The Centre for the Study of Higher Education congratulates the following colleagues who applied for Senior Fellowship and Fellowship of Advance HE (formerly the Higher Education Academy) through the Route to Recognition for Experienced Staff (RRES), and successfully gained national recognition for their leadership, excellence, expertise and commitment to professionalism in teaching and learning.

Senior Fellowship

• Johanna Woodcock Ross – Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research
• Krystin Zigan – Kent Business School

Fellowship

• Chris Henry – Centre for English and World Languages
• Marcus Sorensen – School of Psychology

Congratulations!

From discussing mental wellbeing for home workers, to advice on talking to children about Covid-19, Care First continue to provide free webinars for staff to sign up to.

Here’s the webinar schedule for the week commencing 29 June 2020.

Monday 29 June 2020 – ‘How to talk to Children about Covid-19’

Time: 14.00 – 14.30 – To register click on this Go to webinar link.

Tuesday 30 June 2020  – ‘Physical & Mental Wellbeing for Home Workers’

Time:  11.00 – 11.30 – To register click on this Go to webinar link.

Wednesday 1 July 2020 – ‘Covid-19: Returning to Work after Furlough’

Time: 14.00 – 14.30 – To register click on this Go to webinar link.

Thursday 2 July 2020 – ‘Loneliness during the Covid-19 Pandemic’

Time: 15.00 – 15.30 – To register click on this Go to webinar link.

Friday 3 July 2020 – ‘Teenage Mental Health’

Time: 11.00 -11.30 – To register click on this Go to webinar link.

Having trouble with Teams? Want to dive into Delve?

Come to a drop-in session (via Teams) on Wednesday 1 July 10.00-11.00, or any Wednesday thereafter.

James Cordery, IT Trainer, Tim Jenkins who’s an avid user, and a member of our IT Service Desk will be on hand to answer any queries you may have. Ask them about any of the Microsoft 365 tools, and they’ll do their best to share what they know.

If you don’t want to wait for a drop-in session:

• Use our Microsoft 365 guides and Microsoft 365 FAQs
• Contact us via online chat, call 01227 82 4888 or email helpdesk@kent.ac.uk

Office 365 has been renamed Microsoft 365, and some new tools and features are available.

Video sharing, Forms and new features in Teams

Stream, available from Wed 24 June, offers video recording, Teams meetings recording, online video storage and sharing. Any recordings you make in Teams will automatically save into Stream with a link from your Teams channel.

Forms now available: use it to quickly build simple forms and short online polls.

Teams improvements:

• See up to 9 people at once on the screen (49 people view is coming later this year)
• You can upload your own background image: see the branding web pages for a choice of Kent images you could use
• If you record a Teams meeting, all participants are emailed a link to the video

Skype for Business will go in July

Skype for Business will be retired from use at the University in July 2020. Microsoft plan to withdraw the service, as Microsoft Teams offers the same chat and screen sharing functionality with much more. We’ll send a reminder in July.

Directory (Delve) tips

To find someone’s Kent username, look in the Outlook Address Book when creating a new email. The username is under a field called Alias. You can search for people in Delve by username.

To easily view directory information within Teams, add the Who app in Teams.

Check email accessibility in Outlook online

When composing an email from outlook.office365.com, in the top menu (to the right of the Send/Attach links) click the ellipses … , then click Check for accessibility issues.

Help and support

If you have any questions about any of the Microsoft 365 tools:

• Join a drop-in session. Save this link in your calendar: Wed 1 July 10.00-11.00: weekly drop-in
• Use our Microsoft 365 guides and Microsoft 365 FAQs
• Contact us via online chat, call 01227 82 4888 or email helpdesk@kent.ac.uk

The E-Learning Team are delighted to announce the launch of the Digitally Enhanced Education – A Guide to Teaching Online course. The course has been put together by the E-Learning Team, with contributions from academic colleagues, students, Information Services, the Library and Student Support and Wellbeing.

This course has been designed to help academic colleagues from around the institution to transition part or all of their teaching online. We would encourage all academic colleagues to engage with this course and to make use of the materials we have provided.

The course is divided into themes and topics and, whilst there is a natural pathway through the course, the individual sections can be viewed and undertaken in isolation, in any sequence and at a time of your choosing.  All staff have been automatically enrolled, so you can access it straight away. Live webinars will be provided to supplement this course and will be advertised in the coming weeks.

If you have any comments or suggestions, please do feel free to get in touch via elearning@kent.ac.uk

As the Covid-19 situation is progressing and the Government guidance continues to change as lockdown restrictions are eased, individuals may be feeling anxious about going out and whether it safe to do so. Mental Health support during times like these are paramount, which is why Care First have worked hard  to ensure their services remain available 24/7 throughout the pandemic to provide emotional and practical support and ensure they have every aspect of your overall wellbeing covered.

 Care First are still providing webinars for you to sign up to, here’s the schedule for w/c 22 June:

Monday 22 June 2020 –‘‘How Care first services link together to support your overall wellbeing’

Time:  14.00 -14.30 – To register click on this Go webinar link

Tuesday 23 June 2020 – ‘Top Tips for writing a C.V’

Time: 13.00 – 13.30 – To register click on this Go to webinar link 

Wednesday 24 June 2020  – ‘The Psychological impact of COVID-19’

Time: 14.00 – 14.45 – To register click on this Go to webinar link 

Thursday 25 June 2020 – ‘Social Media, safeguarding and young people’

Time: 11.00 -11.30 – To register click on this Go to webinar link

Friday 26 June 2020 –  ‘Top tips for a ‘fitter’ financial
future following lockdown’

Time: 12.00 – 12.45 – To register click on this Go webinar link 

Don’t suffer in silence. Kent Sport Physiotherapy Clinic is available for any of your aches and pains with our free initial online consultations.

Some may think that an online consultation is not worthwhile due to the lack of manual therapy, but there are still lots of benefits to be gained from them. Here is a list of some of the injuries and problems we have been able to help people with:

•       Shoulder and neck pain due to different work station positions

•       Elbow and wrist pain due to extra gardening time

•       Elbow and wrist pain due to more computer work

•       Patella tendon flare ups due to increased running volumes in lock down

•       Marathon runners concerned about how to maintain fitness

•       Shin splints and medial tibial stress syndrome

Not all injuries have been treatable through online consultations, however, using assessment tools in different ways has helped narrow down a potential diagnosis such as an ACL tear, meniscal tear and FAI and led to referrals and scans to the appropriate people.

Vicky helped me with my shoulder pain and repetitive strain by asking questions around the topic and learning that it also related to my neck. With the help of the exercises she gave me, plus a follow-up appointment, I have a toolkit to ward off these problems in future.

– Sandra Virgo

During lockdown, there has been expanding waiting lists and having that referral letter written by a physiotherapist to send to the GP could help with being referred for a scan or further treatment.

The Kent Sport Physiotherapy Clinic is still offering free initial 20-minute online or telephone consultations with Vicky Annis, lead Physiotherapist. Consultations are open to all, whether you have used the clinic previously or not; and whether you are a student or staff member at the University of Kent or from the wider community. To book, please email: physio@kent.ac.uk.

Keynes college launched their Virtual Festival of Arts between the 15 May – 5 June, with the aim to engage with students, create something uplifting and feel a sense of community, in what has been a difficult time for us all.

The response was phenomenal, with over 90 students entering across the University, with the hope that sometime next academic year, they’ll be a post-lockdown major exhibition in Keynes. There were 3 overall winners, who won cash prizes and will have the opportunity for their creation to be permanently displayed in Keynes.

Here are the 3 main winners:

In FIRST place, we have Silvia-Raisa Simeria’s digital visualisation ‘Hometown’.

She describes her work: ‘my visualisation attempts to recreate a seer looking into a crystal ‘cube’. The cube can be seen to represent the fixed and rigid aspects of the lockdown. The inside creatively represents some of the activities that I feel the seer and all of us long for within lockdown’.

In SECOND place, is Katie Roger’s music composition ‘Nocturne in D flat’, which she composed during lockdown. This piece is soothing, emotive and beautifully executed – a mindful moment for us all.You can listen to this piece via this Facebook page.

Winning THIRD place, is Jess Patrick’s ‘Four Walls’, poetry combined with photography, which explores the isolation people are experiencing in lockdown.

She describes it as a shared experience that can and will be conquered. We particularly like how the piece tells a story of lockdown that may resonate with many of us, expressing frustrations, sadness and ultimately hope.

One of Bethany Chater’s (Masters Officer. & College Support Co-ordinator)  favourites, is this:

The sculpture, called ‘Let that sink in!’ is by Mila Morelli and it won a highly commended award of ‘Best Contemporary Sculpture’. The artist said: ‘Because no amount of hand-washing can remove the fear and uncertainty that currently bubbles beneath the surface of society.’

You can enjoy viewing all of the entries via the virtual gallery on Virtual Festival of Arts Instagram page.

The entries and announcements of the highly commended winners can also be viewed on the Keynes Facebook page.

The College Life Team is also proud to present their newsletter which went out to all Keynes students and Alumni, during lockdown. You can access all the issues here, and enjoy some delicious recipes, exercise regimes, and guess the year of the golden oldie photos!

Happy reading!