We are delighted to announce that double-MOBO winning musician and broadcaster YolanDa Brown OBE DL has been appointed to the role of Chancellor, succeeding Gavin Esler who has retired from the position after almost 10 years.

Having graduated with a first-class undergraduate masters degree in European Management Science with Spanish from Kent Business School, before going on to achieve her second masters degree and undertake a PhD, YolanDa will be installed as Chancellor during one of the University’s graduation ceremonies in July.

“My time at the University was character building, life affirming, and a bucket full of emotions. Every single time I am on campus a new memory returns, so you can imagine my joy accepting this role as Chancellor. The University has always been at the forefront of fostering a diverse, inclusive, and vibrant community…I am excited to work alongside the talented staff and students to build on this foundation as the University strives towards new heights of achievement.”

YolanDa’s commitment to music and education has been synonymous throughout her career. As well as releasing critically acclaimed albums and touring with the likes of The Temptations, Jools Holland, Billy Ocean, Dave Stewart and more, YolanDa was Chair of Youth Music for six years and is currently a sitting member of the Arts Council, Chair of the BPI - the representative voice for record labels in the UK – and an ambassador for the Prince’s Trust, among other positions. She was also recently appointed a member of the Arts and Media Honours Committee by Prime Minster Rishi Sunak.

In her role as Chancellor, YolanDa’s duties will include conferring degrees, chairing the University’s Court and representing the University on special occasions. She takes up the role at a time when the University is preparing to celebrate its 60th Anniversary.

Find out more about YolanDa.

Do you have a visa for the UK? Physical documents such as BRPs and passports containing a vignette are being replaced by a digital immigration status known as an “eVisa”.

The following text has been copied from the UKCISA website on 19 April 2024. Please check their webpage for further updates.

The Home Office is changing the way in which individuals prove their immigration status in the UK and are inviting individuals in phases during 2024 to register for a UKVI account.

Physical documents such as BRPs and passports containing a vignette are being replaced by a digital immigration status known as an “eVisa”. The Home Office aims to replace physical documents with a new digital system by 2025. You can read further details about these proposals by viewing the Home Office website.

Registering for a UKVI account will mean that you can view your status online, and also share your status with others such as your institution or landlord. You may receive an email directly about this, or as the Home Office is contacting individuals using a last known contact email address, this email may go directly to your sponsor or legal representative depending on what information you provided with your Student application. It is important that you check your email (including your junk emails) or check with your institution, or legal representative to see if they have received an email on your behalf. We understand that a number of students were contacted via email by the Home Office on the 3 April 2024.

If you are not emailed during this notification process, all individuals with physical documents will be able to register for a UKVI account later in 2024. You should not attempt to register for a UKVI account before you are invited to do so, or until later in 2024 when this service will be available for all holders of a physical immigration document. If you have a BRP which has been “short-dated” to 31 December 2024 even though your immigration permission goes beyond this date, you will also need to follow this process in order to prove your immigration status thereafter. Those who already have an eVisa will not be affected by this process.

This month’s Kent Stars are the Sustainability Working Group (SWG), who were recently awarded the Climate Action Award for their sustainability initiatives. These include climate café events, the plant-based loyalty card on campus and the Kent BioBlitz event. Hear from the Sustainability Working Group: 

“We are the Sustainability Working Group. We are a group working with staff and students across the university to make the University of Kent more sustainable through several projects and initiatives across 5 subgroups. We were formed in 2019, and our first achievement was to lead the School of Anthropology and Conservation to become the first academic school to declare a climate and ecological emergency! We have members from all over the university. Still, most subgroup leads come from the School of Anthropology and Conservation, with a mixture of students from Environmental Social Sciences, Wildlife Conservation and Human Geography.”   

 Tell us about winning the Canterbury Climate Action Award.

“The Canterbury Climate Action Award is awarded to exceptional climate action initiatives in Canterbury, so winning in our category was an amazing recognition of all the work the SWG has done and continues to do. The reason for winning was due to the successful projects that have been initiated by SWG, notably the climate cafes, plant-based loyalty cards, and the University of Kent BioBlitz event.  Curious to see what BioBlitz is all about? Check out this video from our 2023 event.

Our group entered the further/higher education category, and we were up against some amazing projects, so it was an honour to be chosen for the award. Chancellor Mel Dawkins presented the award to our student lead, Beccy, at the 2023 award ceremony as part of the Climate Action Festival. The festival and the awards ceremony are hosted by the Canterbury Climate Action Partnership (CCAP), a community interest company working closely with Canterbury councils and councillors from the different political parties to bring together like-minded interest groups to mobilise action towards a more sustainable future in Canterbury.  

The activities throughout the festival included family activities to promote sustainability, sustainable stalls, discussion roundtables with sustainability experts and inspirational talks. The Rt Revd Rose Hudson-Wilkin, Bishop of Dover closed the ceremony with an incredibly motivating speech. The whole event was an amazing opportunity to network and hear about the incredible work being done for climate action in Canterbury. The CCAP even expressed interest in attending one of our Climate Cafes as they would like to take and develop this initiative to host them for Canterbury residents! 

Winning the award has been very motivational for the group. Some of the projects we work on can be tough to implement within such a large establishment like a university, which can sometimes be disheartening. However, recognising our work shows that we are working towards a sustainable future and will continue motivating us!” 

What advice would you give to other students?  

“There is so much support and passion out there for sustainable initiatives, so if you want to implement something within your school or want to join the fight for a more sustainable university, then you can make a difference by getting the ball rolling. If you need support, please reach out to us on Instagram, and we may be able to help with advice or contacts!  

It can be a scary time, with high experiences of anxiety about the state of the environment. Just know that you are not alone in this feeling – in fact we host climate cafes specifically to bring people together so we can support each other through these complex emotions. We can’t single-handedly solve the world’s sustainability problems, but we certainly can have an impact.” 

 What are your plans for the next year?  

“We have excitingly just become a society! Therefore, our main plans for the next year are to establish the society, gain members and host fun, sustainability-based socials for the rest of the academic year!  

Alongside this, we continue to progress in the projects from the subgroups. For example, our greenspaces subgroup will map the habitats on campus for the Sustainability team to use as their Biodiversity Action Plan strategy for 2025. Our wellbeing subgroup continues its monthly climate cafes where students can come together in a safe space to talk about feelings of eco-anxiety. We hope to see some of you as members soon!” 

Do you know an inspirational student or student group? Let us know. 

Learn more about the Kent Stars campaign. 

This morning our Vice-Chancellor and President Prof Karen Cox has announced she will be stepping down after seven years in the role. Karen will be with us until the end of May with a recruitment process underway to find and appoint Kent’s next Vice-Chancellor. In the meantime, the University’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Strategy and Performance, Prof Georgina Randsley de Moura, will serve as Acting Vice-Chancellor. 

What will happen next 

The University’s Council and Senate oversee recruitment and appointment of the Vice-Chancellor. They will be working with the University’s HR team to identify potential candidates to be our next VC ahead of a full interview process. This is expected to continue into the summer. 

What does this mean for you 

Our Executive Group will continue to handle the day-to-day running of the University until the new appointment is made, with Georgina responsible for any formal decisions that would normally be taken by the Vice-Chancellor. This means in practice there will be no change to your usual studies or activity at the University and the remainder of the year will carry on as normal. 

“It’s been an absolute privilege to serve as Kent’s Vice-Chancellor and so much of what makes the role special is down to you, our students. Hearing about your remarkable achievements has always been the highlight of the role, along with having the honour of seeing so many Kent students graduate and go on to make the world a better place. I look forward to continuing to celebrate your successes as Kent begins its next chapter under new leadership, with a continued focus on ensuring we shape everything we do around the needs of our students.” 

Professor Karen Cox, Vice-Chancellor and President

This year’s WorldFest celebrations were a delicious success, thanks in part to a series of free student cookery workshops.

These workshops offered students the chance to learn new skills, celebrate cultural diversity, and of course, have some fun!

Led by Kent’s experienced Chef de Cuisine, Ben Elsbury, and Darwin chef, Nick Constantinou, the workshops covered the art of pizza making and the ever-popular Japanese dish, katsu curry. Due to high demand, a second katsu curry workshop was added to the schedule!

Students from all corners of the world, including Asia and Africa, came together in Darwin Kitchen, a real-working kitchen on campus. Here, they learned the secrets of fresh pizza dough, panko breadcrumbs, and the perfect rice accompaniment to katsu curry.

But the benefits went beyond just the food. As Ben Elsbury himself says, “It’s key for young adults to learn essential cooking skills… But overall, I really do enjoy spending time with the students, it’s always an enlightening and entertaining experience.”

The sentiment was echoed by a student attendee who praised the personalised attention and friendly atmosphere. They commented, “It was very personalised… Everything ran smoothly… Thank you to WorldFest for providing us with events that help us connect and bond with people in a fun way!”

Emma Marku, the brain behind the initiative and Global Opportunities Manager for GEO Internationalisation, highlighted the significance of food in uniting communities. “WorldFest provides an opportunity to celebrate our culturally diverse communities here on campus… Cooking together provides the opportunity to ask questions and appreciate how one dish can be cooked differently by different cultural communities. Ahead of the katsu curry workshops, our Japanese Language Tutor also provided a talk on the relationship between food and culture. Students have requested that we repeat the experience with Nigerian or Somalian cuisine. That would be something great to do!”

WorldFest is the University of Kent’s annual celebration of cultural diversity. This year, celebrations took place from 4 – 15 March 2024. WorldFest aims to showcase the cultural diversity, talents, and knowledge of Kent’s students and staff. The festival continues to serve as a platform for creating lasting memories through engaging activities like these cookery classes.

It’s the last week of the undergraduate Spring term! Find out what’s on this week including events to help you prepare for exams, an open lecture about the American election and the Neuro-Insurgence Open Mic Night.

Tuesday 2 April: Coffee with a Security Officer, CVs and Cover Letters (Medway) and learn more about a Master’s in Business

Come and chat with one of our friendly Campus Security Officers to talk all things security at Kent, from the SafeZone app, Campus Security’s role, advice and more. A cup of coffee or tea is on us while we chat – supplied by the Gulbenkian Café team, free of charge!

Find out the essentials of CVs and Cover Letters including trends, hints and tips at this workshop in Pilkington building.

Are you an undergraduate considering staying on for a Master’s and moving into Business? You don’t need to be a current Business student or have a degree in these areas to study some of our Master’s programmes. Come along to Nexus between 12:00-16:00 to find out more.

Wednesday 3 April: Exam preparation and American election open lecture

Even if you have good essay writing skills, it can be a challenge to keep on point, maintain clarity and finish the task under timed conditions. Join an essay writing in exams workshop at Canterbury or Medway on Wednesday afternoon to learn useful tactics for writing efficiently and effectively in in-course tests and exams. There’s also an exam room experience event in the Sports Centre so you explore your own stress response and learn techniques with how to deal with them.

On Wednesday evening, you can join a open lecture on the forthcoming American election: “Does President Biden have any Aces he can play or will he be Trumped in the end?” in Keynes lecture theatre 1.

Thursday 4 April: Workshops for non essay-based exams and Neuro-Insurance Open Mic Night

Find out how to take Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) and Short Answer Questions (SAQs) at these workshops for non-essay based exams in Canterbury, Medway and online.

Join the Accessibility Network and the Stand-Up Comedy Society for an evening of spoken word and comedy at the Neuro-Insurgence Open Mic Night. Hosted by local comedian Adam Dorr and with a variety of acts, the event promises a night of laughter, connection and solidarity amongst neurodivergent students and allies.

Friday 5 April: LGBTQIA+ Coffee Morning and Kent Community Oasis Garden volunteering

On Friday you can join the LGBTQIA+ Student Voices Coffee Morning, which is celebrating International Asexuality Day over hot drinks and sweet treats. LGBTQIA+ Student Voices is a student-led project aiming to understand and improve experiences for LGBTQIA+ people at Kent.

Consider volunteering at the Kent Community Oasis Garden near Park Wood on Friday between 10:00-14:00. It’s a collection of students, staff and community members working to create a sustainability hub centred around growing food. Everyone is welcome at Kent Community Oasis Garden, whether you’re an expert gardener, a complete beginner, or just coming along for a chat.

Opportunities and reminders

• There will be some changes to service and facility opening times over the Spring vacation.
• The Hub offer a range of free classes with Medway Move. Current activities include Social Badminton, Tai Chi, Strong Nation, Yoga and more.
• The Transport Team have created a Campus Travel Updates page to help you plan your journey with information about planned travel disruptions that they have been made aware of.

The Transport Team have created the Campus Travel Updates Page to help you plan your journey with information about planned travel disruptions that they have been made aware of.

Where possible they will aim to to provide advance notice on full or partial closures of our campus car parks and any local roads. Please be aware that the Transport Team are reliant on receiving information from third parties and this may affect the notice they are able to provide to users. This is a new process and will replace the use of notices within the campus car parks. Therefore we advise that you check this page regularly.

Refer to our Planning your Journey page for further advice on how to check, who to follow on social media or apps to download for disruptions on local transport networks and roads.