Our official Employee Assistance Programme provider, Care first offers a numbers of services and provide useful advice and support, including weekly webinars.

This week’s (Monday 3 May – Friday 7 May ) webinars are as follows:

Monday 3 May 2021 – BANK HOLIDAY

Tuesday 4 May  2021 – ‘How Care first Can Support You’
Time: 12.00-12.30 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link

Wednesday 5 May 2021 – ‘Post-Partum Mental Illness’
Time: 12.00-12.30 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link

Thursday 7 May 2021 – ‘Sun Safety’ (in line with Skin Cancer
awareness month)
Time: 12.00-12.30 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link

Friday 8 May 2021 – ‘The importance of adhering to COVID-19 guidelines’
Time: 12.00-12.30 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link

To continue the discourse and look to the future of impact generation following the REF2021 submission, the Research Excellence Team has organised a series of six panel discussions covering many aspects of the impact agenda and aptly named ‘Next Generation Impact’.

The launch on Monday 26 April was an outstanding success with over 1000 views across YouTube and Facebook –attracting an audience from 54 UK universities, 6 international universities and 11 public sector attendees.

The live streamed panel talk with esteemed guests Dr Steven Hill (Director of Research at Research England), Dr Julie Bayley (Director of Research Impact at University of Lincoln), Dr Tina Haux (Senior Lecturer in Quantitative Social Policy at the University of Kent) and Professor Paul Phillips (Professor of Strategic Management at the University of Kent) discussing ‘Perspectives on Impact’ gave the audience an insight into research impact and how this is perceived across the sector.

‘Impact culture needs to be nurtured as part of an institutional commitment to long term and sustainable impact – for and beyond – REF’

The next event in the series ‘Embedding Impact in Research: from Planning to Publication’ will be live streamed on Thursday 13 May 12.00 -13.00. The series is free and open to all – book now 

From Professor Richard Reece | Deputy Vice-Chancellor Education and Student Experience

Along with preparations for the Summer exam term and wider KentSummer activity, much of our focus is now turning to what our teaching and student experience offer will be in Autumn 2021. After so much disruption, having an attractive offer for both new and returning students that makes them feel welcome and supported is absolutely critical and, with that in mind, we have worked with staff and our Students’ Unions on a number of key principles in planning for next year. 

Our approach 

We have all had to learn and adapt so much throughout the pandemic and, while our plans are still dependent on the Government’s roadmap for coming out of lockdown, we want to open up again in the right way, while unapologetically keeping the best of what we have done differently where we know it can be of real benefit to students. Our intention is that in Autumn 2021: 

• Our campuses will be open, with student residencies occupied at normal levels and our bars, cafes and arts venues ready to be brought back to life in line with any remaining social distancing measures 
• Face-to-face teaching will be offered where we know it makes a real difference, such as seminars, lab classes or studio sessions 
• Lectures will remain online to enable as much space as possible to be available for in-person teaching 
• Remote study options will be available for the whole of the year in recognition of the diversity of our student body and the likely continued difficulties with international travel 

• Support will be in place throughout to make sure staff get continued training and that we are with our students every step of the way as they re-adapt to University life 

The last year has highlighted the breadth of quality in our teaching more than ever, with new approaches to delivery that reflect the different ways students want to learn and interact with us. This approach is intended to keep the best of this as things open up more next academic year and we work with our students to build a better future together. 

Find out more 

I appreciate this impacts on so many areas of your work, and many of you will have further questions as we all look ahead to next year. We are currently putting together more detailed information pages on this for both staff and students which will be shared as soon as possible. Alongside this, I will be hosting a staff webchat from 12.00 – 13.00 on Thursday 6 May on our plans and encourage those that can to join me then to discuss the proposals in full. 

We are pleased to present the Annual Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity (EDI) report for 2019-20 which showcases the excellent work taking place  across the University of Kent to promote and embed equality and inclusivity.

We hope you find the report an interesting and stimulating read and that it demonstrates the high importance that Kent places on issues of equality, diversity and inclusivity.

From Professor Richard Reece | DVC Education and Student Experience

I am delighted to be able to announce that our new student record system, KentVision, is up and running. Through the hard work, dedication and effort of an enormous number of individuals across the entire institution, the migration of student data from SDS to KentVision has been successfully accomplished and the new system is now available for staff and students to use.

It is important to stress that additional functionality will be added to KentVision over the coming days, weeks and months. Information on this will be regularly updated on the KentVision staff webpages.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those involved for getting us to this point.

With best wishes,

Richard

Professor Richard Reece | DVC Education and Student Experience

Staff can now purchase additional annual leave via our Staff Connect pages.

You can buy 35 hours of additional leave (pro-rata for part-time staff) to be taken between 1 July 2021 and 30 June 2022.

The closing date for applications is 30 June 2021.

Further information on the Additional Leave Purchase Scheme, including how to apply, is available here.

The University of Kent celebrated Earth day last week (22 April) by joining the Race to Zero campaign along with over 70 other UK HE institutions, making public our pledge to achieve net zero carbon emissions.

Race To Zero is a global campaign to rally leadership and support from businesses, cities, regions, investors for a healthy, resilient, zero carbon recovery that prevents future threats, creates decent jobs, and unlocks inclusive, sustainable growth.

Catherine Morris, Environmental Adviser said:

‘I feel proud that by joining the Race to Zero, our senior leadership has made a public commitment to the net zero agenda and our contribution towards the sector’s leadership on a global level at COP26 in November 2021. I am looking forward to seeing the results of our open consultation with staff and students on how the university can tackle the issues of the climate emergency and I am excited to be part of developing the plans for how we will achieve our net zero target’

By joining we have committed to the following:

• Pledge: having a 2050 or sooner net zero target
• Plan: explain what steps will be taken toward achieving net zero
• Proceed: taking action towards net zero
• Publish: commit to report progress annually

We are currently developing the Carbon Management Plan which will set out how we plan to achieve our net zero target.

The university is committed net zero by 2040 in terms of activities it directly controls (such as university vehicles and campus electricity) and by 2050 – or sooner – in indirect emissions (such as those associated with waste and products purchased).

Achieving this will take action across the university from cutting long-haul air travel and reducing paper and plastic use to ensuring that our curriculum and research is aligned with the climate emergency.

All staff and students are invited to complete our consultation to give us your thoughts and ideas on how we can deliver this at Kent. We want to hear from as many people as possible to ensure that our plans reflect the way we want to live, learn and work in the future.

You can also find out more about Kent’s response to the climate emergency by visiting the sustainability webpages or through their social media accounts: Instagram/Twitter