Article from Josh Turner, Community Life Officer:

This year we are working to communicate with our students early to ensure when they leave their privately rented homes, they have as little negative impact on the local community as possible.

We are working with local charitable partners including British Heart Foundation, to encourage our students to donate and avoid unnecessary waste.

Furthermore, Kent Union provide fantastic services including Freecycle and Student Food Bank, supporting the current and future students studying at Kent.

Canterbury City Council is also running a two week Bin Amnesty, where additional black bags of general waste will be collected with the usual collections. To communicate this we will be holding two Neighbourhood Days where we door-knock in areas which are highly populated by students to ensure students and residents are ready, as well as communicating through blogs and social media.

We appreciate that when moving out, extra rubbish can be generated but we want to work to reduce any impact on the local community.

Working in partnerships, we are helping making it easy to get rid of unwanted items through:

• Bin Amnesty: In central Canterbury, thanks to the Canterbury City Council and Canenco, there will be a bin amnesty from Monday the 20 June to Friday 1 July where all rubbish left out in key areas will be picked up as part of a weekly collection.
• We are teaming up with the British Heart Foundation to make it easy for students to donate unwanted possessions to this fantastic cause.
• Promoting the central donation services provided by Kent Union, including the Foodbank and Freecycle service.
• Promoting local removal and disposal services in Kent.
• Planning local litter picking volunteering opportunities for students on Monday 6 June and Monday 13 June.

If you have any concerns throughout this busy move-out period, you can get in touch with our Community Life Officer for support.

For more information email Josh on communityliaison@kent.ac.uk

Calling all academics!

Join our workshop, ‘Generating and Capturing Impact Through Strong Stakeholder Relationships’, held on our Canterbury campus on Wednesday 22 June,  from 12.00 – 14.00.

This face-to-face workshop and is aimed at helping you understand why sustainable relationships with stakeholders are important for evidence gathering. We will identify how to build such relationships and speak about engaging with end users in order to extend your networks and to maximise your research impact.

The workshop will help you to:

• Understand the importance of strong relationships with stakeholders and how to maintain them
• Understand how to widen your impact network through key stakeholders and engage with end users
• Understand how to set out expectations with stakeholders from the onset to maximise impact capture
• Access support and resources, including the Research Impact KURIE Moodle

Pre-booking is essential as this is an interactive workshop with breakout sessions and places are limited.

Programme:

• Introduction – Claire Perera, Research Excellence Team
• On the evolution of strong, sustainable stakeholder networks and their importance for evidencing impact – Professor Darren Griffin, School of Biosciences
• Interactive Breakout Session: Extending networks and thinking about engaging with end users – Dr Ann Kinzer, Research Excellence Team
• Using Logframes for Measuring Impact and Embedding Evidence Capture into Collaborative Processes – Sunder Mahendra, Research Excellence Team
• Maintaining Stakeholder Relations – Simon Barnes, Knowledge Exchange and Innovation

Visit the Research Policy and Support webpage to book your place.

June celebrates Pride month and the annual Pride Canterbury parade. The University of Kent has a presence at this event each year and as we pull together our plans, one of the things we want to do is showcase the brilliant advances in LGBTQIA+ research taking place at Kent.

We want to celebrate your work by sharing an overview of your ongoing and completed research at the University of Kent stall which will be located in the Dane John Gardens on the 11 of June.

How you can get involved

Please submit your contact details and an abstract of your research project in this Microsoft Form to showcase your ongoing or completed research at this years’ Pride Canterbury event.

If you have any questions please contact Josh Turner on communityliaison@kent.ac.uk.

Please submit your contribution by Monday 6 June 2022.

This event celebrates the diversity of our varied and wonderful communities of human sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.

Look out for more information in the coming weeks on to get involved with Pride Month and join the parade.

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

Due to the stabilising situation of Covid, they’ll be doing a side-range of webinar topics. Here’s the schedule for two weeks:

Week commencing 30 May 2022

Monday 30 May – ‘‘Practical information and advice through Care first’ – The webinar provides detail about our Information Specialists and their role as part of your EAP service
Time: 12.00-12.30 – click on this link to sign up

Wednesday 1 June  – ‘How Care first can support you’ – A webinar for awareness and how to access the EAP service provided by Care first.
Time: 12.00-12.30 – click on this link to sign up

Friday 3 May – BANK HOLIDAY QUEEN’S PLATINUM JUBILEE

Week commencing 6 June 2022

Monday 6 June –‘Care first manager and MHFA support’ – This webinar provides an overview of the support available for managers and also the mental health first aiders of organisations through the EAP.
Time: 13.00-13.30 – click on this link to sign up

Wednesday 8 June – ‘How Care first can support you’ – A webinar for awareness and how to access the EAP service provided by Care first.
Time: 12.00-12.30 – click on this link to sign up

Friday 10 June – ‘Supporting each other’s differences’ – A webinar to help us understand we are all different but how we can be supportive to each other with the choices we make and lives we have.
Time: 12.00-12.30 – click on this link to sign up

Dr Edd Pitt and Professor Kathleen M. Quinlan, academics in the University of Kent’s Centre for the Study of Higher Education, authored the latest in a series of high-profile literature reviews from Advance HE.

Their review, focused on enhancing assessment and feedback practices in higher education, launched on 19 May.  Based on 481 empirical studies published from 2016-2021, it is a timely and comprehensive resource for higher education practitioners and policy makers.

The review concludes with a series of evidence-based recommendations for educators, policymakers, and researchers in the field.

According to Stuart Norton, Senior Adviser Learning and Teaching, Advance HE, “the authors have done an excellent job of providing details and explanations of each [recommendation], ultimately with a view to rethinking and repositioning assessment strategies, processes, and practices across the sector.”

In an accompanying blog, Quinlan and Pitt reflect on the process of completing the review.  In two companion podcasts, they discuss high level messages from the review, explaining key principles and offering examples of practices that illustrate those principles.  They will present webinars on 9 June.

Professor Richard Reece, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Education and Student Experience at the University of Kent welcomed the report, “it offers valuable and insightful guidance on the steps we need to take as a University and a sector to ensure assessment and feedback best serve our students’ learning. It will guide our own review of assessment and feedback policy and practices at the University of Kent in the coming year. We hope colleagues will begin that process at this year’s Learning and Teaching Conference on 20 June, which Dr Pitt and Professor Quinlan have organised around these themes.”

Sign up to the conference on the 20 June.

Advance HE is a charity that works with institutions and higher education across the world to improve higher education for staff, students, and society. A membership organisation, it enrols more than 500 higher education and research institutions around the world, including most UK higher education providers.

This literature review is being showcased as a member benefit, ensuring wide dissemination among key stakeholders. To retrieve these resources, simply login using an email address from a member institution.

Our Joint Staff Negotiating and Consultation Committee (JSNCC) held its latest regular meeting on 11 May. The JSNCC is the main forum in which staff and trade union representatives meet with management representatives to discuss key developments across the University, particularly those that will impact staff. Find out more about JSNCC and how the reps can help you have your voice heard. 

Updates from the May meeting 

People and Culture Strategy 

Deputy Director of HR Nikki Hyde gave an update on the development of our People and Culture Strategy, which is being finalised following a series of focus groups with colleagues across the University. The Strategy is about how staff can be best supported to get the most out of their time at Kent, wherever they work and whatever they do. JSNCC discussed how we can ensure this becomes fully embedded with tangible positive impact for staff, including the importance of engaging staff in the strategy in ways appropriate to where they work. It will also dovetail with a wider programme of staff engagement activities throughout the year, making sure we make the most of being largely back on campus again. 

Wellbeing and Workload 

This continues to be a key priority, both for the JSNCC reps and for the University’s Executive Group. Concerns were raised about the need for join up across projects to ensure that additional pressure doesn’t get put on staff by multiple change initiatives happening at the same time. The Project Management Office has recently put in place a new Project and Programme Portfolio Board which should help with prioritisation of projects and avoiding such conflicts in future. The Committee also discussed the recent workload and wellbeing survey, with a wider update for staff on the outcomes of this due shortly. 

KentVision 

A regular update on KentVision was provided, with the latest project update available on the Staff News pages. This remains a key area of concern for the Committee, with reps reporting pressures around the aspects of the project expected for delivering by August. However, there has also been progress in some areas, with all recognising the need for more regular comms on areas where things are improving. 

Covid-19 and Health and Safety 

Following recent Government announcements on ‘Living with Covid’, our current Covid-19 Pay Policy will be removed from 31 May.  

JSNCC were advised that the Safety, Health and Environment Executive Committee (SHEEC), a sub-committee of Council, is being replaced by a new management committee, with Audit Committee taking over the monitoring role for Council.  JSNCC discussed the arrangements for staff consultation on health and safety, with reps stating a preference for retaining dedicated consultation meetings rather than health and safety being absorbed into main JSNCC meetings. 

Staff Development Policy 

The Committee discussed the challenges with evenly implementing the Staff Development Policy, with a sense that due to disparities in budget allocation not all areas are in a position to fully deliver on the policy commitments.  While it was generally agreed that Kent values the development and career progression of its staff, the Talent & Organisational Development team was asked to look further into the way staff development budgets are allocated and spent across different areas.  

Next meeting is 22 June 2022.

Find our more about JSNCC. 

We are delighted to announce the official launch of the Research at Kent website, which is maximising discoverability of cutting-edge research and innovation projects from across the University of Kent.

Discover

Explore projects that are delivering significant social, cultural and economic benefits to regional, national and international communities. Find out about our world-leading researchers who are taking a collaborative, global, impactful and interdisciplinary approach to research and innovation.

How it works

Research at Kent provides a network of University of Kent branded websites, freely available to researchers across the University, to help promote their research projects.

It provides standard options to display text, images, video, and other media. It can also display customized lists of research works from Kent Academic Repository, course listings, course modules, and SharePoint lists.

Get your own project site

Any researcher from across the university can have a Research at Kent project site.

• If your research project hasn’t start yet, contacting the Research and Scholarly Communication Support team.
• If your research project is underway, use the New Website Form to request a new site.

If you’re a postdoctoral researcher make sure to include the name of your supervisor for approval.

Get in touch

Contact Josie Caplehorne with any questions or comments about Research at Kent.

The next EDI Forum is scheduled for the 18 May, 13.00 – 15.00  (online via Teams)

The EDI Forum exists to allow all students and members of staff at the University of Kent to come together to discuss topics related to equality, diversity and inclusion that are important to them. This could be raising issues that the University needs to address, highlighting good practice that they have come across or sharing their thoughts and ideas.

The Forum is a safe, neutral space that is chaired by a volunteer member of staff. It feeds any discussions back to the EDI Strategy Group so that real change can be manifested across the University.

Any member of staff or student can raise an item for discussion. If you have something that you wish to add to the agenda, please email Becky Lamyman, Student EDI Officer.

At the next meeting the main topic for discussion will be Menopause Support at Kent; what is available, what is missing, ideas for events and activities to raise awareness, how line managers and supervisors or tutors can be better positioned to support staff and students going through the menopause, what a Menopause Support Policy should include etc.

We particularly welcome members of the Staff and Student representative networks. Trade Union and Divisional / Directorate EDI representatives and student societies to attend.

You do not need to register in advance or book a place; simply follow the link on the day.

The agenda and minutes from previous meetings are available on the EDI Forum webpages

We look forward to welcoming you to the Forum on the 18 May at 13.00.

Influential songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Kristin Hersh, leader of the indie rock band Throwing Muses and the noise rock power trio 50 Foot Wave, is back on the road with her highly acclaimed Throwing Muses release, Sun Racket.

Playing here in a solo capacity, this is a rare opportunity to spend an intimate evening alongside one of the world’s most uniquely gifted and compelling songwriters.

” Lean, Immersive, and groove-heavy, tapping the vein of hardscrabble psychedelia that defines their best work ” – Pitchfork

More information on this event and how to book can be found on the Gulbenkian website.

We’re celebrating the National Day for Staff Networks on Wednesday 11 May and the theme for this year is #ViableVisibleVoices.

Our Staff Equalities Networks provide space for under-represented staff at the University of Kent to feel they can bring their authentic selves to work, to make change with the support of a network behind them, and feel included in their workplace. They are crucial to creating a culture of inclusion across all our campuses.

These are just some of the highlights of their work:

The Disability Staff Network have been working with Estates to improve the accessibility of our buildings by taking Accessibility Tours. These tours aim to give a better understanding of the campus experience for disabled staff and students.

The LGBT+ Staff Network have continued to advocate for the rights and inclusion of trans staff and students here at the University and in the greater communities of Kent and Medway. Co-Chair Lynne Regan has shared her research into the experiences of trans students and shared her findings with Executive Group and the wider community of staff and students at Kent. The network has also re-designed our inclusive lanyards, updating the traditional Pride flag to the Progress Flag, and including a strap with the Trans Inclusion flag.

The BAME Staff network have completed their work on a pivotal report that will inform the University of Kent’s antiracism strategy for years to come. The first of its’ kind, the network surveyed all staff on their thoughts of the culture of the institution and the effectiveness of EDI policies and procedures.

The Women’s Network focus on the professional development and experiences of women who work at the University. They share resources on dealing with menopause while working, and keep their members informed of new policies that might affect them. This year they hosted Professor Jennifer Leigh on International Women’s Day, who gave a talk on Intersectionality, exploring challenges for women in STEM and ableism.

Thank you to all our Staff Networks for their valuable work!

If you’d like to join any of the above Staff Networks, please email equalityanddiversity@kent.ac.uk.