Are you an undergraduate UK student who has been income assessed by Student Finance and are in receipt of an income assessed student loan?

Or a postgraduate UK student who has made adequate provision to cover their tuition fees and living costs before the start of their course (without having to rely on applying to this hardship fund)?

If so, you may be eligible to apply for additional financial support via the Access to Learning Fund (ALF).

You can find more information regarding the ALF, including eligibility criteria and how to apply, on the University website.

If you would like to make an application you will need to make an appointment with your Union Advice Centre.

Canterbury students should contact the Mandela Reception in person or on 01227 827724.

Medway students should contact the GK Unions Advice Centre in person, by email on advice@gkunions.co.uk or on 01634 888989.

Please note that if you are eligible to apply to ALF you will need to complete the application form and take it along to your appointment with all relevant supporting documentation.

ALF awards are discretionary so there is no guarantee of an award.

If you require any further information please do not hesitate to contact us at:

Financial Aid Office, Room G43 Registry, University of Kent, Canterbury, CT2 7NZ

01227 824876 / 823851 / 823488

Email

Normal opening hours: Monday to Friday : 10.00 – 16.00 (closed from 12.30 – 13.30pm for lunch)

As you know, industrial action called by the Universities and Colleges Union (UCU) is set to begin tomorrow, Thursday 22 February. As this is a national dispute concerning a large pension scheme involving hundreds of higher education employers, we are not free to resolve this dispute on our own, or with our own staff. We remain deeply frustrated by the apparent deadlock in discussions at national level, but we are continuing to lobby those involved to restart negotiations, call-off the action and consider alternative options.

Though we can’t be sure how many members of staff will be participating, we expect many classes to go ahead as usual. The UCU has asked those members taking part to inform you of their decision already so we hope that you will not encounter classes that have been cancelled without advance notice.

We are doing everything we can to make sure that this action has as little impact on your studies as possible. Throughout the action, the University’s campuses and centres will all be open as usual with libraries, study spaces and PC rooms, student services, catering, accommodation and sports facilities operating as normal. You should also have full access to all the buildings and facilities you would expect.

We have published revised information on the action, how it might affect you, what we are doing to reduce its impact and what you can do to work through it and seek appropriate advice and support.

We recognise that this is a difficult, uncertain and worrying time for you. It is, however, vital that you continue to study as usual. Unless you are informed otherwise, you should continue to attend all timetabled classes, continue working on projects and assessments and continue to submit assessments on time.

We will continue to monitor the situation and keep you updated wherever possible.

Kent students and staff, along with five accompanying guests, can get discounted tickets for the Festival of Steam and Transport at The Historic Dockyard Chatham. The Festival will take place on 1 and 2 April 2018. And if you book before 31 March 2018 you will get a further 10% off.

Prices (excluding the additional 10% before 31 March):

Adult Ticket                                                                        £12.00

Concession Ticket                                                           £11.00

Child Ticket                                                                        £9.50

Family Ticket (2+2 or 1+3)                                            £35.50

Xtra Child                                                                             £8.00

Two Day Adult 1st & 2nd April                                    £25.00

Two Day Concession 1st & 2nd April                        £21.00

Two Day Child 1st & 2nd April                                    £16.00

Two Day Family 1st & 2nd April (2+2 or 1+3)         £63.00

Two Day Xtra Child 1st & 2nd April                           £13.00

You will need your Kent ID to receive these rates. Plus students come under the concession rate.

Get tickets:

You can buy tickets in advance from the Admissions Desk during normal opening hours or over the phone by calling 01634 823826.

Tickets will also be available to buy on the day.

Please note there is also student discount at the bars at the Food & Drink Festival section onsite at The Dockyard.

The Schools in the Faculty of Humanities are curating a Employability Festival for Humanities Students for the third year running.

Events will take place in Weeks 20 & 21 (5-16 March) and include workshops, interactive sessions, industry panels and chances to meet and network with industry practitioners.

They reflect the wide range and overlapping career options available to students and graduates of subjects in the Humanities.

There are thirteen events in total, and booking is highly recommended. Click on the individual events below for more details and to book:

• Writing For A Living (industry panel discussion) – Mon 5 March 5-8pm KS15
• Working in Archaeology (industry panel discussion) – Tue 6 March 12-2pm ELT2
• Social Media (interactive session) – Tue 6 March 1-2pm Galvanising Shop Back Space
• Using Language and Working in Europe (Talk + Q&A) – Wed 7 March 2-3pm KLT6
• Arts Employability Drop-in – Thur 8 March 10am-12pm Jarman 5
• Humanities Placement Year – Find out more! – Thur 8 March 1-2pm KLT5
• Freelancing and Getting into Translation (Talk + Q&A) – Tue 13 March 11am-12pm KLT3
• Working in Museums and Galleries (industry panel discussion) – Tue 13 March 6pm-8pm GLT2
• Get Ready to Teach and Work Abroad (Talk + Q&A) – Wed 14 March 2-3pm KLT2
• Working in Film and TV (industry panel discussion) – Wed 14 March 5.30-7.30pm Jarman 1
• Humanities CV clinic (1:1 Feedback clinic) – Thur 15 March 10am-12pm Careers Building
• Writing History and Getting Published – Thur 15 March 5pm-6pm Gulb Cinema
• Europeers – International Opportunities under the Erasmus programme – Fri 16 March 2pm-3pm KS17

What do you want from your experience at Kent? Are you getting what you expected? What could be improved? If you are a first year undergraduate student, please come to a focus group discussion to tell us!

Focus groups:

• 20 February 2018 at 15.00 in Keynes College – KS13
• 22 February 2018 at 16.30 in Rutherford College – RLT2
• 23 February 2018 at 16.30 in Darwin College – DLT3
• 26 February 2018 at 17.30 in Eliot College – ES1
• 1 March 2018 at 16.30 in Turing College – KS14

If you wish to join us please let the project research assistant Alina know by emailing as2267@kent.ac.uk. Refreshments will be served!

If you have any questions, please contact Alina at as2267@kent.ac.uk or the project consultant, Dr Kathleen M. Quinlan at K.M.Quinlan@kent.ac.uk.

Sarah Turner, SMFA’s Reader in Fine Art & Deputy Director of Research is published in The New Soundtrack journal, with The Sound of Memory in Public House appearing in Volume 7 Issue 2.

The New Soundtrack brings together leading edge academic and professional perspectives on the complex relationship between sound and moving images, providing a new platform for discourse on how aural elements combine with moving images, and encourages writing on more current developments, such as sound installations, computer-based delivery, and the psychology of the interaction of image and sound.

Sarah Turner is an artist who writes and makes films. Her work spans single screen gallery pieces (rooted in the formal preoccupations of the avant-garde from which she emerged) to feature length projects that explore the interplay between abstraction and narration.

The University’s second Researching the Rainbow Conference was held on Thursday 15 February as part of LGBT History Month and was warmly received by attendees and participants. The event, organised by the LGBT+ Staff Network in partnership with Kent Union, was run for the first time last year to celebrate 50 years since the decriminalisation of homosexuality in the UK. There were approximately 50 attendees this year and over 980 views of the live stream via Kent Union’s Facebook page.

The conference was designed to showcase the vast array of research being done at Kent on or related to LGBT+ people and issues, and to encourage multi-disciplinary collaboration and networking. The event was opened by University of Kent Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Karen Cox, who also acts at the Executive Group’s LGBT+ and Gender Champion. Professor Cox said:

“It was a pleasure to have attended the ‘Researching the Rainbow’ conference. A wonderful mix of inspirational speakers, a diverse agenda and an opportunity for students and academics alike to present their work as peers.

As the EG LGBT+ champion, I am wholeheartedly committed to the principles of Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity. The LGBT+ Network are doing a really great job in turning the University’s commitments into a reality for individuals.”

The agenda was made up of predominantly Kent students and academics from a range of disciplines, discussing topics such as transgender identities in mental health care and the legal system and queer representation in the media. Renowned trans activists Fox and Owl also attended to speak about their project My Genderation, and joined fellow speakers for an open plenary hosted by Kent Union’s LGBT+ Trans Officer, Valiant Dorian.

Organiser Kasia Senyszyn, member of the LGBT+ Staff Network, said:

“It is a grassroots event – we started with just a few people who were interested in talking about their research with fellow aficionados and now we’re getting national activist superstars inspiring our students, staff and guests. I hope it continues to grow and we can get more and more people to participate. I have been so amazed by the calibre of talks over the last two years and can’t wait for next year!”

The conference also raised funds for LGBT charity Schools Out, founder of LGBT History Month. A video of the conference, which is being created by KTV, will shortly be available on the LGBT+ Staff Network blog.

The KentVision Programme would like to invite you to read the first issue of our newly launched Newsletter.

The Newsletter will be issued fortnightly to our subscribers, sharing updates on our progress, introducing some of the coming changes and letting you know when there’s upcoming events. All the details of how to get involved will be right there!

If you’re not already subscribed, we hope you will be soon. You can do so on Sympa, or by emailing SUBSCRIBE to KentVision@kent.ac.uk .

The KentVision Programme

The KentVision Programme is working to refine our student administration processes alongside implementation of a new student management system.

From September 2018 KentVision will be used for an array of administrative activities across the complete student lifecycle, including everything from student, programme or module looks ups to registering students, viewing module diets, entering and viewing marks, approving PGR supervisory meetings, processing scholarships and more.

And KentVision will also be there for students, whether enrolling, choosing modules, accessing timetables or viewing personal information, PGR progress reviews and marks. View the SharePoint site.

Currently undertaking a practice based PhD in Fine Art at SMFA on the cognitive conditions of pictorial attention (with the support of a University of Kent Vice-Chancellor’s Scholarship), artist Moyra Derby is featured in a new exhibition which opens on Thursday 1 March at 18.30, running until 31 March.

‘Interval [ ] still : now’ is a collaboration between five artists –  Moyra Derby, Nicky Hamlyn, Conor Kelly, Joan Key, and Jost Münster. The exhibition reflects on the momentary encounter, caught within or cut by the limit of rectangular support, viewfinder, picture space, window space or film reel.

Their approach is unified by framing as a shared convention between film and painting. The interruptions that occur through cross cuts, edits, overlays and spacings between works becomes a defining consideration. The architectural and durational containment of work through exhibition is a further form of framing that the Interval project foregrounds.
Tintype opened in 2010 and currently represents twelve artists from the UK, Germany, Romania, Hong Kong and Canada. At Tintype, a large window frames the space from the street and provides a dual aspect for work – pictorialized from outside, offering an overview and invitation – fragmented and spatially shifting inside. The cut in time and structured spacing implied by the term interval highlights this change of view and perspective between the street and the gallery. Within Tintype, there is a third aspect – because the window is so large and the street outside so busy ­– it is hard not to be aware of the constantly changing streetscape.
Working collaboratively since 2016, the five artists developed ‘Interval [ ] Stop Gap’ in 2017 at the Herbert Read Gallery, UCA Canterbury, and ‘Interval [ ] in 2016’ as part of the Whitstable Biennale.

A Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a Founding Trustee of Crate Studio & Project Space in Margate, Moyra studied at University of Ulster at Belfast and Cheltenham School of Art. She received an MA Painting from the Royal College of Art. 1996, where she received the Basil H Alkazzi Travel Scholarship to New York, La Cité Internationale des Arts Paris Studio Award and The British Institution Fund Painting Award.  She is Senior Lecturer in Painting on the BA Fine Art course at UCA Canterbury.

Venue details: Tintype, 107 Essex Road, London, N1 2SL,  Tel 0207 354 4360

Wed – Sat: 12.00 – 18.00

Image: Installation view, Interval [ ], Whitstable Biennale, 2016