Dr Helen Brooks, Reader in Theatre and Cultural History in the School of Arts, has featured in a documentary on Untold Stories of World War 1. The documentary, presented by historian Dan Snow for the digital channel History Hit, premiered on 1 November 2018.

The ambitious documentary is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council(AHRC) and draws together expertise and material from 26 universities and organisations. Helen contributed her expertise from her research as part of the Great War Theatre project and her involvement as a co-investigator on Gateways to the First World War: an AHRC-funded consortium for public engagement with the centenary of the conflict.

As well as exploring the plays that were produced during the conflict, the documentary also features the use of stately homes as hospitals, uncovers material from German photographer Käthe Buchler who documented her hometown during the war, and examines an excavation of a military base.

The trailer can be viewed below, or via the following link:
https://youtu.be/Img1sBuh0X8

The annual 25 Year Lunch was held in the Beagle Restaurant on Monday, 22 October, with the Vice-Chancellor hosting and Alison Ross-Green, Director of HR & OD, accompanying her.

The lunch celebrates and recognises the contribution each staff member has made over the years at the University.  In recognition of their time at Kent, invitees can choose to receive a gift (we work in partnership with Fenwicks) which will be presented to them by the Vice-Chancellor or, they can opt to have a donation made to a charity of their choice.  Nine members of staff attended to celebrate their 25 years at the university and, although the gathering was smaller than usual, the Beagle Restaurant was the perfect venue and a thoroughly enjoyable time was had by all.

Kent Law School Professor Diamond Ashiagbor has been elected as an Honorary Bencher of the Middle Temple, one of the four Inns of Court.

Honorary Masters of the Bench are recognised by the Inn’s members as distinguished individuals from other walks of life who have excelled in their respective professions. Professor Ashiagbor, who was elected at a ‘Bench Call’ ceremony on Wednesday 31 October, joins a group of 141 Honorary Benchers whose number include Professor Kate Malleson (Queen Mary University of London), Clive Stafford Smith (Director of Reprieve), Loretta Lynch (83rd Attorney General of the United States), Sir Mark Rylance (actor) and Sir Paul Nurse (geneticist and cell biologist, Nobel Prize winner).

Masters of the Bench, or Benchers, are responsible for the governance of the Inn. They are elected by their peers from among the Inn’s members who have been Called to the Bar; the majority are Queen’s Counsel or senior members of the judiciary.

Professor Ashiagbor joined Kent Law School last month. She was previously Professor of Law and Director of Research at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London. She has research interests in labour/employment law; regional integration (the European Union and the African Union); labour law, trade and development; human rights, equality and multiculturalism; economic sociology of law; socio-legal studies; law and the humanities. She is the author of the monograph The European Employment Strategy: Labour Market Regulation and New Governance, which won the Peter Birks/Society of Legal Scholars Prize for Outstanding Legal Scholarship 2006.

Do you need help with your spoken English for seminars and presentations? Would you like to refine your spoken accuracy, fluency and pronunciation?

The Centre for English and World Languages are offering FREE individual speaking tutorials open to all international students. Each session lasts 45 minutes during which you will meet with an academic member of staff who will provide you with advice and feedback on your speaking.

To book your free session, please email cewl@kent.ac.uk.

For more information, please visit our website.

Colleagues are invited to the e-learning forum on Tuesday 27 November, 12.00-13.30 in the UELT Seminar Room, Canterbury Campus.

This session will encourage practitioners to think creatively about alternative uses of lecture capture technologies, and showcase innovative uses from academics at the University of Kent.

Participants will also be encouraged to share their own experiences and to consider strategies for incorporating content recorded using capture technologies into their overall educational approach. The ideas and best practices discussed could provide valuable insight for any academic thinking about trying to improve student experience and increase engagement with the curriculum.

Participants will engage in an action learning activity ‘Capture Technology Bingo’ where they will be presented with a series of alternative use cases for capture technology and use it to critically evaluate their own practice/institutional practice. Participants will be encouraged to share examples from their own experience and consider strategies for successfully incorporating captured content into their overall educational approach.

Themes for discussion during this session will include:

• How might alternative uses of (lecture) capture technologies impact positively on student satisfaction?
• How might the functionality of (lecture) capture technologies be used to improve assessment and feedback processes?

To book a place please complete the online booking form.

If you have any queries please contact cpdbookings@kent.ac.uk

Dr Beth Breeze, Director of the Centre for Philanthopy, was delighted to receive £10,000 from Blackbaud to support two scholarships for excellent students who wish to register for the MA Philanthropic Studies.

For almost 40 years, Blackbaud has been developing software and services for not-for-profit organisations. They are offering the scholarships as they value the importance of fundraising education and recognise the benefit of strengthening provision at Kent to support good practice across the UK.

Fundraising is widely understood as an essential but complex role, for which most practitioners lack appropriate and substantive training. Research shows that the vast majority of UK fundraisers learn ‘on the job’ and with the benefit of very minimal in-job training, such as one day courses and reading trade magazines.

Filling this education gap is a key priority of the Centre for Philanthropy at the University of Kent, the only university outside of North America to offer a Masters-level degree programme in Philanthropic Studies. This two year part-time course, taught by distance learning including on-campus days, is designed to fit around the professional and personal commitments of practitioners. The programme has recruited over 70 students since launching in September 2016

These scholarships will ensure the programme is as accessible as possible to meet the widespread demand for trained and talented fundraisers by making it affordable for charities and fundraisers. Dr Breeze said “We are thrilled to receive this generous funding from Blackbaud, who share our desire to help professionalise fundraising in the UK”.

The Academic Career Map (ACM) will be launched, alongside a revised Academic Promotion Policy, to take effect in September 2019.

ACM is a framework setting out relevant expectations, supporting development and recognising achievements at each academic career stage. The related changes to the Academic Promotion Policy will mean significant changes to the promotion application process for academic staff on Teaching & Research, Teaching & Scholarship and Research contracts.

Academic staff are invited to find out more about ACM at one of several staff information sessions taking place during May and June. The team behind ACM will also be visiting some schools, but if one is not yet scheduled, you could attend one of our open-invitation sessions. Dates for all planned sessions, from 8 May to 21 June, are available now on the ACM webpages

The ACM was developed in partnership with academic and academic-related staff, through the Recognising Excellence in Academia Project, with the aim of providing greater clarity around expectations. The proposed detail was shared with all staff through the University website and several staff engagement and consultation events in November/December 2018. Helpful feedback resulted in the ACM being finalised and approved by relevant committees. The Academic Promotion Policy has been revised to align with the ACM framework and introduce other changes to address feedback received from staff throughout the project.

To find out more about the ACM framework, and guidance on how it will work, see the ACM webpages

If you have any comments or questions, please email academiccareermap@kent.ac.uk

The latest issue of the Leadership Bulletin, designed to give an overview of key developments at Kent, is now available.

The latest issue (31 October 2018) includes a summary by our Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Karen Cox of discussions held at the latest Senior Leadership Forum including the University Structures Project as well as her visit to the University’s Beacon Observatory.

There is also an update on Executive Group meetings, information on KentVision from Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost, David Nightingale plus an analysis of the Autumn budget.

The Bulletin is distributed fortnightly to all members of the Leadership Forum to cascade to staff in schools and professional service departments. If you haven’t received your copy yet, you can read the bulletin online.

Find out more about the Leadership Bulletin and see previous issues on the OVC webpages.

The Corporate Events team is looking for volunteers to help during congregations for Medway and Canterbury – can you help?

MEDWAY (Rochester Cathedral):

Wednesday 21 November (x2 ceremonies), 10:30, 14:30

CANTERBURY (Canterbury Cathedral):

Friday 23 November (x3 ceremonies) 10:30, 14:30, 19:30

This is a special day for all of our graduating students, and a great opportunity to be involved in a feel-good University event.

We have a variety of roles available for volunteers, so whether you would like to be in the Cathedral for the ceremony, helping the graduands check-in, or managing the guest queue, there is something suitable for everyone.

Things to know:

– Volunteers working two consecutive ceremonies will be provided with lunch or dinner in between their two shifts

– Volunteers can choose any ceremony ‘shifts’ from the above list, and full training will be available for your designated role.

– In any role, there will be a member of the congregations’ team on hand to support you

– Different roles will have different start and finish times due to the requirements of that role for the ceremony

– It’s a wonderful week and is a great opportunity to see any students that you have supported graduate

If you would like to get involved in November 2018 Congregations, we would be delighted to have you!

To register your interest or to find out more about the roles available, please email congregations@kent.ac.uk with your preferred ceremony/ies or your query.