A number of the University’s webpages were audited by the Cabinet Office’s Central and Digital Data Office (CDDO) in April and, following some remedial fixes, we have now been informed that they have endorsed our efforts and no further action will be taken. Kent was chosen at random to be audited, alongside a number of other universities, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. Checks were expected from 2020 but were inevitably delayed due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The areas raised by the audit were minor and were swiftly rectified by the Web Development and Accessible Information teams in plenty of time for the 12-week deadline.

Digital and information accessibility continues to be a high priority for the University in order to highlight our commitment for equality and inclusivity, and to ensure that all students and staff are able to work and learn in ways that work for them, as well as remaining complaint to relevant regulations. Further work is continuing around this area, particularly around accessibility statements. If you are the business owner of a digital platform, app or service, you may need to create or update an accessibility statement. Please contact the Accessible Information team to find out more.

This positive result is thanks to the many people around the University who have worked hard to ensure that Kent remains a sector leader in digital accessibility, and continue to champion equality, diversity and inclusivity in their work and teams.

Staff and students from across the university are invited to join colleagues from across the sector for our third conference to share good practice in the fields of Internationalisation at home and Internationalisation of the Curriculum.  Building on the success of last year’s 2021 conference where colleagues engaged from more than 27 countries, and its digital content received over 1,600 views, this year’s conference is already looking to surpass this.

This year’s theme is ‘The Power of Co-creation’.  We have received 20 pre-recorded video presentations from colleagues around the world sharing their experiences and insights in this area of work.  Topics range from working with students as partners, developing intercultural competences and skills, building a community, to examples of COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) Initiatives. Colleagues are able to watch these in advance of the live conference which take place on Friday 15 July, 2022 from 14:00 – 17:30 BST.

The full schedule of events for 15 July live conference can be found below:

14:00: Welcome

14:10: Opening Plenary

The Potential of Virtual Exchange/COIL as co-creative experience

Speaker: Eva Haug, Educational Advisor for Internationalisation of the Curriculum and COIL, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences

14:40: Live Q&A Session with presenters (Round 1)

15:15: Panel Discussion

Our panel discussion will explore whether internationalisation at home (IaH) activities meaningfully contribute to inclusivity on campus.  We are delighted to bring student’s views on this topic in addition to our plenary speakers.

16:00: The IC Global Café Networking Session

In this session we will dive into the conference theme and if, and how, Internationalisation at Home can benefit inclusivity.  During the Cafe, there will be an opportunity to meet colleagues in small, informal breakout rooms, where you can virtually share your hot or cold drinks as well as your experiences of inclusivity and Internationalisation at Home

16:30: Live Q&A Session with presenters (Round 2)

17:00: Closing Plenary

Innovations in IaH Towards an impact practice: a critical reflection

Speaker: Eveke de Louw, International Policy Advisor for the Curriculum and Co-curriculum, The Hague University of Applied Sciences

17:30: Closing Remarks and Conference Close

Registration for this free conference is now open.  Please sign up here.  For more information, please contact us at iihconference@kent.ac.uk

We hope to see you there!

Find out about the latest release of new features for the KentVision Project in our KentVision: Latest Tools story. 

Since the launch of KentVision last year, we have been engaging with diverse stakeholder groups across the University to determine the schedule for its immediate and future functionality development and release. The KentVision Board has established six Functional Area Working Groups to enable and assess feedback from a variety of individuals and teams across the University. This will enable us to best prioritise future improvements to the system. 

Functional Group members represent a mixture of colleagues from Divisions, professional services and central teams and are split across the following operational areas: 

• Statutory and Core student record 
• Admissions, Clearing and Recruitment 
• Assessment 
• Finance 
• PGR 
• Student Activity and Experience 

The proposed order of delivery has been assessed against the academic calendar and our statutory requirements. Further work will be undertaken following the completion of deliverables committed for August 2022 to strengthen and refine the delivery estimating and create a schedule for delivery into 2023. 

What will be delivered by August 2022? 

We have committed to introduce improved processes and functionality by August 2022. This will improve the experience for both staff and students. Some examples of this include: 

• New automated communications for student immigration compliance will help us stay in touch with the relevant students and ensure we comply with government regulations. 
• We are improving enrolment and re-registration processes to ensure accurate collection for Data Futures – improving data compliance and the student experience. 
• Improved usability of the right to study screen in enrolment ensuring that students are able to progress through enrolment and re-registration in a timely manner, helping us comply with Home Office rules. 
• We will continue to improve the results release process and result letters ensuring they are clear and meet the needs of our students for the re-sit period.  
• Enhanced functionality including changes to improve progression/award rules and exam board reporting particularly for the re-sit period. Post-exam board functionality will allow chairs actions to be recorded and CSAO will be automatically notified – removing administration burden and preventing unnecessary communications. 
• Full support for the clearing processes, ensuring permissions are allocated known issues are resolved, and underlying processes for the new telephone offers initiatives are enabled.  
• Development of the integration between KentVision and the new CRM. 
• A new process to roll forward scholarship fund reference data to the next academic year.  
• Improvements to the student financial registration processes – ensuring facilitation of student engagement and timely addition of payment information. 

Next Steps? 

• Technology and process improvements for statutory data compliance and PGR student management areas are to continue with deployments scheduled through July and August. Along with planning for the autumn – the new academic year and admissions cycle. 
• A timeline for delivery from September 2022 of the far-ranging and numerous improvements will be shared at the end of August. 
• Detailed business readiness activities, including transition plans and training and communication. 
• Continuous updates on how our improvements, plans and communications are informed by feedback from our students and staff. 

The legal reversal of the Roe v Wade decision in the USA has been sending shockwaves across the world.

If you have questions about this or feel emotionally affected by what has happened or its potential ramifications, please do contact the Staff Employee Assistance Programme. You can get in touch with them by phone or via their website any time of the day or night. You can be transferred to a counsellor if you wish to discuss an emotional concern. If you want advice of a more informative nature, there are Information Specialists available for you to talk with. In connection with Roe v Wade, this could be related to issues such as human rights, abortion or infertility. You simply call the usual number (0808 168 2143), ask to speak to one of the Information specialists and you will be put through. It is worth noting that the Information Specialists are available Monday to Friday, 08:00 to 20:00.

Increasing levels of COVID are leading to an increase in the number of queries about what people with symptoms or who test positive should do. Here is the Government public health guidance summarised in a University context:

• Stay home if you are unwell. If you have symptoms of a respiratory illness and either a high temperature or do not feel well enough to be at work/study, you should stay at home. You can return to on-campus work/study once your fever has gone or you feel better, even if a cough persists.
• If you have taken a private COVID-19 test and the result is positive you should self-isolate for 5 days from the date of the test whether you have symptoms or not. If you are symptom-free, work/study from home if you can. You can return to on-campus work/study after the 5 days. If you have symptoms and they last for more than 5 days, you can return to on-campus work/study once you feel better, even if a cough persists.
• If you live with or stayed overnight with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 you can continue to work and study, but you should try to limit your close contact with others, consider wearing a face covering when around other people, and wash your hands more frequently than normal.

Action Mesothelioma Day takes place on Friday 1 July this year and is designed to commemorate those who have succumbed to asbestos related diseases, and to highlight the continuing issues that exist concerning asbestos. This year, the theme is Go Blue for Meso and buildings are being lit up in blue around the UK to help raise awareness. Around 2,500 people in the UK die each year from mesothelioma, and a further similar number are believed to die from other diseases related to asbestos exposure.

To commemorate this day, the lawns and buildings around the Registry will be lit up in blue at 21:15, courtesy of the team at the Gulbenkian.

Find out more about #GoBlueforMeso and come along this Friday at 21:15 to help put a spotlight on Mesothelioma.

Following the success of last year’s virtual event, we are excited to announce that preparations are well underway for this year’s Staff Conference. We have already received some wonderful contributions, so thank you to everyone who has already submitted their ideas.

The Conference allows us to mark the start of the academic year together, providing opportunities to learn about each other’s work and giving us a chance to reflect on how we all – whether academic, professional services, technical staff, or otherwise – contribute to achieving the University’s ambitions.

The Conference will take place on campus from 15-16 September 2022 with the theme ‘Building our University Community’. On the Friday afternoon, the event will close with an all-staff barbecue, and we hope it will top off two days spent celebrating our learning and enhancing our connections with one another.

We want you to get involved!

Over the two days, we are planning numerous activities, both informative and informal, that you can choose to join in with or even run yourself. These might include:

• Seminars about projects, initiatives and activities across the University
• Talks on what it is like to work in your role at Kent
• Discussions and workshops on important topics such as wellbeing and support
• Informal events which you can take part in, either individually or as a team
• Demonstrations or tours of facilities

However, these are just suggestions – we want to make sure the Staff Conference is all about you. Whether you have been looking for a platform to share something you have been working on or want to run a workshop related to your role at Kent, we want to hear from you.

Please send an outline of your proposed sessions in 300 words or less to our Staff Conference team at communications@kent.ac.uk by Friday 8 July. We particularly want to hear how you plan to engage and interact with your audience.

We look forward to hearing your ideas soon

Why complete EDI training

Equality and diversity in the workplace have become increasingly important in recent years. While it would be nice to think that both of these aspects of working life would manage themselves in a modern-day environment, they sometimes require a bit of help. In many cases friction in the workplace is based much more on lack of understanding than on actual malice or prejudice.​​​​​​​

​​​​At Kent we provide a wide range of Equality training which is available for all staff to complete either online Via Staff Training Moodle, links within the university EDI webpage, by attending one of the face-to-face sessions which is bookable via staff connect or by contacting Ldev@kent.ac.uk

Talent and Organisational Development Survey

As the 2021/22 academic year draws to a close the T&OD team have already started to plan for 2022/23.

We are reviewing our processes, session offering and the method of delivery with the aim to provide as much development as possible in a way that makes it accessible to all

We would be incredibly grateful if you can spare us five minutes of your time to participate in/cascade our survey. This survey will help us understand your needs and enable us to keep bringing you a high-quality service that has value for you.

Please complete your survey by Friday 12th August 

Bag Week Round up

2022 saw us return to more in person sessions for BAG Week, and it was great to see staff getting involved whist being on campus!

We had a varied and full programme, and were able to offer a range of sessions for staff to take part in.

What’s on in June and July

June and July have a number of training opportunities open to all staff, and bookable via Staff Connect.

Update: 29/06/22 15:00

We have addressed the intermittent performance issue experienced by colleagues. We will continue monitoring the system, thank you for your patience.

24/06/22 – 15:00

The KentVision system has been stable throughout the day. We are engaged with the system supplier to identify the root cause and to provide a fix for the intermittent performance issues experienced by colleagues. We will continue monitoring the system and will update you on our progress.

For more live updates please follow our Service Status page.

23/06/22 – 15:00

We have continued exploring all mitigations for the intermittent performance issues and assessing the root cause. The KentVision system has been stable throughout the day despite similar levels of usage from colleagues – a further update will be provided tomorrow.

23/06/22 – 09:40

Yesterday, additional computing capacity was brought online to help mitigate the intermittent performance issues with KentVision. We have continued to monitor the system and we are aware some colleagues are still experiencing issues. We apologise for the impact this is having, especially given the tasks currently underway. We are working urgently with the supplier to provide a fix – a further update will be provided by later today.

22/06/22 – 16:00

We have brought additional computing capacity online to mitigate the performance issues experienced by colleagues today – this appears to have made a positive difference. We will continue to monitor the system and gather live feedback from users.

22/06/22 – 13:30

We are aware of the performance issues being experienced with KentVision; this is currently under urgent investigation. Users will be informed when the system issues have been fixed – a further update will be provided later today.

With the Summer holidays just around the corner, you may be thinking about how to keep your children active and entertained. With our SummerZone sports and activity camp for children aged 5 to 12, you won’t need to worry. During SummerZone we provide daily sports and activities, all under the supervision of experienced and DBS verified camp staff. Activities include Nerf, tennis, cricket, mini golf, New Age Kurling and much more. 

“Really impressed by EasterZone; facilities, staff, children and activities were all fantastic. Our children cannot wait for SummerZone!” – Parent feedback from EasterZone 2022

Dates and times:

SummerZone 2022 runs from Monday 15 to Friday 19 August. You can drop your children off from 8.30am and pick up at 3pm. We also offer a late pick-up option from 3pm to 5pm.

Booking and prices:

Online booking for SummerZone 2022 is now open. Please ensure you complete a form for each child you wish to book on SummerZone. Booking and payment can be completed online.

University of Kent staff

• One day £30 per child
• One week (five days) £125 per child

Members of the public

• One day £35 per child
• One week (five days) £150 per child

Late pick-up (3pm to 5pm)

Our late pick-up option includes fun and engaging activities tailored to the location, such as table tennis, table football, new age kurling, bowls, speed stacks, twister, board games, and creative drawing.

• £10 per child per day

Questions?

If you have any questions about our holiday camps, or if you would like to be added to the mailing list for future camps, please email sportsdevelopment@kent.ac.uk or call 01227 816391.

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