Monthly Archives: October 2021

Invitation to the Global Officers Leadership Development (GOLD) Programme

We are delighted to invite Kent students to apply for this year’s Global Officers Leadership Development (GOLD) Programme.  The programme is a co-curricular venture, designed to fit around your academic studies.  It provides a framework of activities for globally-minded undergraduate students at Kent to develop their leadership skills, global citizenship and cultural awareness.

There are 5 components which can be completed throughout the academic year. Benefits include:

  • Employability Points awarded per activity
  • Certificate of recognition and personal reference from the Dean for Internationalisation
  • Recognition on your Higher Education Achievement Report
  • Practical event & project management experience
  • A chance for you to record your international skill development in the Kent Global Passport.

This programme is also offered as a credit-bearing ‘wild’ module, GOLD5000.

For further details please see our website.

Deadline to apply is midnight, 10th October, 2021.

(If considering taking this as a wild module, usual module registration deadline applies).

 

What past students have said:

I would highly recommend this programme to any student who is globally minded and wants to be more active on campus, as well as wanting to learn new skills that you don’t get when you join a society.

Preena Dodhia, BSc Biomedical Science

I thoroughly enjoyed my participation in the GOLD programme, not only do I think that it has allowed me to develop skills that have strengthened my employability, I also found the programme to be an important avenue for expression during an intense final year of study. I would recommend the GOLD programme to any student that is interested in further developing themselves personally and professionally.
​Leo Harris, BA History and Spanish

The GOLD programme is a GREAT opportunity for anyone looking to place themselves out of their comfort zone, gain skills and meet like-minded people. It gave me the chance to develop new interests and connect to other programmes and opportunities with international universities, all of which can be utilised in my search for a job after university. I have made amazing friends who I will keep in touch with, and felt like I have extended my year abroad experience in the comfort of Kent, keeping my passion for understanding cultures alive! I would recommend GOLD to all Kent students with an interest in the international and encourage you to put yourself out there. 

Lucy Lavender, BA Politics and International Relations with a Year in Continental Europe

What’s new or different with Library and IT services at Kent

Welcome back! See what’s new or changed in IT and library services since the last academic year.

Getting back onto eduroam Wi-Fi

We had to change some Wi-Fi settings recently, so if you have any trouble follow these steps to connect to eduroam. For a superior service make sure you use eduroam and not WiFi Guest (which is for visitors and isn’t designed to meet student and staff needs).

Your Digital Library reinvented – we think you’ll love it!

Accessing digital resources is easy with our refreshed Digital Resources Directory – a comprehensive list of the library resources and databases we buy for you. There’s a feedback form on there so you can let us know what you think – it’s a vital tool and we want to make sure it works well for you.

Off campus? Online access has changed

From off campus you’ll have to verify your identity before you can log into email, Microsoft 365 services, Moodle, Student Data System and other systems. This is multi-factor authentication and is there to protect your account. For help setting it up see our guide to multi-factor authentication.

We’ve also replaced our VPN service which gives you secure access to specific services from off campus. This guide tells you how to install and use our new VPN.

Templeman Library

We’re fully open with complete open access to books, study spaces and a reservation service. Please wear a face covering in the Library, and use the hand sanitiser and wipes especially when using shared equipment (you should see them nearby).

Our Covid 19 update has full details of available services.

Find out now so you don’t miss out!

Get to know what’s on offer now so you can take advantage of services straight away. Here are 3 ways you can make sure you’re all set study success.

  1. Check out our essential guides to help you get started
  2. Take the Library and IT e-induction in Moodle
  3. Take the Templeman Trail – explore the Library with the Actionbound app

Just for you

Finally, we have some great recreational reading on display in the Library Café and online in our welcome (back) reading list. The list has a mixture of e-books and physical books. We hope you enjoy our recommendations!

Best of luck for the year ahead. Don’t forget we’re here to support you and help you make the most of the IT and Library resources on offer. We look forward to seeing you soon.

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Congratulations to our newly promoted academic colleagues

Sixty-seven academic colleagues are celebrating their promotion to professor, reader, senior lecturer or senior research fellow in the 2020-21 academic year.

The new professors are:

Division of Arts and Humanities

Shona Illingworth (Arts)

Division of Computing, Engineering and Mathematical Sciences

Mark Batty (Computing)

Division of Human and Social Sciences

Robert Fish (Anthropology and Conservation)

Division for the Study of Law, Society and Social Justice

Heejung Chung and Carolyn Pedwell (Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research)

 

Professor Heejung Chung

Division of Natural Sciences

Glen Davison (Sport and Exercise Sciences), Simon Holder (Chemistry & Forensic Science), Neil Kad and Mark Wass (Biosciences)

Professor Glen Davison

Martin Atkinson, Director of HR and Organisational Development, said: ‘The career development, personal growth and excellence of our academic staff are vital to the continuing success of the University. Congratulations to all those promoted this year in the most challenging circumstances. And, at a time when the contribution of the nation’s essential workers has been recognised and celebrated, I am sure that those colleagues would fully acknowledge that their achievements would not have been possible without the support of other academic colleagues and the professional services staff working behind the scenes.’

You can see the full list of Academic promotions 2020-21 here.

[Main picture shows newly promoted Professor Neil Kad from the School of Biosciences]

Kent Unicorns – staff netball team

Kent Unicorns, a netball team made up of University of Kent staff get ready for their next season in the Thanet District Netball League which starts this month.

Sponsored by Kent Sport, the team are made up of staff from across the university and have been together since 2017.

Following the successful introduction of Netball in the VC Cup, Sport Development introduced netball coaching sessions for staff to help those get ‘Back to Netball’.  As regulars to training, the team took up the opportunity to participate in the local league to improve their practice and gain further match play.  The team have gone from strength to strength.  Friendly games returned this summer to get teams active after months of lockdown.  Their first match of the new season resulted in a win for the Kent Unicorns, and two of its team earning both Best Attack and Best Defence of the match.

Team Captain, Ali Webster (Quality Assurance and Compliance Manager), says ‘the pandemic has presented many challenges for everybody over the last eighteen months, but I’ve been delighted with the team’s resilience and ability to find ways to support each other throughout. We have already started practicing as a team again and I am excited to play netball with this amazing bunch of women during the coming season.’

The team are grateful to Kent Sport for the support and sponsorship they have given the team over the years and look forward to this next season where fingers crossed, they can keep up the good work.

If you are a member of staff interested in playing Netball, come along to ALL Active Social Netball every Monday lunchtime, 12.30 – 13.30 in the Sports Centre.  Kent Sport membership required. Minimum membership £2 per session with pay to play membership.  For more information, please see website or follow @ALLActiveKent on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or TikTok for updates.

Black History Month 2021

Welcome to Black History Month 2021!  This October we celebrate Black History, the successes and achievements of Black individuals and offer a critical examination of where we need to do more and be better, both as a University and a society.  

This year’s theme at Kent is Black Excellence, and this is exactly what the month aims to showcase. Black Excellence across a variety of academic and non-academic fields such as Business, Research, Sports, Literature, Media and Culture and celebrates a host of British and international figures.

Led by volunteers from BAME Staff and Student Networks and the Kent Union Representative Officers, this year’s Black History Month features a wide range of events that are sure to capture your interest and attention. They include inspirational speakers, art exhibitions, workshops and training courses, film screenings, a book club and even a reggae night in the Gulbenkian on the Canterbury site. The vast majority of events are free, open to anyone to attend and a lot are online so can be dipped in and out of at your leisure if you are unable to attend on the scheduled time and date or are studying or working at home or at a different site.

You may want to try our recommended reading list, go and see a film in the Gulbenkian, grab a chat and a coffee at Woody’s, listen to Professor Kalwant Bhopal speak on Black Excellence in Higher Education and Scholarship, view the photos from the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, watch some YouTube videos or simply enjoy some food from the Ile Afrik food truck. Whatever you get involved in, make sure you share it with #BHMKent2021

The full programme is available on the Kent Union website

Our programme of activity doesn’t end when Black History Month is over either- keep a look out throughout the academic year for more events and activities on campus to engage with.

We hope you enjoy everything that Black History Month 2021 has to offer.