As the Covid-19 lockdown eases, plans to re-open our campuses are progressing according to schedule. The health and safety of all our staff and students remains the priority.

Colleagues in Estates continue to work hard on re-opening buildings on both the Canterbury and Medway campuses. The first phase remains the research labs, libraries and the Registry. At Medway, where there are shared facilities, the Estates team is working closely with Greenwich and Canterbury Christ Church universities.

We continue to work with the trade unions and staff representatives as we move through this process and the risk assessments for opening of the labs have been approved by the JSNCC. The risk assessment for the wider University will be considered at next week’s meeting.

Once the assessments have been approved, HR will engage with senior leaders to identify staff in their areas who need to return to campus. Due to the complexity of the work required, we have revised the previous estimates of when anyone who is currently working at home might return to campus. We are now looking at the start of July at the very earliest.

Deciding who will return to work on campus will depend on a range of factors, including building capacity, personal circumstance, home-working conditions and flexible working arrangements. Our overarching principle remains that we are keeping to national guidance, which states that you should work at home if you can and that only essential staff should be on campus. We will continue to revise our Health & Safety policy in line with any changes to government guidelines.

The move to online exams and assessment has gone well and Exam Boards are in progress. A paper on the shape of the academic year 2020-21, which provides a framework for learning and teaching for next year, has gone before today’s meeting of Senate.

Our aim is to welcome all students on to campus this autumn. If we need to prioritise groups to accommodate social distancing, we will prioritise first years and postgraduate taught and research students.

We will continue to provide updates on our return to campus over the coming months.

The “Think Kent Discovers series”, which started in May is a series of nine cutting edge research documentaries produced by the University of Kent in association with KMTV.

Each event starts with the screening of a research documentary followed by a live panel discussion on the topic and is live streamed via Research Services ‘YouTube channel and the university’s facebook page.

All events are FREE to watch and to book your place,  please visit EventBrite. 

Here are the rest of the events coming up:

Thursday 11 June at 19.00: “La Cristiada – A Civil War” 

Dr Mark Lawrence, from the School of History,  explores Mexico’s bloodiest civil wars.

Panel members:
– Dr Mark Lawrence, Lecturer in Latin American History at the  University of Kent
– Dr Nathaniel Morris, Leverhulme Research Fellow at University College London
– Dr Ben Fallaw, Professor of Latin American History at Colby College in USA (Maine)

Thursday 18 June (time tbc): “Virus to Vaccine”

Professor Colin Robinson and Dr Alison Walters (School of Biosciences) are leading a British-Thai consortium in mass producing a vaccine to tackle Porcine Circovirus disease.

Thursday 25 June at 19.00: “Counting Butterflies”

The film explores the research carried out by Professor Morgan and former student Dr Emily Dennis, who have developed advanced mathematical models which are now being used to map and manage butterfly populations in the UK and abroad.

Panel members:
– Professor Byron Morgan, Emeritus Professor of Statistics at the University of Kent
– Dr Emily Dennis, Senior Ecological Statistician at the Butterfly Conservation Trust
– Ian Middlebrook, Butterfly Monitoring Coordinator at the Butterfly Conservation Trust

Week commencing 29 June: “The Mohawk of Consciousness” (details to be confirmed)
This film charts the investigation into brain injury and whether analysing brain activity can reveal the true level of consciousness in patients believed to be in a vegetative state.

Week commencing 6 July: “Catching Cancer: Rapid Diagnosis” (details to be confirmed)
Can you detect Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) not with a traditional blood test but with a kit which gives an immediate indication from a simple pin-prick?

Week commencing 13 July: “The Science of Making Babies” (details to be confirmed)
In July 1978, the world’s first test-tube baby, Louise Brown, was born in Oldham to her parents, Lesley and John. It’s now estimated 1 in 50 babies born in Britain today are the result of IVF or similar methods that allow an egg to be fertilised.

As we’re all still dealing with the impacts of Covid-19, Care First have still got some webinars for you for next week.

Please find the schedule below.

Monday 8 June 2020 – A guide to Care first Zest ‘A guide to Care first Zest’

Time: 11.00 11.30 – register by clicking on this Go to webinar link.

Tuesday 9 June 2020 –  ‘Tips to keep safe in the workplace during COVID-19’

Time: 12.00 -12.45 – register by clicking on this Go to webinar link 

Wednesday 10 June 2020 – ‘Woebot: A user guide to our new AI support’

Time: 16.00 – 17.00 – register by clicking on this Go to webinar link

Thursday 11 June 2020  – ‘Understanding Suicide’

Time: 12.00 -12.45 – register by clicking on this Go to webinar link 

Friday 12 June 2020  ‘Understanding the COVID-19 guidelines for your area’

Time: 15.00 – 15.30 – register by clicking on this Go to webinar link

The School of European Culture and Languages (SECL) has been able to donate £260 to ‘The Friends for Mental Health’ and the East Kent Rape Crisis Centre following the 2020 National Student Survey.

The National Student Survey (NSS) is an independent annual survey of final-year undergraduate students and is one of the key measures of how students rate their time at university. The survey asks students about many of the factors that are most important to them, including aspects of their teaching, their subject and the wider University community.

This year, it was also an opportunity to donate to a cause, with £1 being donated for every student who completed the survey. The Friends for Mental Health and the East Kent Rape Crisis Centre were joint winners in a poll of final year students. After 260 students came forward to complete the 2020 National Student Survey, each charity received a donation of £130.

Head of School Professor Shane Weller said:

‘The views of our students are incredibly important to us as teachers and researchers and the National Student Survey is a vital way in which the University – and the School – receives feedback. I am grateful to all the students who took the time to share their views in this year’s Survey and am delighted that we were able to make donations to the East Kent Rape Crisis Centre and The Friends for Mental Health as a result of your participation’.

I want to start by acknowledging the recent events in America, events that have triggered waves of shock and anger both in the US and across the world, highlighting the terrible impact racism continues to have on peoples’ lives. As a University, we have a responsibility to tackle racism in our own community as well as in the wider society.

As you will know, we have agreed a joint statement with Kent Union on our commitment to improve efforts to address racism on our campuses, building on the work that has already taken place across the institution. This has now been shared with students as well as staff, and I know several schools have also written their own response which have been well received.

I want to stress that we will not allow this statement to be just empty rhetoric and, together with my colleagues on Executive Group, I will ensure we deliver on its commitment.  I would like to thank members of the BAME staff network, Kent Union and the Decolonise University of Kent movement for the work they are already doing with the University in this area.

On Covid-19 related matters, work progresses to implement our plans for opening up the campuses. I particularly want to say thank you to all those colleagues in Estates who are working to systematically re-open the buildings in Canterbury and Medway, to enable the phased return of staff and the creation of a safe working and studying environment. With more than eighty buildings to work through, the complexity cannot be underestimated. We will continue to work with the trade unions and staff representatives throughout this process and keep you updated with the progress of this huge task.

I send you my continued good wishes and thanks for all you are doing in these difficult times.

Yours sincerely

Karen

Professor Karen Cox | Vice-Chancellor and President

Message from Alison Ross-Green, Director of HR and Organisational Development

As you may be aware, we recently closed the Phase 2 application window for the Kent Voluntary Severance Scheme (KVSS) which was open to specific groups of staff. Our hope has always been that the enhanced scheme would enable the University to meet is target savings of £5.3m for 19/20. While we have had a good response to the scheme so far, further voluntary applications are needed to ensure that we meet (and ideally exceed) this year’s target. Having reviewed funding arrangements, we have decided to keep the scheme open until 22 July 2020 both to maximise savings and reduce the pressure for compulsory redundancies in future years.

The terms of the scheme, aside from the revised timescales appended to it, are unchanged. To help give everyone as much clarity as possible on our financial situation, we have also prepared a short presentation bringing together key information shared on this in recent months. This will also be on the Financial Sustainability staff webpages shortly.

While there will still be individual application windows for staff put at risk of redundancy due to Organising for Success, this extension to 22 July 2020 marks the absolute end of our ability to flex the scheme for other eligible staff and no further extensions will be possible. Where any eligible member of staff feels able to consider KVSS and wishes to benefit from its terms, thus assisting the University to overcome its current financial challenges, then they must apply to the scheme through this last round as no further opportunities will be given.

Lastly, we are aware that some staff are understandably making fine judgements about their financial position if they were to seek voluntary severance and that some reliance may be being placed on enhanced terms (albeit not as generous as KVSS) being available in the future. While the University would always wish to offer some form of enhanced financial terms for those who volunteer for redundancy, we also need to be aware of our worsening financial position as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic and that this may not be possible going forward. We will review the position in September, when our recruitment performance is clearer. If we do decide that we need to make changes at that time, the JSNCC will be consulted and Council approval sought.

As before, all staff interested in applying for KVSS are encouraged to discuss with either HR or their line manager for further details about how the scheme works. If you would like to discuss this confidentially or would like impartial advice, please remember that the Employee Assistance Programme is available 24/7, with more information on the Occupational Heath staff webpages.

Spending more time at home has inspired many of us to get creative.

To help get those creative juices flowing, Lucy Ashbey, Taught Postgraduate Student Support Assistant in the School of Computing, has suggested a feature on top 10 crafty activities:

1. Knitting/Crocheting

Whether you’re a knitting novice or a connoisseur in crocheting, there’s no time like the present to get crafting! With an abundance of tutorials and materials online from places like Stitch & Story, there’s plenty to inspire you.

2. Painting & drawing

Creating art is a great way to express yourself. From paying tribute to health care workers to illustrating the importance of wellbeing, picking up a pencil or paintbrush has never felt more poignant.

3. Writing

Whether you love to write poetry, song lyrics or even posting your own blog, putting pen to paper is a wonderful way to get creative!

4. Jewellery making

Start an exciting new hobby and create your very own jewellery. Learn the basic skills in jewellery-making to wear, sell or gift, from the likes of Beads Direct.

5. Paper-craft

From papier-mâché bowls to tissue paper flowers, there’s plenty of fun ways to craft with paper! A great one to try with children, The Spruce Crafts offers you tips on getting started.

6. Rubber stamping

If you’d love to put your own personalised ‘stamp’ on a birthday card or wedding invitation, then why not learn the art of rubber-stamping? Noolibird has a vast collection for you to try.

7. Music

What better time to learn how to play an instrument or hone your music skills? Practise those vocal chords and get involved in the University’s Virtual Music Project or join Kent’s Rock Choir.

8. Dancing

Dance is the perfect combination of being creative and keeping fit. Choose the style of virtual dance classes that suits you and get moving!

9. Cross-stitching

Cross-stitching is often seen as a rather therapeutic craft, and with a wide range of patterns and designs available online, the choices are endless!

10. Cooking

Spending more time at home has allowed many of us get more creative in the kitchen. For some inspiration on dish ideas, check out our top 10 chocolate and vegan recipes!

Like Laura, please send your top 10 feature suggestions to stories@kent.ac.uk