Author Archives: Miriam Sandiford

Calling all LGBTQ+ painters, photographers, writers and artists!

** Submissions have now closed.**

Are you a hobby artist? Do you love to paint and draw? Are you a photographer or a digital artist?

Be part of our LGBTQ+: Politics in Art exhibition

As part of LGBT History Month (February 2022), we are looking to commission seven pieces of art by LGBTQ+ student and staff artists about their experiences in lockdown; the emotions, the feelings, the positives and the negatives. These can be any format, for example a painting, photograph, digital image, collage, poem or piece of writing.

All pieces will form part of the LGBTQ+: Politics in Art exhibition, which will be displayed in the Keynes College Atrium throughout February 2022.

Student Services will be offering £300 for each piece, plus £50 towards the cost of materials.

Submission requirements

Each piece must be able to be wall hung (unfortunately we cannot support video or sound projection submissions).
Each piece must reflect either your personal, or the LGBTQ+ community experience of being in lockdown – be that positive or negative.
Each piece must be completed by the end of January 2022 and with us, ready for installation on the 31 January 2022.
The artists should identify within the LGBTQ+ community.

If you have an existing work of art that you feel meets the brief then you are able to submit that.

The seven available spaces will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

Get in touch

If you are interested in submitting a piece for the exhibition, please contact Becky Lamyman, Student EDI Officer on rsl7@kent.ac.uk ASAP or by 21 January 2022.

For more information, or if you have any queries, please get in contact with Becky.

Covid-19 update: Coming back to campus

From Professor Richard Reece | Deputy Vice-Chancellor – Education and Student Experience

I hope you all enjoyed the winter break, and were able to get some rest and time away from your studies. My thanks also to all of you for the efforts that went into testing at the end of the last term, particularly those of you who were self-isolating over the holidays – I know this was not easy, but your continued support with keeping our community safe is hugely appreciated.

Ahead of the start of term, I wanted to send you a quick update of what we have in place to keep our campuses safe in light of recent Government Covid announcements. I would also like your help with completing an anonymous vaccination survey we have been asked to run to support national efforts to target resources in the right areas.

Face-to-face teaching – what to expect

As you will have seen from your timetables, the vast majority of your teaching this term will be face-to-face, including lectures. For those that need it, remote studying will also remain an option for the rest of the year, subject to approval.

Unless you have a medical exemption, all students should wear face coverings in teaching spaces and communal areas where social distancing cannot be maintained, including when entering and leaving the room or walking through corridors – this can really help to stop the virus spreading.

Depending on the room set-up, your tutors may also wear a face covering throughout your lessons too.

We have undertaken risk assessments of all teaching rooms to ensure each area is compliant with public health regulations, and have reduced lecture capacity where needed to ensure appropriate ventilation.

Vaccinations survey

Vaccinations remain key to minimising the impact of Coronavirus, and we strongly encourage those that haven’t, and who are able to, to get a free booster jab as soon as you can.

Alongside this, please complete the following anonymous survey about take-up of the vaccine among students – we will not be recording any personal information of this individually and your responses will just be used for statistical purposes.

Pick up a kit and do your bit!

Testing remains a really important part of keeping each other safe. Please do continue to test at least twice a week if you are coming onto campus, with free take-home lateral flow test kits available shortly from places across campus including college receptions and the Templeman Library. Medway students can also collect tests from the Old Sports Hall. Remember to register your results with the NHS – we’ve also updated our information on what to do if you have Covid-19 symptoms or test positive.

Travel to campus from another country

If you are returning to campus from overseas, make sure you check Government guidance on travelling to England.

Thank you once again for your continued support with this and I look forward to seeing more of you on campus in the weeks and months ahead.

With all good wishes,

Richard

Professor Richard Reece | Deputy Vice-Chancellor – Education and Student Experience

Kent Voices – podcasts by and for our Kent community

Did you know Student Services has a new podcast?

Hi! I’m Charlie Gurr, I’m a student intern working as part of the Student Services Communications team. In October 2021, we started the Kent Voices podcast as a way of connecting with the University of Kent community through audio. From healthy relationships to disability history month, there have been lots of interesting discussions with staff and students.

Here’s a rundown of just some of the things that have featured on the Kent Voices podcast so far, which you can listen again to via KentPlayer:

Halloween and Bonfire Night: Hear all about staying safe on Bonfire Night, as well as having fun at Halloween!

Sex and Healthy Relationships: Marking United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, this episode covered some important topics such as consent, and first times, as well as some funny bedroom anecdotes!

Faith and Belief at University: Celebrating interfaith week, this podcast looked at the impact of faith on campus, from the perspective of two faith leaders. They spoke about what faith meant to them, and how students can get involved.

Living, Working, and Studying with Hidden Impairments: With a panel of University of Kent staff and alumni, the guests discussed how hidden impairments have affected them throughout their lives, how people’s perceptions can have an impact, and what support could, and should, be available.

Keep a look out in 2022 for what’s coming up on the Kent Voices podcast… we cover so many themes from disability and mental health, to faith groups and communities, sustainability, citizenship, volunteering, employability opportunities, getting involved in our local areas and campus events. If you’ve got an idea for a future podcast episode, get in touch via email at: StudentServicesWeb@kent.ac.uk

I hope you have a great time over the holidays, and I look forward to bringing you more Kent Voices podcast episodes in the New Year!

Written by Charlie Gurr, 2nd year student, on 20.12.21

IGHI’s Health Innovation Prize – win £10,000

Do you have a unique idea for a new product or research project in global health? Apply for the Institute of Global Health Innovation’s Health Innovation Prize (formerly known as the Student Challenges Competition) for the chance to turn that idea into a reality.

This exciting competition offers you the opportunity to showcase your idea and win £10,000 to fund it. Winners will be decided in a Dragon’s Den-style virtual event featuring a panel of experts in health innovation.

The competition is open to all UK university students. Projects can cover any aspect of global health innovation; see examples of last year’s finalists.

Entries open here on 10 January and will close on 6 February, 23.59. The final will take place in March (exact date TBC). Be sure to not miss out on this opportunity that could kick-start your journey in healthcare innovation, and help improve the lives of people across the world.

Submit your entry online. Contact ighi@imperial.ac.uk if you have any questions, and follow IGHI on Twitter for updates!

Notification feature on the Uni Kent Student App

We’ve introduced notifications on the Uni Kent Student App so we can notify you when there is a key news update.

When will you send out notifications?

Don’t worry, we’ll use these sparingly! We will send a notification to the app for:

News that is for most or all students at Kent
Reminders of key deadlines
Significant changes or disruption to key services
Student support information that would benefit all/most Kent students
Emergency or urgent communications. These types of communication would also be emailed to all students.

How do I change my notification settings?

Within the app, press the three lines icon in the top left-hand corner, go to ‘Settings’ and ensure ‘Receive notifications for new stories’ is ticked to receive notifications. You may also need to check your phone notification settings for the app.

What is the Uni Kent Student App?

The Uni Kent Student App is designed to:

Give you quick access to Moodle, your emails, KentVision are other key links
Help you stay up to date with what’s on and what’s new at Kent
Provide easy access to support webpages and contact details.

Can I give feedback about the Uni Kent Student App?

If you have any feedback about the Uni Kent Student App, both good or bad, please let us know by emailing communications@kent.ac.uk.

Your Spring Timetable

From Professor Richard Reece | DVC Education & Student Experience

Ahead of the Christmas break, I am pleased to confirm that your Spring Term timetable is now available on KentVision. This should also have pulled through to your iCal feed.

We will be updating some of the rooms and finalising group allocations over the Christmas vacation, so do check back in before the start of term for your confirmed class schedule. In the meantime, thank you all again for your fantastic efforts over the last term and I wish you and your families the very best for the Winter break.

Financial support (Christmas deadline)

This year has come with many difficulties. If you find yourself struggling financially, you are welcome to apply for financial support from the University. Please note the deadlines and university office closure dates below.

Kent Emergency Short Term Loan

You will need to have your application for the Kent Emergency Short Term Loan completed by 16.00 on Tuesday 14 December to receive any money by Christmas.

If you are eligible to apply you will need to log onto your KentVision Portal and select My Fees & Finance, Apply for funding, to apply for a KESL.

Other financial hardship packages

The other financial hardship packages are still available for students to apply but please be aware that any application may not be processed or finalised before Christmas. Students should therefore not rely on receiving any funds granted before the New Year for these packages.

Office closures

The Financial Aid Office will be closed from 16.00 on Tuesday 21 December 2021 and will re-open on Tuesday 4 January 2022.

Have you heard of the #ConsentGetIt campaign at Kent?

As the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence comes to an end, where are we as an institution?

Hopefully you will have noticed that lots of different staff and students from various teams and departments at the University of Kent all came together to declare their solidarity for the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence campaign. Most women who experience violence do so at the hands of a partner or potential partner. Eradicating violence against women means obtaining consent in all situations.

How is the University of Kent walking the walk on this issue? We have launched a sex-positive campaign to cultivate and strengthen a culture of consent in our community of staff and students. Everyone should be able to explore their sexuality with confidence, and we know that consent is key and necessary for all sexual activity. Getting consent might at first seem tricky so, we have created a consent webpage where you can learn about what consent is and read some tips on how to ensure you have it, and how you can give it clearly to your partner(s).

As a University and with the collaboration of Kent Union, we are actively working on making sure that we…

are transparent with you about our approach and response to sexual misconduct and harassment.
clearly inform you of the procedures, expectations, and actions taken within the university are.
give you all the information you need about the support we offer and how you can access it.

Check out our YouTube video on the launch of the Consent campaign at Kent:

Links mentioned in the video:

As part of our aim to be transparent with you and make sure you know where to get support, we have put together the following guides:

Will you help us put a full stop to sexual assault and misconduct? Join us in making our university the safest it can be – look up #ConsentGetIt on socials to see what activities are coming up soon.

Written by Filipa Paes, third year student, and Natalia Crisanti, Student Services staff 06.12.21

Covid-19 update: Returning home, staying on campus for Christmas and Spring Term

From Professor Richard Reece | Deputy Vice-Chancellor Education and Student Experience

As we reach the final weeks of term, I would like to start by thanking you for your help in keeping our community safe with Covid-19 cases remaining low at the University of Kent.

As you may have seen, further restrictions were announced yesterday in response to the national rise in Covid-19 omicron variant cases – this makes the additional guidance I shared with you last week on face coverings and testing all the more important. In the meantime, all face-to-face teaching and student support services will continue as they are for the rest of this term.

More widely, I wanted to advise you on how to travel safely home for Christmas, highlight the support available to you if you are staying on campus for the winter break, and to let you know what you can expect in the Spring Term.

Travelling home safely for Christmas

The Government is asking that students take a lateral flow test before travelling home to help stop the spread of Covid-19. Please remember to add your test result to NHS Test and Trace, even if it is negative. We have testing centres on campus, where you can have a test or pick up an at home kit. Testing kits will also start being delivered to on-campus student rooms from today and should be completed by Tuesday 14 December to allow time for isolation before Christmas if needed.

If you are planning to travel abroad, make sure you check the Government’s travel advice before you leave.

Staying on campus for the winter break

If you are staying with us over the Christmas period, please can you let us know by completing the online form if you have not already done so. This will help us to support you over the break and let you know about festive activities.

See our Christmas on campus webpages for facility opening times, events, and support.

Spring Term plans

Subject to Government guidance at the time, we plan to deliver most teaching in person from January 2022, including lectures. Most examinations will however, continue to be delivered online and we will provide more exams guidance in the Spring Term.

Remote study is still available in the Spring Term for students who need it. Find out more about remote study online.

When returning to campus for the Spring Term, the Government is asking that you take a lateral flow test before you travel. If you are returning from abroad, please check the Government’s travel advice before you make travel arrangements.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please get in touch by emailing covidsupport@kent.ac.uk.

Have a wonderful Christmas and I look forward to welcoming you back to campus in 2022.

All best wishes

Richard

Professor Richard Reece | DVC Education and Student Experience

Vaccine centre volunteers needed (Medway)

Lordswood Vaccination Centre are looking to expand their pool of fantastic volunteers to support the delivery of the Covid-19 vaccine. Volunteers are required to welcome patients, ask some basic questions and direct patients through the vaccine centre ensuring the efficient and safe running of the process. Sessions run Monday – Saturday and are split into Morning sessions (08.30-13.30) and Afternoon sessions (14.30-19.30)There will be doctors, nurses and non-clinical staff on site to support you in your duties. The Vaccination Centre are offering unlimited hot drinks, snacks and regular breaks throughout the sessions and free on-site parking.

If you would like to register your interest or have any further questions please email: kmccg.medwaysouthandrochestercovidvaccine@nhs.net