Dear Colleagues,

Later this week, industrial action will be taking place at universities right across the country as part of the University & College Union’s national dispute. Given we can expect widespread discussion around this both in the media and elsewhere, I wanted to give an update on our approach to this. There are also a few other developments to bring to your attention by way of a follow-up to my last update on 3 November.

Industrial Action

Pay, pensions and working conditions are important topics and we all want a sector where staff are well rewarded for their hard work. While decisions are taken nationally, we have made good progress at Kent in a number of related areas through working together. We remain committed to engaging fully in national discussions and debates about these issues, striving to achieve a balance between ensuring appropriate reward for the great work delivered by all staff and sustainability for institutions. I am now on the board of UUK and UCEA and will play my part in seeking to achieve that balance.

As a University our focus is on working with our staff and mitigating the impact on our students as far as we can. We have set out our principles in responding to industrial action, including that any money saved through withheld salaries of striking staff will be reinvested in the student experience. HR have also put together guidance for those looking to take strike action.

Our 2022/23 budget

We are currently in the process of signing off our 2021/22 accounts, which achieved the planned deficit of £10.6m we set out as part of our return to sustainability, while investing in areas that support us in the future. Many university accounts this year will also include the finalisation of the USS pension valuation from 2020, adding a significant extra ‘deficit’ – to be clear, this is an accounting measure and does not affect us in terms of the underlying position.

For 2022/23 we had set a broadly break-even budget. This is now being looked at again given the emerging issues I updated on recently in relation to returning students. While we won’t have the final picture until early December, this has impacted us significantly and we are taking action now to address the in-year financial gap it creates. This includes tighter controls on staff recruitment, pulling back on capital spend and reducing our non-pay spend.

Our improved underlying position means that, while difficult, we are better able to manage a bump in the road like this. However, we have never seen attrition to this extent before and it is crucial we address it. I have asked Richard Reece to lead a group focusing on continuation and retention to ensure we understand and minimise this issue in future. We will also gather input through our senior leaders group on what else we should be doing.

Looking ahead

In relation to recruitment, while we have broadly met our income targets for new starts, this was assisted by international postgraduates who are with us for just one year. However we have not recruited as many home undergraduate students as we wanted, which unfortunately has a three-year adverse financial impact. Combined with the increasing numbers of non-returners this year, our overall student population is shrinking which impacts our income negatively.

My focus remains on turning this around to ensure we get back to steady growth and a good mix across home, international, undergraduate and postgraduate students. We also need to build our apprenticeship programmes, develop and continue to improve our overall course offer, and target a strong NSS this year to help improve our league table position. These will all help to generate resources to invest in our future.

The excellent REF 21 result, ensuring the right balance of programmes and having appropriate cost controls all help here. I am acutely aware as well of workload and system issues, plus the uncertainty out in the wider world right now. I am committed to working systematically to address these issues, as well as trying to reduce uncertainty by protecting the jobs of those who are already with us. I am also focussed on keeping you informed – last week we had our first Community Catch-Up of the term on measures to help with the Cost of Living, and there will be more in the new year.

I hope this helps in terms of an update on our current position and why we are taking the actions we are taking. Finally, on a personal note I will not be around on campus for a couple of weeks as I am having some hospital treatment. I hope to be back on campus mid December, and during this period EG members will covering for me as needed.

Yours sincerely

Karen

It’s with great sadness that we announce the death of Fr Tom, who has been Catholic Chaplain at the University of Kent since September 2018. Retiring due to ill health at the beginning of this academic year, he was best known to Kent students who are in their second years and beyond.

Fr Tom was a kind and characterful priest and a member of the Order of Friars Minor. He was interested in various fields of Franciscan Studies, especially Franciscan Christology and the writings of Francis and Clare.

As well as being Catholic Chaplain for the University of Kent he had priestly duties in one or two other places in East Kent and had – until its closure in the summer of 2021 – been one of the tutors at Wonersh Seminary in Surrey. As well as caring for the Catholic community on campus, he enjoyed taking part in wider Chaplaincy activities including interfaith events and the Aylesford Priory weekend. Fr Tom died peacefully, surrounded by friends, on Tuesday  November.

May he rest in peace, and rise in glory!

Revd Dr Stephen Laird, Anglican Chaplain

___

Fr Tom’s funeral arrangements will be publicised later, and a Requiem Mass well also be held on campus.

If anyone would like to share their memories of Fr Tom, or is feeling upset, please contact Sister Anouska Robinson Biggin (regional Catholic Chaplaincy Coordinator)

Tel: 020 7960 2505 Mobile: 07846 417 989
Email: anouskarobinsonbiggin@rcaos.org.uk

Or Revd Dr Stephen Laird, Anglican Chaplain s.c.e.laird@kent.ac.uk

The process of finding a replacement Catholic Chaplain began last month, after Fr Tom announced his retirement.

Perks at Work is an exclusive platform for our staff that helps you save money with discounts, earn WOWpoints and access free online classes.

Using Perks at Work gives you access to 30,000+ employee discounts across 20 categories, ranging from food and groceries, to travel, fitness and more.

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The E-Learning Team are pleased to announce that the next event in our series of ‘Digitally Enhanced Education webinars’ will take place on Wednesday 14 December from 14.00 – 16.30 (GMT), with the theme ‘What role does Learning Design play in student retention, progress and success?’

Agenda:

• 14:00 – 14:05 – Dr Phil Anthony (University of Kent): Introduction
• 14:05 – 14:20 – Professor Susan Orr (Pro Vice Chancellor: Education, De Montfort University): A Review of Blended Learning in Higher Education
• 14:20 – 14:35 – Molly Edwards & Yuvin Kim (Students at UCL): Students’ perspectives on the impact of learning design on progress and success
• 14:35 – 14:50 – Dr Martin Compton (UCL): Digitally accessible learning design
• 14:50 – 15:05 – Catriona Matthews & Paul Astles (Open University): The role of Learning Design at The Open University in supporting student retention and success
• 15:05 – 15:15 – Break
• 15:15 – 15:30 –  Mary Jacob (Aberystwyth University): Designing Active Cognitive Tasks to promote learning
• 15:30 – 15:45 – Alison Webb (University of Kent): What role does Learning Design play in student retention, progress and success?
• 15:45 – 16:00 – Rob Clarke, Pete Sparkes and Yasi Tehrani (UAL): Student retention in short courses in the arts
• 16:00 – 16:15 – Assistant Professor Selma Yildrim (University of Chicago) Three-point perspective and designing a course

Please share

Colleagues from outside the University of Kent are very welcome to join this community and so feel free to circulate. Please ask anyone wishing to join to complete the Digitally Enhanced Education registration form if they haven’t already. We add them to the mailing list linked to the series, and they will receive the joining link via email on 18 October.

If you would like to present at a future event, please submit a short synopsis and Phil Anthony will be in touch.

Having joined the University as the new Head of the Data Protection/Data Protection Office (DPO) in May 2022, this is the first of my termly data protection newsletters. I hope you find the updates and news stories useful!

Sharing personal data in an emergency – a guide for universities and colleges

On the 22 September, during our Welcome Week, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) published a timely reminder of how we can legitimately use personal data to support our students in an emergency situation:

“The new academic year in HE and FE is approaching, which is a good opportunity to remind everyone in universities and colleges that they should not hesitate to share students’ personal data to prevent serious harm to the physical or mental wellbeing of a student in an emergency situation, or protect a life. Data protection law allows this, and you won’t get into trouble if you share information with someone who is in a position to help a student at risk.” Blog: Sharing personal data in an emergency – a guide for universities and colleges | ICO

Updated Data Protection Policies

The University’s data protection, data breach and data subject rights policies have been updated to reflect current data protection requirements and safeguards.

Please read the policies so that you are confident that you are using data lawfully in your role.

These policies help you do the right thing when you are:

• using personal data
• responding to requests for personal data
• reporting a data breach or data security incident
• contracting with other organisations who use personal data on the University’s behalf
• handling particularly sensitive data such as allegations or reports of criminal activities.

Mandatory Data Protection Training

All staff are required to complete mandatory training modules including one that covers data protection, freedom of information and records management during their induction.

To ensure that knowledge of data protection is maintained, all staff are required to retake this module every two years. This will provide you with the confidence that you are processing personal data in a secure and legally compliant way; and allows the University to demonstrate that it is complying with its legal requirement to only have trained staff processing personal data.

If you haven’t revisited this module in the past two years, please do log on as soon as possible and complete it.

New Communication Channels

Finally, we are excited to announce the launch of our new Assurance and Data Protection webpages and SharePoint site. This should be your first port of call for anything data protection, freedom of information or records management related. Do check them out and let us know what you think!

If you have any questions not answered on the Assurance and Data Protection sites, or if you need further support and guidance please do get in touch with the team by emailing dataprotection@kent.ac.uk.

Laura Pullin
Head of Data Protection / Data Protection Officer (DPO)

Are you interested in sustainability and trying to make a difference at Kent? Get involved with FutureProof, our response to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

FutureProof aims to inspire individuals, departments and the whole University community to take action in ensuring that our estate, our curriculum and our students are ready for the future.

How does FutureProof Work?

The Sustainability Team works with departments to identify a key individual who can act as the department’s Sustainability Champion. Or if you are interested in being a Sustainability Champion you can contact the Sustainability Team directly. The Sustainability Champions are key to the project’s success, therefore training is at the heart of the project.

A series of workshops will run throughout the year on key issues such as climate change, resource use, supply chains and food. There will also be skills workshops that focus on communication, leadership, marketing, systems thinking and problem solving. For these skills workshops, sustainability will be used as the theme, however, these skills are transferable to a wide variety of workplace needs for staff.

Kelda McCabe, Business Information Officer, says “As a Sustainability Champion, I’ve had the opportunity to work closely with colleagues I wouldn’t ordinarily work with, on projects I wouldn’t ordinarily hear about. It’s opened up all sorts of doors at the University. There are so many opportunities to get involved in a way that suits your interests and time.

Being part of a group of people who care about the world and our impact on it has made the world of difference to how I feel about the climate crisis and the future of our planet. It’s a wonderful space to learn, to hear good news stories, to be motivated into action.”

Next FutureProof workshop: Urban agriculture, resilience and community. What can we learn from the Cubans about crisis and sustainability?

Join us on 1 December at 12:30 for our first FutureProof guest talk by Sustainability Champion Dr William Rowlandson. William will be drawing from his own expertise of Cuba and how sustainability projects rose from crisis in this hour-long, creative, practice-based workshop.

“Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989, Cuba entered a period of economic crisis, in which citizens suffered a catastrophic loss of essential goods – from foodstuffs to medicine and machinery. The sudden loss of oil imports led to an energy crisis that paralysed the nation, radically reducing electricity production, transport, industry and agriculture. In response to these shortages, communities across Cuba initiated projects and activities to provide the basic requirements for surviving the sudden decarbonised economy.

These projects – such as urban organic farming, vermiculture (worms!), seed-swaps, community composting, local markets, street kitchens (paladares), repair and reuse of goods and materials, energy-saving cooking methods, and transport sharing – were initially community-conceived and led, pursued without state approval, arising not out of a desire to achieve sustainability goals, but out of urgent necessity. With the success of these projects and the consequent alleviation of food scarcity and poor nutrition, the Cuban state provided resources and expertise and passed legislation to sustain the communities and the projects.”

In this creative, practice-based workshop, we will consider this historical (and ongoing) context with lots of open discussion. Refreshments will be provided, and please feel free to bring your lunch along with you.

How to get involved

If you’re interested in becoming a Sustainability Champion, or attending the next FutureProof event, please email The Sustainability Team sustainability@kent.ac.uk who will send you the event invite.

You can also check out the ‘Twin your toilet’ initiative. To encourage more people to report faults, the Estates department has pledged to sponsor a toilet through the ‘Twin your Toilet’ scheme for the first 10 toilets to be reported. If you report a faulty toilet you can even nominate your favourite toilet to be twinned!