Happy New Year to all of you and I hope everyone felt the benefit of some time off over the winter break.  

Before the new term gets going in earnest I wanted to touch on a few of our priorities for the coming months – do also join our Community Catch-Up on Teams on Tuesday 17 January from 12.00 – 13.00 where I will expand on these further, highlight other positive initiatives on the way and answer any questions you may have.  

This year’s National Student Survey is an obvious place to start, with it launching at Kent on 23 January – my thanks to all of you who will be helping encourage final-year students to complete this, it is really important we get a good response early in the year. Student experience is a major focus at the moment and it’s been great to see Nexus, our new one-stop shop for student queries in the Templeman Library, getting off to a fantastic start last term with lots of student interest; we will be promoting this further this term to build on its success. 

Before Christmas we published our annual accounts, so do read the summary of these from the Finance team which give the context for our wider financial situation. As I’ve updated previously, alongside the work this year to reduce non-pay spend to cover reduced student retention, the accounts show how the challenges of both inflation and the flat tuition fee mean we have a continued need to look at our ways of working to see how we can be more effective. With that in mind there will be a number of discussions in the weeks ahead to reflect on how Divisions have bedded in, and their interface with professional services, and see how and where we can improve our operating model. 

Executive Group has also been looking at our upcoming Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) submission, which is the result of a great deal of work across teams. This has come together well and will be another important marker in terms of what we deliver at Kent, with more updates to follow on this in due course. Employability is another area where we increasing our efforts to ensure we are doing all we can to help our graduates meet local and national need. 

Over the months ahead there are also a number of other opportunities to get together with colleagues, with events and initiatives being planned for LGBTQ+ History Month, Time to Talk Day on 2 February, and Kent Giving Week which follows at the end of March. While I know it gets busy, do watch out for communications around these and find the time to take something in outside of the day-to-day if you can – I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible and wish you the very best for the term ahead.  

Yours sincerely

Karen

Staff and students are invited to the launch of the fourth volume of Kent Review in Keynes Senior Common Room on Tuesday 17 January at 18.00.

Like its predecessors, this latest anthology will showcase some of the best work emerging from the University’s postgraduate writers in Creative Writing. The edition will also feature the winning entries to the new School of English undergraduate writing competition, and an editorial by Professor David Herd.

To celebrate the launch there will be a number of readings, as well as a drinks reception, and copies of the Review available to purchase. Everyone is welcome to help celebrate the launch.

Kent Review, Volume 4 is home to a remarkable selection of poetry, short stories, non-fiction and novel extracts. The collection demonstrates the skill and artistic ambition of the writers at the University, with pieces that are each surprising, disarming, transporting, fresh; and collectively indicative of the vibrant, diverse work emerging from the Centre for Creative Writing.

Ever wondered how events and meetings could be made more sustainable? Whether your job involves planning small meetings or large-scale events, or you’re simply interested in the topic and have ideas from an attendee’s perspective – come along to learn, ask questions and help to think through how we can drive the sustainability agenda at Kent forward together.

University of Kent Sustainability Team and staff Sustainability Champions welcome you to come and share your ideas and good practice about how to improve sustainability across all aspects of event planning.

Key staff from services across the University will be there to take part in this dialogue – from catering, design and print, communications and branding to answer your questions. We’ll be launching our new online sustainable events guide – a handbook to help you plan and deliver sustainable events with confidence.

Staff from the Gulbenkian will also share their sustainability ambitions for the Boing festival and how you can be part of that work to shape the future of a large community event on campus.

Book now on Eventbrite to find out more about sustainability at Kent, discover sustainability actions you can take in your work when planning meetings and events, and meet like-minded colleagues across the University.

The last part of the workshop will involve food and drink tasters showcasing our local suppliers and sustainable catering options in the cafe area of the Gulbenkian. This will give us an opportunity to talk about how venues like the Gulbenkian can support sustainable events and give us more time to chat informally.

If you have any questions about the event including accessibility requirements, please email sustainability@kent.ac.uk as soon as possible so we can seek to accommodate these as well as we can. You can also view accessibility information about the venue.

Accessibility considerations:

The workshop will take place in the Gulbenkian theatre which is on the ground floor and has step free access with automated doors. Accessible and gender neutral toilets are available nearby, as well as baby changing facilities, and everyone is welcome to come and go from the session as they need to for their comfort.

If you have any questions about the event including accessibility requirements, please email sustainability@kent.ac.uk as soon as possible so we can seek to accommodate these as well as we can.

Recruitment for the Summer Vacation Research Competition 2023 has now begun. Watch the Q&A session to learn more.

Details of how to apply, including the application form, are available via the GRC KentNet – the closing date for applications is 10 February 2023.

The Summer Vacation Research Competition was developed for PDRAs, RAs and Research Associates wanting to gain additional research project and line management experience, and enthusiastic and motivated undergraduate students wishing to gain research experience through an established scheme where they are supported by University staff. For the first time, there are also two opportunities for Professional Services staff.

The competition, now in its sixth year, was initiated and is led by Dr Jennifer Leigh with a team including academic and professional services colleagues from across the University. Participating in the competition is an excellent way to boost your career and you can gain transferable skills by developing a research proposal, shortlisting, and interviewing students, and managing your own project, budget, and intern for 4-7 weeks with funding worth up to £2,500.

To contact the competition organisers, please email svrc@kent.ac.uk.

Good luck with your application!

The Vice Chancellor’s Cup is off to a flying start with 14 events scheduled throughout the year.

Staff teams recently completed in a series of team events to claim their spot on the leader board.

With ‘It’s a Knock-out’ taking place first, teams were set four timed challenges to complete, scoring points in each round.

Challenges included blindfolded games, agility courses and communication skills. Liquorice All Sports took the top spot, closely followed by LeJendSS and Living La Vida Mocha.

The second VC Cup event ran over two lunches in December, with a host of teams competing in a Volleyball tournament. Teams gave it their all, with CEMS dominating the competition with just two players!

Following these events, the top 4 teams are:

1^st place – Liquorice All Sports (35pt)

2^nd Place – Marlowe’s Marauders (34pt)

3^rd place – Campus Sporting Exploits (34pt)

4^th place – Living La Vida Mocha (30pt)

Find out more about the VC Cup, read the event highlights, check out the leader board and view our upcoming events online.

Ready to dust off your racquet, or just looking to take up a new sport, the tennis centre has you covered!

Kent Sport is home to one of the largest indoor tennis centres in Kent, boasting four, full-size acrylic tennis courts, suitable for all levels of tennis from competitive to recreational, alongside high-quality, professional LTA coaching. Based at The Pavilion, our Tennis and Events Arena is open to Kent Sport members throughout the year. Tennis is a great way to meet new people and improve your physical and mental health!

There are a couple of ways you can get involved. For those of you who feel semi confident to just have a go, take out a free Pay to Play membership with Kent Sport. This enables you to book a court through the online portal whenever you fancy a game. Staff Pay to Play sessions are just £5.50! Kent Sport also offers Premium Plus, Premium, and Plus membership packages, all offering different levels of membership access. You can check these out on our website.

Alternatively, if you would like a little more input, book a place on one of our LTA group coaching sessions for just £10 per session. Develop your tennis skills with our fully qualified LTA coaches. Nick Skelton is an LTA Level 5 Coach and leads the team of LTA-qualified coaches at Kent Sport. Sessions run over one hour and are the perfect place to meet new people and enhance your technique.

To find out more about these sessions, read our latest blog!