Lizzie Arbus, a Chargehand for Kent Hospitality is the winner of the June Pride Award. The Personal Responsibility in Delivering Excellence Award recognised Lizzie as an ‘active and supportive member of the team’ and specifically her ‘swift action’ in resolving a problem that occurred in a student flat.

Lizzie’s nomination noted how she went ‘above and beyond to help support [the students] giving advice, reassuring them and contacting the relevant people in order to quickly come up with a resolution’.

Another extract from her nomination read ‘I would like to thank Lizzie for her help and support on this day and week, having just returned from annual leave and getting straight into dealing with this issue in the absence of her supervisor and managers. Great job.’

Any Kent Hospitality staff (permanent or casual) may be nominated from Canterbury and Medway campuses. The award is given in March, June, September/October and December with each winner receiving £100 of shopping vouchers, a certificate and a Pride pin badge.

It’s really easy to nominate a member of the Kent Hospitality team for a Pride Award. Just visit the Pride website and complete our online form.

The closing date for the next Pride Award is Wednesday 25 September 2019 at 12 noon.

Delegates were welcomed by Professor Philippe de Wilde, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation)  to an event on 20 June 2019 at the University of Kent to understand the future of machine learning and its impact on society.

Organised by Kent Innovation and Enterprise, businesses and other organisations attending the event heard from wide range of speakers about how machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) is disrupting traditional business models in key sectors.

Speakers included KROHNE, a world-leading manufacturer and supplier of solutions in industrial process instrumentation.  Edward Dukes, General Manager and Technical Director, KHRONE Ltd  outlined the benefits of adopting a collaborative approach to complex flow measurement through data-driven modelling.

The issue of cyber security and the role of machine learning was presented by the University’s Professor Shujun Li while the likely future role of robotics was discussed by Dr Konstantinos Sirlantzis from the school of Engineering and Digital Arts.

As an example of a key sector where AI and machine learning will have a significant impact, Professor Jian Zhang from the SMSAS focused on whether these developing technologies could power new drug discovery and affect the timescales between discovery, development, testing and availability of new drugs in the healthcare market.

Delegates attending were able to spend time looking at new areas of research in a series of posters presented by PhD and graduate students. Dr Fernando Otero, School of Computing, offered some insights into how organisations make sense of data through the power of machine learning, and the role of Network Structure Learning was explored by Sa Ren, a PhD student in SMSAS.

The event was closed with concluding remarks from Professor Farzin Deravi, Head of the School of Engineering and Digital Arts.

If you would like more information about this event or any future events like this please get in contact with Innovation & Enterprise www.kent.ac.uk/enterprise

Congratulations to Helena Torres, Central Administration Manager, Brussels, on her appointment as an AUA Trustee.

The AUA – the Association of University Administrators – is the professional association for higher education administrators and managers. The AUA promotes excellence and professionalism and is run at local, regional and national level.

Helena is a long-standing member of the University’s local AUA network, which is part of the Southern Region and currently has around 60 members of staff employed in different areas across the University. The Board of Trustees, as the AUA’s governing body, leads and executes the overall vision and direction adopted by the Association at its Annual General Meetings.

Helena has overseen administration at our Brussels centre for the past 22 months. Before that, she was School Administration Manager for the School of English.

Commenting on her new AUA role, Helena said: ‘Having benefited from being a member and fellow of the AUA throughout my career in Higher Education administration, I am delighted to have the opportunity to take on this significant voluntary role.’

Melissa Mulhall, the AUA lead for Kent, highlighted that this is the second time that Kent has had a member of staff serve as an AUA Trustee, which shows the commitment of our staff to engage with the AUA nationally. Melissa said that she is absolutely delighted with this fantastic news and congratulates Helena on her appointment and wishes her every success with her new voluntary role.

Further information on the AUA, including how to become a member, can be found on the Association webpages or via Melissa Mulhall.

More than 1,400 staff enjoyed an al-fresco lunch last week thanks to the Vice-Chancellor, even without the glorious sunshine we experienced in previous staff BBQs.

Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Karen Cox, invited staff to join her for a lunchtime BBQ on Monday 24 June in Medway and Wednesday 26 June in Canterbury. The events provided the perfect opportunity for staff to come together, catch-up with colleagues and friends after another busy year.

Across the BBQs, a total of 1,344 burgers, 204kg of sausages and 1,500 ice creams and sorbets were eaten!

The staff BBQs have become a regular annual event since the University’s 50^th anniversary in2015, 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 vegan coleslaw, and ice creams and sorbets all round for dessert. It was well received that single use plastics was radically reduced, with wooden cutlery a new addition.

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

In the latest episode of the Nostalgia podcast series, Dr Chris Deacy, Reader in Theology and Religious Studies in the Department of Religious Studies, speaks to Professor Douglas Davies, Professor in the Department of Theology and Religion at Durham University.

Douglas discusses the concept of career planning, its relationship to issues of social class, and why he thinks there is an element of futility to nostalgia as luck and chance are the two great facts of life.

Douglas reveals his a problem with ‘what if?’ scenarios, synchronicity and the desire for patterns, seeing them as a pathological expression of the drive for meaning. We learn about destiny, triviality, why Douglas has a problem with revisiting special moments, the paradox of Durkheim, why the British don’t like apprenticeships, and wisdom.

In September 2019 we will be launching a new Student Foodbank and Freecycle Scheme run by Kent Union. The service will support University of Kent students in financial difficulty by providing them with food provisions and homeware. 

Collection points are located at the following areas Wednesday 3 July 2019

·         The Plaza (opposite the main SU Shop) 12.00 – 14.00

·         Keynes College Atrium (opposite reception) 10.00 – 17.00

We welcome any donations of unopened non-perishable food, but there are some items that we could really do with:

·         Tinned potatoes, Vegetables and Fruit

·         UHT Milk (and lactose free/vegan alternatives)

·         Tea, Coffee, Hot chocolate and Sugar

·         Long Life Juice and Fruit Squash

·         Breakfast Cereal

We are also looking for donations of kitchenware, cleaning products, sanitary products, and bedding, but please no electrical equipment.

If you cannot make it to one of these collections but would like to donate some items, please email volunteering@kent.ac.uk.

Professor April McMahon, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Education, is leaving the University of Kent to take up a new appointment as Vice-President for Teaching, Learning and Students at the University of Manchester.

Commenting on Professor McMahon’s new role, our Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Karen Cox said: ‘April joined the University in 2016 and since that time has had a considerable and hugely positive impact on the student experience here at Kent. As a member of the Executive Group, she has been a strong advocate for students and ensured that they have remained at the forefront of all our decision-making.’

Professor McMahon will take up her new role on 1 October. The University will consider interim arrangements while looking to recruit a new Deputy Vice-Chancellor Education.