Over the Spring break work has started to move all University of Kent activity at Medway to the Medway Building for September 2024.

Something that has already moved is the Oasis Lounge. The new and improved Oasis Lounge can now be found on the 1st floor of the Medway Building and is a place you can meet friends, study, heat up lunch and grab a drink.

You will still find Student Support in the Gillingham Building until the end of the 2023/24 academic year if you need student support or careers advice.

Exams are scheduled to take place in the Medway Building this term.  However, Journalism exams will take place in the existing newsrooms on the first and second floor of the Gillingham Building. You will find where your exam is taking place in your exams timetable.

We are pleased to announce that the Campus Shuttle booking system in now live.

It is essential that you Book a Seat prior to travelling from the first day of Summer Term, 6 May.

Visit zeelo.co or download the Zeelo app for iOS or android and search for your University of Kent Campus Shuttle. Purchase a free University of Kent Travel pass and then book your journeys. We recommend you use the Zeelo app so you can be notified of any disruption to your booked journeys. This will replace updates to the @CampusShuttle account on X (formerly twitter).

All passes are valid for any of the serviced stops (Keynes stop, Piers Quay, Historic Dockyard or Pembroke) between Canterbury and Medway campuses. If you are using the Piers Quay or Historic Dockyard stops, make sure to check the pick-up/drop-off times on the timetable. This will differ slightly from the time shown in your app and on your booking (from Canterbury or Medway).

For steps on how to book or cancel a seat, please watch the booking video or read the booking guide.

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.