A big congratulations for the First prize winner goes to Harry Ghosh, a final year student in Politics and International Relations for his atmospheric photo taken in the ever-popular K Bar, having fun with his friends. Harry won £80 worth of Amazon vouchers…well done!

The competition was open to all University students and staff past and present as part of Keynes College 50th Anniversary celebrations and participants were encouraged to submit photos that capture the essence of life in Keynes.

We thoroughly enjoyed viewing the wide array of entries including some golden oldies from a past Keynestock festival in the 70s to the tranquil pond area that all students and staff love to relax by. We thank everyone for participating!

Second prize went to Alumni Claire Dowling and third prize went to staff member Natalia Crisanti. Well done!

Why not take a look at the winning three and all of the shortlisted photos next to our ‘We are Keynes’ exhibition in Keynes Atrium, both on until the end of July.

The winning photo by Harry Ghosh (click to enlarge).

With the launch of the expenses module some changes have been made to the menu in Staff Connect.

These changes include:

• Access to your personal absence record and related documents is now under My Absence Details. If you have delegated responsibility for the absence module you can access these details via this screen

• The Form History button has been removed from the main menu and placed under each menu section.

• A button called My Pending Authorisations has been added. This page will display any items requiring your authorisation and works with your Authorisation widget

• In Progress widget can be added to your Dashboard page.  This will enable you quick access to any forms you have saved and are pending your submission.

If you have any queries about locating any items in Staff Connect please contact the HR Systems team via hrsysplan@kent.ac.uk

The PRIDE (‘Personal Responsibility In Delivering Excellence’) Award recognises members of Kent Hospitality staff who go out of their way to deliver excellent customer service.

Any Kent Hospitality staff member (permanent or casual) may be nominated from Canterbury and Medway campuses. The award is given out four times a year with each winner receiving £100 of shopping vouchers, a certificate and badge.

Nominations can be made by any member of University staff, students or visitors. Make your nomination online or alternatively you can pick up a paper form next to the red nomination boxes located in all Kent Hospitality’s catering outlets in Canterbury and Medway, as well College reception areas.

Please make your nominations detailed, providing as much information as possible why the nominee is being put forward for a Pride Award. The panel are looking for staff who achieve more than just what is expected in their role (i.e. hardworking, professional, positive and friendly attitude).

Congratulations again to our most recent Pride Award winners – Linda Jarvis, (Rutherford College Receptionist) and Sam Riddington (Medway Food and Beverage Manager)

For further information or for guidance on submitting nominations please contact: pride@kent.ac.uk
 

Dr Anna Katharina Schaffner, Reader in Comparative Literature and Medical Humanities in the Department of Comparative Literature, has written a lead review article, ‘‘Weighty matters’ on the cultural history of fat and fat phobia’, which has been published in The Times Literary Supplement.

In recent decades, the British population has grown in girth. The NHS England obesity report for 2017 found that 58 per cent of women and 68 per cent of the men were overweight or obese, as well as one in five children aged three to four, and more than one in three children aged ten to eleven. Yet in spite of their steadily growing numbers, the overweight are still subject to contempt and discrimination. This article goes on to explore key assumptions in the popular imagination that seemingly legitimise fat-shaming, as well as the long history of our slippery relationship with fat.

‘Fat is ultimately a political topic,’ Anna says, ‘Whether we view the obese primarily as victims of poverty, childhood troubles, genetic predisposition, hormonal imbalances, or a ruthless food industry, or else as weak-willed wasters of precious resources depends on our wider ideological assumptions about human nature and agency.’

Due to popular demand, Learning and Organisational Development have added two further dates for the Mid-Career workshop, facilitated by Planned Future.

The sessions in June and July are now fully booked, but we have two extra dates in August and September. Book your place through Staff Connect.

This short workshop covers a wide range of issues relevant to planning your financial affairs both now and for your future. Looking at your finances now at the mid-career stage can give you enough time to make a significant difference to your future financial goals.

You will:

•Learn how to manage your finances

•Understand how to protect your family financially

•Consider the options for saving and investment

•Learn how to top-up your pension

•Identify the personal and financial actions which will make the most of your finances

•Start the process of planning towards a successful retirement

This seminar is open to any member of staff who has an interest in planning their finances to achieve their personal and financial goals.

The next Drill Hall Dialogue talk is being held at the Guildhall Museum room DA002 in Rochester on Tuesday 11 June 2019 at 10.00. The focus is on Upnor Castle and the Dutch Raid.

Plague and Fire swept through London in the 1660s and have become established as infamous episodes in England’s history. But the disaster that followed is less well-known, and it happened right here, on the River Medway. This illustrated talk will look at the causes of the event, at the people involved and how it all unfolded in a few momentous days in June 1667.

Dr Jeremy Clarke, who is giving the talk, has been Education Officer at the Guildhall Museum in Rochester since 1998. He is responsible for all formal education and learning programmes supported by the museum collection or its listed buildings.

Most of his work is with or in local schools, but he also runs courses, lectures and illustrated talks for adults. He has also run partnership projects to support children in making music for Dickens’s novels, in illustrating scenes from Great Expectations, and in working with actors at locations made famous by the novel. In 2010 he hosted a shared reading of Great Expectations in the original parts, timed to coincide with their publication 150 years before.

Drill Hall Dialogues is a monthly series of talks held at the Drill Hall Library, the learning resource centre for the Universities at Medway collaborative project. A wide variety of topics has been covered including prison libraries, NHS libraries, Dickens and Christmas, Medway regeneration, the Medway Floods of 1953 and Fort Amherst. We have also received talks from academics based on the campus including the Centre for Journalism (UKM) and the Faculty of Education (CCCU). The talks take place on the first or second Tuesday of the month and usually last no longer than 45 minutes with 15 minutes allotted for any questions and answers.  All staff are welcome to attend.

For more information visit www.campus.medway.ac.uk

DEADLINE: Monday 17 June by 17.00.

Ensure the correct name is on your graduation certificate.

There are strict rules governing your legal name which should appear in full on your certificate as on other legal documents, i.e. passport.

1. Check your name on Student Data System – this is how it will be printed on your certificate

If it is correct? You do not need to do anything further regarding your legal name.

If it is NOT correct, please see step 2 below.

2. If your legal name is not correct, you must contact the Central Student Administration Office.

You must contact CSAO (csao@kent.ac.uk) if your legal name is wrong before the deadline listed above. If you submit a name change after your ceremony, your certificate will not be reprinted.