Kent Law School Lecturer Janie Clement-Walker has described a surprise opportunity to coach a team of Syrian refugees for a mediation tournament in Greece as one of the ‘most emotional and heart-warming experiences’ of her life.

The request was sprung upon Janie on her arrival at the American College of Greece (ACG) in Athens by competition organiser Elena Kolsaki, a Greek based mediator and board member of the International Academy of Dispute Resolution (INADR).

Janie is an accredited practitioner with the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) in the UK and works closely with INADR in support of mediation competitions organised around the world. The young men she coached had all had their studies interrupted by the war in Syria. They were selected by Elena for the annual Greece Mediation Tournament from amongst a pool of English-speaking Syrian candidates living in refugee camps in and around Thessaloniki.

Mohammed, Ibrahem, Mutasem, Geema, Ahmed and Ebrahim were offered clothes and hotel accommodation by INADR for the duration of the competition. Sadly, after the first day of coaching with Janie, a serious bombing incident affecting a family member in Syria meant Geema, Ahmed and Ebrahim had to return to their camp.

Ibrahem, Mohammed and Mutasem remaind in Athens and continued their intensive coaching sessions with Janie. They went on to compete in three separate rounds of the tournament, reaching the semi-final and earning themselves a trophy and ‘Spirit of Mediation’ medallions.

Janie, who has also been invited to coach and judge at the International Negotiation Competition in Switzerland next month, said: ‘For the boys it was an amazing opportunity. But for me too, it was one of the most emotional and heart-warming experiences I have ever had.’

Sent in by A.P.Shieber@kent.ac.uk

We will be selling cupcakes and other sweet treats at the Medway Building reception to raise money for Alzheimer’s Society on Thursday 16 June.  Please pop along and support this worthy cause by buying a cake or two (there may be boxes if you wish to take more home).

Sent in by J.Innes@kent.ac.uk

Santander Universities hosted University of Kent students at their headquarters in central London this week.

Students enjoyed a Financial Masterclass from Santander’s Regional Director for the South-East. The talk covered topics around the basics of beginning trading, sources of capital and how they suit different types of businesses.

Talent Cupboard, a Graduate Employment Facilitator, delivered a second session which explored digital marketing techniques and approaching growth and targets.

The event at Santander followed this year’s success of the KBS Business Start-Up Journey (BSUJ). The BSUJ saw almost 200 students engaged in a programme of activities to accelerate their business idea.

Students and staff look forward to moving into the new academic building in early 2017 and making use of a new enterprise facility – the Accelerator Space for Innovation and Responsible Enterprise (ASPIRE). ASPIRE will facilitate BSUJ activity and support research into entrepreneurship.

Sent in by J.McDonnell-773@kent.ac.uk.

This year the annual UCAS Exhibition is being hosted by the University of Greenwich at the Medway campus on Monday 20 and Tuesday 21 June 2016.

To assist with traffic management for this event, there will be some changes to transport and parking on these days:

• There will be a temporary one way system to assist coaches attending this event only. Please be aware that the coaches will be exiting the campus along New Kent Road.
• The 116 Arriva bus will not serve the campus during this time and will be diverted along Pier road. The closest stops to the University of Kent campus will be St George’s Centre Dock Road and Bridge Road Gillingham.
• The 10 Pink Zone parking bays on Central Avenue next to the barrier will not be in use and South road on campus will be closed.

Some parking bays are also being used within Drill Hall car park for events on campus but due to the time of year, we do not anticipate parking on campus to be adversely affected.

Executive Group has agreed that staff may take appropriate time off to watch Euro 2016 matches during working hours, with the approval of their line manager.

Time off to watch Euro 2016 matches must be made up and should not affect key deadlines or the delivery of services to other staff, sponsors or students.

Managers are expected to be reasonable in allowing staff the option to watch matches. The Euros and similar events (eg the Olympics) only happen every four years and thus can be differentiated from annual sporting tournaments or cultural events such as Wimbledon (although managers are always able to use discretion in agreeing absence with staff).

It was also agreed that staff can wear football shirts of their favoured team on relevant match days although staff should consider whether this is appropriate if they are required to attend formal meetings with external visitors. If they are in doubt, they should consult their line manager.

Students: don’t get tricked by an email saying you’ve been awarded a grant from the Department for Education.

It claims to come from the University’s Finance Department, but it’s a scam attacking university students in the UK.

If you get this email:

• delete it
• don’t click any links in it. If you’ve clicked one, close the web page and don’t enter any personal information
• don’t reply. If you’re expecting a grant and want to check if the email you’ve received is real, contact the Finance Office directly

More email safety tips

• Advice from Action Fraud
• Is this email a fake?
• How to spot spam

Sent in by is-publishing@kent.ac.uk.

Between Thursday 9 June and Tuesday 14 June 2016, access into the Drill Hall car park will be restricted to one lane while electric cable is laid for the new Student Hub.

Traffic flow will be managed by traffic lights under the control of a security guard who will check cars on entry, allowing only those with a valid parking permit to enter. Please allow extra time to get into the car park during this period.

Out of hours you do not need a parking permit and there will not be a security guard at the Drill Hall car park entrance, however there will be traffic lights.