Health & Safety and Food Safety Advisor.

For further information or for guidance on submitting nominations please contact: pride@kent.ac.uk

Kent Sport Couch to 5K challenge

Think you can’t run? Surprise yourself!

Kent Sport is bringing you the Couch to 5K ‘I can go the distance’ challenge. It has been especially designed for people who have done little or no running.

In this 12-week plan, you will work on your running and by the final week you will be running for half an hour, or approximately 5K. You won’t be on your own as our enthusiastic staff will be with you every step of the way to help you achieve your target. This challenge builds in time and effort, so you’ll constantly be impressed with what you can do if you push yourself a little.

For this term, we will continue to have two sessions a week to support you in your goal to achieving the challenge. You are welcome to attend one or both of the sessions each week.

SESSION 1:

Starting on Monday 24 September, 17.10-18.00 – meet at Sports Centre reception – weekly for 12 weeks.

SESSION 2:

Starting on Wednesday 26 September, 12.10-13.00 – meet at Sports Centre reception – weekly for 12 weeks.

Please note the 50-minute sessions include warm up, cool down, stretches and you therefore won’t be active for the full 50 minutes. There’s no need to register, just turn up and meet at the Sports Centre Reception and we will welcome you. Comfy clothing and footwear are advisable.

The sessions are free for Gold and Silver members, or you join Kent Sport for £5 with Bronze membership and pay £2 per session.

‘I wanted to say a big thank you for your support and motivation to achieve the 5k on Monday evening. I am not just saying it but I sincerely believe I wouldn’t have done it otherwise!’ – Past participant.

Questions about the challenge can be directed to sportsdevelopment@kent.ac.uk and membership enquiries to memberships@kent.ac.uk.

SUPC elephants

Ensuring what we buy is accessible to all

An accessible product or service is one that can be used by all its intended users. Products that are designed inclusively will be readily adaptable to the different needs of a wide range of users and the technologies they will be using.

Student Support and Wellbeing (SSW) and the Procurement team from Kent have been leading a project with the Southern Universities Purchasing Consortium (SUPC) to improve the accessibility of digital products and services. In collaboration with the SUPC, Jisc and the Government Digital Service (GDS) we have developed two documents: a SUPC accessibility statement and a toolkit which define the strategy going forward for all SUPC members and suppliers to apply to new purchases­­­­­­­. Both documents can be found on the SUPC website. 

The SUPC is a national buying organisation for the Higher Education sector with a framework expenditure of £412m.​ This work builds on the accessible procurement work already undertaken at Kent by the Information Services requirements team.

An example of one of the questions for suppliers in the SUPC toolkit is: Have the resources been tested with users that have a range of accessibility needs using a range of assistive technologies (AT)? Considering all users’ needs at the procurement stage is vital for instilling a culture that accessibility matters and is a key criterion that should be embedded as standard. This is in line with the Government Digital Services’ approach that: ‘Accessible design is good design’ and that products that are designed for everyone are simply better products.

To find out more about how this can help you in your role at Kent please contact Ashley Shelbrooke (a.g.shelbroooke@kent.ac.uk) and Ben Watson (b.watson@kent.ac.uk).

Returning to Kent?

Welcome back! If you’re returning to Kent after the summer break, here’s a helpful summary for settling back in.

  • Timetables will be on the Student Guide before term starts on 24 September. Continue to go back and check your timetable regularly for updates including other events. Read our Timetabling FAQs.
  • You will need to register on SDS from Tuesday 18 September so we know you’re definitely coming back. To ensure swift payment of your student loan, you are advised to re-register by Wednesday 19 September. It takes 3-5 working days from the point of registration for funds to be released to your account. Read more.
  • Term starts on Monday 24 September. Welcome Week is the week before (17-21 September). View term dates.
  • If you’ve got a new phone, tablet or laptop, get it Kent WiFi-ready before you come back to campus by running our WiFi setup tool.
  • Living off campus is very different from living in University accommodation. Read our community webpages for information on bills, bins, neighbours and much more!
  • Canterbury campus developments are taking place in Park Wood developing a new SU shop, expanding Woody’s with 60 extra seats, a balcony, garden, and creating a Study Hub with rooftop and studio spaces. CEWL has also moved to the Chipperfield building with more dedicated teaching and social space for staff and students and the School of Economics expansion is still taking place.
  • Find out what’s changed in the Templeman Library and in campus study space from Information Services.

Have a great 2018-2019 at Kent!