Colleagues are invited to the e-learning forum on Tuesday 27 November, 12.00-13.30 in the UELT Seminar Room, Canterbury Campus.

This session will encourage practitioners to think creatively about alternative uses of lecture capture technologies, and showcase innovative uses from academics at the University of Kent.

Participants will also be encouraged to share their own experiences and to consider strategies for incorporating content recorded using capture technologies into their overall educational approach. The ideas and best practices discussed could provide valuable insight for any academic thinking about trying to improve student experience and increase engagement with the curriculum.

Participants will engage in an action learning activity ‘Capture Technology Bingo’ where they will be presented with a series of alternative use cases for capture technology and use it to critically evaluate their own practice/institutional practice. Participants will be encouraged to share examples from their own experience and consider strategies for successfully incorporating captured content into their overall educational approach.

Themes for discussion during this session will include:

• How might alternative uses of (lecture) capture technologies impact positively on student satisfaction?
• How might the functionality of (lecture) capture technologies be used to improve assessment and feedback processes?

To book a place please complete the online booking form.

If you have any queries please contact cpdbookings@kent.ac.uk

Dr Beth Breeze, Director of the Centre for Philanthopy, was delighted to receive £10,000 from Blackbaud to support two scholarships for excellent students who wish to register for the MA Philanthropic Studies.

For almost 40 years, Blackbaud has been developing software and services for not-for-profit organisations. They are offering the scholarships as they value the importance of fundraising education and recognise the benefit of strengthening provision at Kent to support good practice across the UK.

Fundraising is widely understood as an essential but complex role, for which most practitioners lack appropriate and substantive training. Research shows that the vast majority of UK fundraisers learn ‘on the job’ and with the benefit of very minimal in-job training, such as one day courses and reading trade magazines.

Filling this education gap is a key priority of the Centre for Philanthropy at the University of Kent, the only university outside of North America to offer a Masters-level degree programme in Philanthropic Studies. This two year part-time course, taught by distance learning including on-campus days, is designed to fit around the professional and personal commitments of practitioners. The programme has recruited over 70 students since launching in September 2016

These scholarships will ensure the programme is as accessible as possible to meet the widespread demand for trained and talented fundraisers by making it affordable for charities and fundraisers. Dr Breeze said “We are thrilled to receive this generous funding from Blackbaud, who share our desire to help professionalise fundraising in the UK”.

The Academic Career Map (ACM) will be launched, alongside a revised Academic Promotion Policy, to take effect in September 2019.

ACM is a framework setting out relevant expectations, supporting development and recognising achievements at each academic career stage. The related changes to the Academic Promotion Policy will mean significant changes to the promotion application process for academic staff on Teaching & Research, Teaching & Scholarship and Research contracts.

Academic staff are invited to find out more about ACM at one of several staff information sessions taking place during May and June. The team behind ACM will also be visiting some schools, but if one is not yet scheduled, you could attend one of our open-invitation sessions. Dates for all planned sessions, from 8 May to 21 June, are available now on the ACM webpages

The ACM was developed in partnership with academic and academic-related staff, through the Recognising Excellence in Academia Project, with the aim of providing greater clarity around expectations. The proposed detail was shared with all staff through the University website and several staff engagement and consultation events in November/December 2018. Helpful feedback resulted in the ACM being finalised and approved by relevant committees. The Academic Promotion Policy has been revised to align with the ACM framework and introduce other changes to address feedback received from staff throughout the project.

To find out more about the ACM framework, and guidance on how it will work, see the ACM webpages

If you have any comments or questions, please email academiccareermap@kent.ac.uk

We are delighted to announce that progress profiles go live this term. They have been developed by the Student Success Project (SSP) in collaboration with Planning and Business Information Office (PBIO) and the Unit for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (UELT).

What are Progress Profiles?

A Progress Profile is a document that summarises information about a student. Progress Profiles are intended to inform students and to help facilitate the academic adviser process.

The first version is quite simple, covering attendance and attainment. We aim to refine and extend Progress Profile content over time and in consultation with students and staff.

Progress profiles were prototyped in consultation with EDA students as part of Student Success Project Phase 1. They have been tested, refined and rebuilt for use across the University of Kent.

Where can I find out more?

Information sessions have been taking place; training and guidance for the Progress Profiles will be published and circulated shortly.

You can also find detailed information on the Student Success Resources Toolkit:

https://www.kent.ac.uk/studentsuccess/resources-toolkit/systems.html

This includes:

– A sample Progress Profile

– How students and staff will access Progress Profiles

– History, reasoning and design choices

– Support and training information

There are also Q&A sessions open to all University staff to be held in November. All staff are invited to attend to share ideas about the Progress Profile although places are limited.

To register your attendance please email studentsuccessproject@kent.ac.uk

These events will take place on:

Wednesday 14 November, Medway Campus, Pilkington Building Room 127
Friday 16 November, Canterbury Campus, Cornwallis East Seminar Room 1