Alan Le Grys, a Student Learning Adviser at Medway, and also Associate Lecturer in SECL for Theology and Religious Studies, completed the London Marathon on Sunday 24 April with a provisional time of 4 hours 58 minutes.

Thank you to everyone who donated sponsorship money to Christian Aid, which has currently reached the spectacular total of £2,928!

Our Kent Student Awards judges had the very difficult task of narrowing down over 150 excellent nominations to this year’s shortlist.

Winners and runners-up will receive their awards and cash prizes at a gala dinner on the Canterbury campus on Friday 6 May 2016.

The Kent Student Awards recognise and celebrate the outstanding contribution students make to the Kent student experience.

Find out more about the awards and view the shortlist at the Kent Student Awards webpages.

How do I register?

1. Go to www.gov.uk/register-to-vote
2. Fill in your name, address, date of birth and a few other details. You’ll also need your National Insurance number, which can be found on your National Insurance card, or in official paperwork such as payslips, or letters about benefits or tax credits.

If you don’t have access to the internet or can’t use it, please email electoralservices@medway.gov.uk or call 01634 332030.

Why should I register?

To vote: You need to register in order to be able to vote. If you aren’t registered to vote, you won’t have the chance to have a say on who represents you or how things are run.

Some people also register to vote because they want to apply for credit. This is because credit reference agencies use the register to confirm where someone lives when they apply for credit in order to counteract fraud.

As a student, you can register at both your term time address and at the address you live at outside of term time.

Lots of students are missing from the electoral register. No-one else can register for you.

But I thought I was already registered to vote?

If you are unsure whether you are registered, please email electoralservices@medway.gov.uk or call 01634 332030.

What if I don’t register?

Not only will you not have a say at future elections and referendums, but if you don’t respond to requests for information from us you could be at risk of getting fined £80.

What if I don’t wish to register in the Medway area?

If you do not wish to register in the Medway area as you only wish to register at your home address, please email electoralservices@medway.gov.uk informing us of your wish not to register, together with your term time address and full name.

Fresh menu for a fresh season available from Monday 18 April! Crispy pizzas from our brand new pizza oven, homemade fish goujons and chips and delicious salmon potato cakes.

View the new menu.

Kent is proud to have presented its Employability Points Scheme at a Europe-wide workshop on student employability. The workshop was organised by the SGroup European Universities Network of which Kent is a member, UNICA and the Compestela Group of Universities.

The workshop, which included speakers from higher education, business and NGOs sought to highlight best practice in promoting student employability across Europe. It took place at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and involved participants from across Europe.

During the workshop, Matt Cook, EP Officer, presented a case study of the scheme, demonstrating how it is both progressive and unique to the higher education sector.

Matt commented:

‘The sixth Joint Workshop of the UNICA-SGroup-Compestela Group Networks was a fantastic opportunity for Kent to demonstrate the innovative and pioneering nature of the Employability Points Scheme. It was most valuable hearing from European institutions about the challenges associated with student employability on both a local and European scale.’

For more information on the EP Scheme, please see here. For information about the University’s activities within the SGroup European Universities Network, please contact Primrose Paskins in International Partnerships.

Message for continuing full-time, Student Finance England undergraduate students

Apply for your student finance for 2016 / 2017 as soon as possible to make sure you have your money when you return to your course.

You need to fill in your application for student finance by 24 June 2016 to be sure you have your money when you start your course. If you apply after this date, you might not get all your money in time for the start of your course.

Re-applying for student finance is easy:

You can go online and re-apply for student finance.

You need to print out the declaration form, sign it and return it to Student Finance England.

Once they’ve processed your application they’ll send you your Student Finance Entitlement letter.

If you applied for Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs) last year along with your student finance, you won’t need to re-apply for DSAs every year. If you only applied for DSAs last year Student Finance England will send you the form to re-apply. If you’re applying for DSAs for the first time, you’ll need to download the form, or let Student Finance England know and they’ll send you a copy.

Dr Natalia Sobrevilla Perea, Reader in Hispanic Studies in the Department of Modern Languages, was interviewed on Monday by France 24 on the Peruvian election.

France 24 is an international news and current affairs television channel based in Paris and Natalia’s comments appear in an article entitled ‘Fujimori legacy weighs on daughter’s presidential bid’ reporting on the daughter of ex-president Alberto Fujimori who has won the first round of presidential elections in Peru.

Keiko Fujimori’s father is currently serving a 25-year term behind bars for corruption and death squad killings in 1991 and 1992 after Peruvian judges found that he authorised the creation of the infamous Grupo Colina commando squad as his government battled leftwing guerrillas. The group carried out extrajudicial killings of Shining Path militants, but also trade unionists and political activists with no direct links to the armed insurgency.

Natalia commented ‘Keiko has campaigned tirelessly since 2011 and the results are very clear’ adding ‘she has successfully replicated her father’s populist strategy and exploited the political structures he built’.

The full article can be seen on the France 24 website.

We need help to smarten up the hoarding outside the Templeman Library, Canterbury campus.

The design needs to cover a horizontal board 1500mm x 3000mm and can be any design you wish but will be judged on how well the design promotes Kent.

The deadline for entries is Monday 16 May and the winner will get the opportunity to recreate their design onto a board on the hoardings.

Please send your entries to marketingoffice@kent.ac.uk including your full name, Kent ID and degree title.

Good luck!