Author Archives: Allie Burnett

In memoriam: John Hill

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of John Hill, Head of French within the Board of Applied Languages and Linguistics (BALL) at the University of Kent until 1993.

With a background in secondary school teaching, John joined the University Language Centre in the 1960s, working together with his wife Jacqueline to produce a range of new and innovative language courses for the fledgling university. He became Head of French in the Institute of Languages and Linguistics (ILL) – where he and Jacqueline were known affectionately as the ‘Hills of ILL’ – which was later to become BALL. Here, his role was to prepare students of other disciplines in a short time, and to an exceptionally high standard, for their year abroad. Many such students have come to Kent with little language background, and expressed gratitude to John for enabling them fully to benefit from a year’s study in a francophone country.

In a very real sense, he and Jacqueline were pioneers of ‘the European university’ concept that has long made the University of Kent distinctive. He outlived his wife Jacqueline, who died in April, by only three months. The couple are survived by their two sons.

Changes to Giles Lane car park

Over the summer there will be changes to the Giles Lane car parks. This includes essential maintenance for health and safety reasons.

Giles Lane car park will be fully closed from Monday 9 July with the aim to reopen the car park by September. This work has been scheduled over the summer vacation to cause minimal disruption.

We are taking this opportunity to reduce the level of the pink zone so Giles Lane car parks will be consolidated into one car park. The car park will become fully pink zone. From checks carried out by the Transport Team, less than 15% of the blue zone car park is being used by student blue zone permit holders; around 75% is being used by staff and associates and around 10% is being used by other persons.

Blue zone parking will still be available in the Sports Centre blue zone, Park Wood Courts, Pavilion and Oaks car parks.

Creating one level car par park allows us to improve the parking experience by installing Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) barriers in the car park and Variable Message Signage (VMS) along Giles Lane to provide information to drivers on the number of available spaces in Giles Lane car park. This will help with parking enforcement and traffic management. Environmentally, the introduction of VMS should help to reduce carbon emissions as drivers will spend less time driving around Giles Lane car park in search of a parking bay.

Levelling the car park will also create some additional parking bays within the car park.

Do you need to travel by car?

If it is an option for you why not consider changing up your travel to campus by walking, cycling or taking the bus? The University encourages sustainable travel wherever possible through the University’s Travel Plans. Did you know you can save over 50% when you purchase a staff discounted bus pass? Check out our travel discounts and planning your journey webpages.

How do I find out more information?

The Transport Team are working with key people in the Gulbenkian, Kent Sport, Conference Office and Recruitment to help manage their large number of visitors over the summer. If you are aware of any large events over summer outside of these departments that may be affected by the changes to Giles Lane car park, please email the Transport Team .

The Transport Team will be providing regular updates throughout the summer vacation period via their newsletter.

Aurora 2018-19

The University of Kent is pleased to announce its continuing participation in the Aurora programme, a sector-wide development programme for women in higher education led by Advance HE.

The Aurora programme aims to enable a wide range of women in HE to think of themselves as future leaders, to develop the skills they will need, and to help their institutions to maximise the use of the skills they acquire. Aurora is for female staff in academic role up to senior lecturer level or professional services equivalent roles who would like to develop and explore issues relating to leadership responsibilities. Aurora provides a positive experience of leadership and encourages participants to recognise their talent and capabilities and ‘step-up’ to promoted posts.

Sector wide research shows there are fewer women in the most senior positions in higher education than ten years ago and identifies the need to change this. Many influential stakeholders including vice-chancellors, HEFCE and the Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) have agreed the situation calls for action and the feedback from the sector has supported encouraging more women to plan and prepare better for leadership roles at an early point in their careers.

Female staff are now invited to apply by completing the Aurora Application Form 2018-19.

The closing date for applications is Wednesday 1 August 2018.

If you have any questions please contact Jena Dady, Learning & Organisational Development Adviser, J.Dady@Kent.ac.uk

Condolences for Roger Davies

The University was very sorry to hear of the death of Roger Davies on 15 June 2018, following a long illness.

Roger was a Postal Services Assistant, working for the Post Room in the Estates Department from 2005 until he retired in 2017.

He was an extremely well-liked member of staff, particularly known for his helpfulness and cheerful character. Roger was interested in everybody and everything (particularly his famous stamp collection) and his warmth and friendliness brightened up the day for many people as he went around the University.

Whenever he returned to visit the University after his retirement, he was always surrounded by members of staff wishing him well and wanting to know how he was getting on. He will be much missed.

Roger’s funeral has been arranged for Tuesday 3 July 2018 at 15.20 at Barham Crematorium (CT4 6QU), with a Celebration of Life to be held afterwards at Littlebourne Village Hall and Social Club (CT3 1ST) at 16.45. As he was not a sombre person the family would welcome colourful clothing at both events.

The Registry flag will fly at half mast on the day of Roger’s funeral.

Funeral flowers are to be from family only please but donations in Roger’s memory can be made instead, either to Pilgrims Hospice or to research into neuroendocrine cancer, via the funeral directors, A Welch and Sons Ltd, Herne Bay.

Photos from Summer Music Week 2018

View the photos from the annual music festival – ‘Summer Music Week’ – marking the end of the academic year at the University of Kent.

Photos were captured in both rehearsals and performances, featuring the University Chorus, Orchestra, Chamber Choir, Cecilian Choir, Concert Band, Big Band, University Music Scholars, the Lost Consort, String Sinfonia, the student string quartet, the Oom Pa Band, the Limoncellos, and a lot of selfies and bunting!

Refugee Week 2018

Refugee Week takes place every year across the world in the week around World Refugee Day on the 20 June. In the UK, Refugee Week is a nationwide programme of arts, cultural and educational events that celebrate the contribution of refugees to the UK, and encourages a better understanding between communities.

On Wednesday 20 June we will be celebrating Refugee Week at Gulbenkian. In the morning there will be a free screening of Paddington for local primary schools in partnership with BFI London. The screening is part of a project called ‘Film: a language without borders’ looking at how cinema might help support conversations with children around the issue of migration.

In the evening we are working in partnership with Kent Refugee Action Network (KRAN) and East Kent City of Sanctuary to put on an event for the local community. ‘Simple of Acts of Kindness’, based on the theme for this year’s celebrations, will involve poetry, theatre, music, screenings and talks on the theme of refuge and asylum.

Gulbenkian’s drama group for unaccompanied young refugees and asylum-seekers, ‘KRAN Fam’ will be performing, building on our partnership with KRAN for the last 2 years.

Members of SCREEN31, our group for budding young film-makers, will also be screening a short film charting the journey of two young Syrian refugees to the UK. The evening will culminate in food and music from across the globe and will launch KRAN’s 15th birthday celebrations.

All proceeds from the event will go to the charity to support their invaluable work with vulnerable young people. We hope that you can join us for a very special evening involving some incredibly brave individuals.

Kent launches project that supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

On the 26 June, the University of Kent Estates Department launches its new sustainability project: FutureProof.

FutureProof builds on the successes of Green Impact and Green15 and looks at how staff and students can help deliver a University of the future. By challenging each department to review their impacts against the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 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.

The SDGs are 17 goals that outline the vision for a sustainable world by 2030. The 17 goals and underlying targets were created and signed by 193 countries at the UN Sustainable Development Summit in 2015. The goals seek to finish the job that was started by the Millennium Goals which ran from 2000 to 2015 and brought 850,000,000 people out of extreme poverty and yet saw carbon emissions increase by 9,850,000 kilotons.

In February the Vice-Chancellor signed the SDG Accord which commits the University to incorporate the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals into its operations and the teaching curriculum it delivers. FutureProof is the vehicle by which we seek to deliver this.

All departments across the University are eligible and encouraged to get involved with the project. To find out more please come and visit the Sustainability Team at the Estates Showcase in Darwin Conference Suite on the 26 June 10.00 – 15.00, or email sustainability@kent.ac.uk.

Scholar spotlight: Rakim Trapp-Jackson, American Football

The University of Kent’s American Football team, The Falcons, have seen an incredible triumph throughout this past season. Not only did they soar to Division one southeast champions being undefeated in their regular season, they also were recognised as the Club of the Year at Kent Union’s Team Kent Ball this past spring.

As a new member of their team and a Kent Sport scholar, Rakim Trapp-Jackson helped raise the profile of the team this season and has been an asset to the scholarship scheme we offer through Kent Sport.

Rakim has quite a story, so we caught up with him to learn more about how he came to playing for the Falcons at the University of Kent.

Originating from Jacksonville, Florida in the US, Rakim discovered his passion for football in high school. He went on to receive his undergraduate degree in America, but kept his sport high on priority. He joined the military, which meant a temporary end to his sporting career, but life would lead him back to it when he decided to go for his Masters in Computer Science at the University of Kent.

“I was interested in going to school in the UK due to the recent great achievements and developments in Artificial Intelligence – I badly wanted to be a part of that wave. I conducted a lot of research on universities here in the UK, looking for opportunities to study within the field of Computer Science. After much research, University of Kent conversion course was what I needed to allow me to chase my dreams.”

With his placement at the University of Kent, Rakim applied for a sports scholarship in American Football which has helped him gain financial support while not only studying, but getting to play a sport he thought he may never get to play again.

“My biggest achievement is after hanging up my cleats for what I thought would be my last time playing when I was conducting my undergraduate and five years later getting opportunity to play the sport I love again. It’s truly a blessing. I love my sport.”

The scholarship programme has been a great asset to Rakim, not only by strengthening his already strong physique, but opened doors to other like-minded athletes helping him make bonds with students throughout the campus.

The Falcons greatly benefited from having Rakim on their time and they hope it won’t be the last time that he graces their presence.

“Hopefully, I can get another chance of playing for Kent, for one last go round during my industrial placement.”

The University of Kent offers sports scholars to those who compete at county level or higher. Find out more about our scholarship scheme to see eligibility requirements and deadline dates.

To stay up-to-date with Kent Sport news and events, like UniKentSports on Facebook and follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

OH Overseas Travel Health Advice

Do you travel overseas in the course of your job? Are you a Travel Planner for your School or Department? If either of these statements apply to you then you would probably be interested in the updated Travel Health Information on the OH website.

Also, Caroline Groombridge, one of the OHWAs has undertaken additional training in Travel Health and is happy to address any queries you have related to your health while you are away on University related activities. Caroline works part-time so, although you can email her directly, it might be more useful for you to contact OH Admin on ext 4691 or by email on occupationalhealth@kent.ac.uk so a convenient time for you can be slotted into her diary for her to discuss issues with you. This can be by telephone or face to face.

Tamara Rathcke to talk at Humbolt

Dr Tamara Rathcke, Lecturer in the Department of English Language & Linguistics, will be giving her talk entitled ‘Autosegmental-Metrical Approaches to Modelling Russian Intonation: Evidence and Issues’ at Humboldt University of Berlin on Wednesday, 6 June 2018.

Autosegmental phonology is an approach to phonology that allows the processing of sounds in language, such as tone and vowel harmony, to be independent of and extend beyond individual consonants and vowels.

Tamara will give an overview of the current autosegmental-metrical approaches to studying the intonation in the speaking of Russian, and present some original data that challenges some of the previous assumptions, and helps to advance our understanding of the structure of tonal representations (both in Russian and other languages).

The talk will be part of the lecture series organised by the Corpus Linguistics and Morphology research centre.

Further details of the their events.