Monthly Archives: March 2020

Kent Voluntary Severance Scheme – Phase 2

In light of the University’s financial situation and the need to make significant savings in our staffing costs this year, we will be reopening the Kent Voluntary Severance Scheme from 9 March – 24 April.

This Phase Two of the scheme will only be open to specific groups of staff, including those in areas where we know that savings will need to be made. The full Scheme details are available on the HR website, including more detailed information and FAQs. Any staff put at risk of redundancy as a result of subsequent changes under Organising for Success in June 2020 will have a further opportunity to apply for KVSS at that stage.

We recently held a series of briefing sessions with managers so that they can answer any questions you may have regarding the Scheme. There will also be a series of drop-in sessions for staff where you will be able to discuss this directly with an HR representative – these are divided into hourly slots, and you can just turn up to whichever one suits you:

Tuesday 10 March – 14.00, 15.00, and 16.00 in Keynes Seminar Room 2
Thursday 12 March – 12.00, 13.00 and 14.00 in Keynes Seminar Room 1
Wednesday 18 March – 14.00, 15.00 and 16.00 in Grimond Seminar Room 1
Friday 20 March – 10.30, 11.30 and 12.30 in Kennedy Seminar Room 9
Tuesday 24 March – 9.30, 10.30 and 11.30 in Darwin Seminar Room 14
Thursday 26 March – 13.00, 14.00 and 15.00 in Keynes Seminar Room 20
Wednesday 1 April – 11.00, 12.00 and 13.00, venue TBC
Friday 3 April – 10.00, 11.00 and 12.00, venue TBC

More details on both the scheme and support available to staff will follow in further communications ahead of the Scheme opening on Monday.

Organising for Success – Project Update

Organising for Success brings together work that will empower staff to transform our students lives, helping us meet our Kent 2025 strategy and ensure a future we can be proud of.

As preparations to launch new divisions in September take shape, a number of key proposals will go to the 11 March meeting of Senate – these can be read via the links below, with more information to follow after the meeting itself.

Proposed divisional governance, which outlines the high-level academic governance structure within our seven new divisions
Senate Effectiveness Review, including proposed updated structures of Senate boards and committees
Statement of principles for University QA Structures & Procedures, which sets out the terms under which revised codes of practice will be rewritten

Other updates across the project:

Strand 1- Executive Leadership

Consultation has now finished on the new leadership structure for central professional services, with final changes shared with affected staff shortly. These will also be shared more widely later in the month ahead of the new structure coming into effect in April.

A well-attended series of ‘Town Hall’ briefing sessions for managers led by Learning & Organisational Development took place throughout February, with personal development programmes continuing for new members of Executive Group as they take ownership of their areas.

Strand 2 – Establishing academic divisions

Outlines of academic leadership roles are being presented to Senate for discussion, with the outcomes then shared more broadly across divisions ahead of expressions of interest to key leadership roles.

Work is also ongoing on division branding and preparation for launch activity ahead of September.

Strand 3 / 4 – Divisional operations and professional services design

Follow-up workshops are taking place between Directors of Operations and central professional service leads to support the development of proposed team structures ahead of these being shared with affected staff in June 2020.

Workshops are also ongoing to map key processes in order to identify and manage potential risk as we transition into the new structure. In doing this, we will also look to identify any areas of improvement we could implement in the short term to help with activity over the summer such as admissions and clearing.

Strand 5 – Standing down Faculties

Considerable progress continues, including drafts prepared for a number of key regulations and Codes of Practice to reflect the move from faculties to divisions. These will be refined as necessary following the outcome of Senate.

Latest updates are on the Organising for Success website

Final Kent Talks event of the year, 10 March

Students are invited to attend the final Kent Talks event for this year, Tuesday 10 March 2020 in the Gulbenkian Theatre from 18.00-20.00.

This event will be focused on the social norms of the community and how people perceive feminism, mental health and social awkwardness. Our speakers will focus on raising awareness and opening a new perspective in these topics.

The Speakers…

Temidayo Oyekan : REVULVA, Black Feminism & Pop Culture
Tomi Mayegun : Mental Health & the Imagination
Nas Islam : Social Awkwardness

This is a great opportunity to collaborate with your friends all around campus, meet new like-minded people and deepen your educational and social values. Become a part of our community and don’t miss out on this amazing event!

University Ethics Code published

The University’s Ethics Code is now available to read online. The Code – first published in May 2019 – was drafted by the Ethics Committee, a sub-committee of Council, and approved by both Senate and Council.

The Code applies to the University of Kent community – students, staff and members of Council – who are expected to adhere to, uphold and apply the Code during their day-to-day activities.

The Code aims to help community members make decisions where there are ethical implications. These are a common feature across all areas of University life – from staff members deciding whether to accept a gift from an external supplier, to behaviour and decisions taken during elections for student and staff committee posts. The Code also identifies how and where ethical concerns should be raised.

The Code has guidelines built around the following headings:

1 – Responsibility and accountability
2 – Integrity, honesty and transparency
3 – Academic freedom, critical thinking and intellectual creativity
4 – Equality, diversity and inclusivity
5 – Collegiality
6 – Sustainability
7 – Making a positive impact

Sarah Gibson, Chair of the University’s Ethics Committee and a lay member of the University’s Council, said: ‘We all face ethical decisions in our professional lives, and this Code provides a clear framework to help the University community identify and work through these issues. It demonstrates the University’s commitment to the highest standards of ethical behaviour in all aspects of university life.’

Membership of the Ethics Committee includes University representatives from the areas of research ethics and governance, fundraising, anti-bribery and corruption and international partnerships alongside lay members of Council and students.

Spend the Summer in India

Fancy spending three weeks in India this summer?

Kent has partnered with Amity University, India to offer up to 20 places for undergraduate students to participate in the UKIERI Study in India Summer School taking place from 15 June – 5 July 2020.

Discover more about India through Academic Sessions, Cultural and Industry visits in this three-week funded summer school.

For further details and to apply online, visit the University’s Go Abroad webpage.

The deadline for applications is 9.00 on Monday 16 March 2020.

Further Information

International Partnerships will be running drop in sessions for anyone who is interested in participating and would like further details or help with their application. These will take place on the following dates:

• Friday 6 March and Friday 13 March at 10.00 – 12.00

• Monday 9 March and Wednesday 11 March at 15.00 – 17.00

Located in the Registry extension, First Floor, Rm 155.

Alternatively, please email Go Abroad for more information.

For more information about other summer school opportunities, please see the Go Abroad webpage

War of the Worlds auditions

The University of Kent Players are holding auditions for staff for their next radio play, War of the Worlds. The production is a reworking of the 1955 radio broadcast and will be held in Mungos at 20.00 on May 15 & 16.

The players perform two theatrical shows at the Gulbenkian and two radio plays each year. The radio plays bring back the hollywood radio plays of the 1940’s and 50s , recorded for broadcast as live in front of a studio audience.

You don’t have to have experience on the stage, just enthusiasm and commitment. As well as cast members, we are looking for a foley team to create sound effects manually, a technical lead, front of house staff and general help and supporters.

If you are interested in participating in this exciting production, auditions are being held on Monday 9 March, 17.30 in Cornwallis East room 329 and on Tuesday 10 March, 12.30 in Eliot Extension Seminar room 1.

For further information contact the Director, Kevin White

Why Student Data System access was disrupted last term

We take the security of your personal data seriously and have strict systems in place to protect it.

Access to SDS and some other University systems was unfortunately restricted for a few weeks during the autumn term to plug a security vulnerability. Due to the actions we took, no personal data was lost or accessed when it shouldn’t have been.

The risk was related to a third-party tool used by many organisations, which enables users to log into online systems securely. A vulnerability in this tool was discovered by a University in Norway, and once informed, the University of Kent responded with appropriate measures.

The vulnerability would have made it possible for a hacker to impersonate you and gain access to your data in SDS. To prevent this we had to disable the ability to log in using a web browser until logging in could be made fully secure again.
Some staff who access SDS using software on their PC were able to support students with the limited access they had.

To re-secure access, we needed to significantly redevelop the login system very quickly. This required robust testing and validation to make sure it was secure; this was verified by a third party and meets the independently recognised security standards we adhere to at Kent. Our Cyber Essentials certification recognises the strict security standards we adhere to.

We know that students and staff rely on systems like SDS to be there at all times and so any access interruptions are taken extremely seriously and avoided as much as possible, especially during term time. Hopefully this article explains why, on this recent occasion, the interruption was necessary, and that we restored access as quickly as we possibly could.

Row Britannia – get involved!

The University of Kent is taking on the Row Britannia challenge of rowing 2020 miles to help raise vital funds for mental health charities as part of Sport Relief.

We’re about to reach a huge milestone in the challenge as we approach a total of one million metres (580 miles) rowed so far! That takes us to almost one third of the huge 3,251,000 metre target. This number has only been possible through your contributions – so thank you to everyone that has taken part so far.

We were visited by Row Britannia on 15 January to officially launch the challenge. University of Kent Honorary Graduate Barry McGuigan MBE and boxers from McGuigan’s Gym gave us a ‘knockout’ start by rowing a mile each, and since then we’ve seen some incredible efforts, with some students and staff rowing 20,000 metres in one session!

On 14 February Kent Sport teams went head-to-head to see how far they could row in just 30 minutes in a team relay row-off. Managing more than 22,000 metres overall, they’re now extending the challenge to you. How far can your team row in 30 minutes? Email sportsdevelopment@kent.ac.uk to take part now!

Vice-Chancellor Karen Cox, Director of Sport Mel Clewlow, and members of Executive Group (Financial Improvement Officer Peter Pentecost, PA to Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Chief Operating Officer Nicholle Mackenzie and Head of School – School of Sport and Exercise Sciences Dr Claire Peppiatt-Wildman), contributed a combined 20,000 metres when they visited on the 28 February, bringing us to nearly one million metres overall. A fantastic effort and much appreciated mileage!

You’ve still got time to clock your distance and donate to Row Britannia, visit our Just Giving page to donate online or use the collection bucket at the Sports Centre reception. Don’t forget, Sport Relief is on Friday 13 March.

Events to help you get the job you want

The Careers and Employability Services (CES) are holding a number of events to support your career development, such as:

Finding experience
Where to find jobs
Succeeding in applications
Getting creative with CVs
Video and telephone interviews
One to one practice interviews
Interview/assessments centre

To take advantage of these free events, see the Careers events calendar, or if you are in your final year of an undergraduate programme, you can see the Finalists events calendar and filter by ‘Careers’ to see targeted career events to prepare you for life after university.

‘One Hundred Years of Women in Law’ exhibition at Medway

Discover the “A Hundred Years of Women in Law” exhibition 16-31 March in the Drill Hall Library café gallery. The exhibition features the ‘First 100 Years’ project by Spark21 and ‘Kent’s First Women Magistrates’ by Dr Anne Logan from the University of Kent.

The First 100 Years is a ground-breaking history project, supported by the Law Society, the Bar Council and CILEx, charting the journey of women in law since 1919. The project is powered by Spark21, a charity founded to celebrate, inform and inspire future generations of women in the profession by showcasing positive role models for women in law.