The University is undertaking an Employability Health Check to help us identify areas of good practice and to collect ideas for future activity. We are hosting online round tables for staff, and individual surveys with students. If you would like to take part, please add your details to https://www.kent.ac.uk/ces/contact/form.html and we will send you the appropriate links.

Professional Service colleagues 14^th June 10.00-12.30

Academic colleagues 30^th June 10.00-12.30

Students will be contacted 7^th-16^th June

These events are hosted and facilitated by an external company. If you are unable to attend, but would like to feed ideas into this review, please email headofces@kent.ac.uk.

The University of Kent is partnering with a number of organisations to host Canterbury Stands with Ukraine, a major community event to be held in Canterbury city centre on Saturday 28 May. 

From Canterbury Stands with Ukraine:

Canterbury will show its solidarity with Ukraine and the Ukrainian people at a major community event to be held in the centre of the city on Saturday 28 May.

The open event will bring together VIPs, city dignitaries, the general public and a wide range of charities and volunteer organisations that have begun to welcome the increasing number of Ukrainians coming to the area to escape the war. Ukrainians themselves are leading these efforts, with the delivery of welcome packs, advice and guidance, language support, counselling services, and a wide range of other support services being made available through the sustained efforts of supporters in the community.

The event – to be held at Canterbury Christ Church University’s Augustine House – will hear from those who have fled the war as well as those hosting them in their homes and will include performances from Ukrainian and UK singers.

Among the organisations to be represented at the event is Canterbury for Ukraine which through its social media presence and active leadership since the start of the war has spearheaded local efforts to provide critical support services to those most in need.

Also present will be representatives of religious, political, business and educational organisations in the city and beyond.

A key element of the programme will be the opportunity for the public to meet the key volunteer and charity organisations involved in supporting the Ukrainian community and to find out how they can help and support these efforts.

Denys Nizalov of Canterbury for Ukraine said: “This will be an important event for us in the city as we take a moment to acknowledge the amazing work being done. But it will also encourage us to redouble our efforts to help those most affected by this horrific war. It is humbling to see the response that Canterbury and its people have made in the last three months but I know there is also the wish on the part of many people to do more. So I would encourage anyone interested to come along and find out how they can help.”

Councillor Connie Nolan, who will be speaking at the event, said: “This event represents an important moment for Canterbury and for its support of those who are arriving in our area due to the terrible impacts of the war in Ukraine. I’m extremely proud of the way that the city has responded to the challenges of the last few months, putting in place such a wide range of services and providing such a warm welcome to those who need it most.”

Canterbury Stands with Ukraine will take place at Augustine’s House, Canterbury Christ Church University, CT1 2YA (nearest parking can be found at Old Dover Road and Watling St car parks) from 10.30 – 13.00.

For further information and to register your interest, please go to: www.facebook.com/groups/canterbury.for.ukraine

Thank you to all Kent staff and students who recently took part in a number of physical challenges and group activities during our first ever Giving Week to raise funds for the new Parkinson’s Centre for Integrated Therapy.

The Centre is a partnership between the University, the national charity Parkinson’s Care and Support UK, and the Kent Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Centre, where it will be based. It will be the first of its kind in the UK to provide the therapies, knowledge, tools and social community needed to overcome many of the physical and mental limitations imposed by Parkinson’s disease.

The challenges included a 5k ‘campus trek’, with the Sheriff of Canterbury presenting medals to the participants, and a lunchtime music concert from East Kent Rock Choir which had over 250 attendees.

An impressive £15,000 was raised through Kent Giving Week which will make a vital contribution towards establishing and running the much-needed Centre. Anyone wishing to donate can do so here: https://www.kent.ac.uk/parkinsons/support-us/donate

Professor David Wilkinson, who will be leading research at the Parkinson’s Centre for Integrated Therapy, said: ‘I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who took part in these fundraising events – your support is invaluable. The Parkinson’s Centre for Integrated Therapy will play a significant role in helping those with Parkinson’s disease in the local community have access to non-therapeutic therapies that can make a huge difference to their quality of life.’

The Kings School in Canterbury has selected the Centre as its Charity of the Year with its staff also participating in a number of fundraising challenges such as a 5k fun run, a family/dog inclusive circular walk and a family BBQ. Additionally, a member of staff at King’s School is independently taking part in 11 Tough Mudder challenges throughout 2022 to raise money for the Centre.

Our first Giving Week was officially launched on Monday 9 May by Vice-Chancellor and President, Karen Cox. Each year the University will select one of its funding priorities to benefit from a week of fundraising activity.

Kent Staff taking part in Kent Giving Week’s 5k campus trek

TED talk-style event providing insights into Parkinson’s treatments and therapies at Kent Giving Week

A netball challenge takes place during the Kent Giving Week Livestream

Left to right: Elizabeth Gordon (Parkinson’s Care and Support UK), Professor David Wilkinson (Kent), Spencer Goddard (CEO of Kent MS Therapy Centre)

From Martin Carvey | Project Manager

Following significant work from stakeholders across the University, over the past couple of months we have begun to see increased functionality across KentVision, supported by careful testing and training ahead of rollout. This will continue in the weeks and months ahead, with our Agile Team delivery model being deployed across more areas, allowing for quicker and more effective development at each stage.  

This remains a challenging project but we are now seeing real progress in tangible business analysis, development and testing activity, leading to more key features and functionality being deployed – this will continue in the weeks ahead. My continued thanks to all users across the University for your engagement in getting the recent deliveries into place. 

Assessments: Boards of Examiners 

Initial Boards deployment is now completed. Development and testing of the next stage of the functionality for this remains on track for rollout this term, with training scheduled throughout. This is a key functionality with progress continuing in the weeks ahead, ensuring we can run a smooth exam process across Divisions. 

Changes of Circumstances 

Several user group onsite workshops with key users across the University have assisted in completing the process mapping for this, with a focus on user experience. Additionally, core components for delivery have been identified, ensuring data improvement is an initial focus.  

Our business analysts and developers continue collaborating to consider the complexities around Changes of Circumstances and are now working through the priorities for different users. This will focus on mapping out the changes to have in place for the key moments in the academic calendar during this year.  

Statutory Data 

Incremental changes are being made that will ensure data in KentVision continues to improve, with this strand of work continuing in line with the schedule. 

Next steps  

We are concurrently focusing business analysis and specific development work across several other priority areas – both for KentVision to meet the University’s needs during the short term, with further delivery scheduled during the next few weeks, and for further changes throughout this year, supported by ongoing user engagement. A priority order for delivery is being confirmed now to conclude the work of our independent SITS consultant, confirming the extensive SITS delivery list and priorities. Estimates for delivery timelines are now being accurately assessed, and a resourced project delivery roadmap can be completed.  

While there is still a way to go before we have features and functionality in place to satisfy all stakeholders, we are also looking ahead to how we bring both the working methods and ongoing improvements into ‘business as usual’ with the support of colleagues in IS.  

Congratulations to Kerry Barber for being appointed as the Director of Research and Innovation Services.

Kerry will be known to many as the current Director of Operations for the Division of Human and Social Sciences at Kent and will be taking up her new role as Director of RIS in the summer.

“I am delighted at Kerry Barber’s appointment to lead Research and Innovation Services, a high-performing directorate that is supporting the University very effectively to achieve its ambitions for research and innovation.”
Professor Shane Weller | Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation

Congratulations to Janice Markey for being appointed as the Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. 

A published writer and higher-degree graduate, Janice has studied and worked as a Lecturer and Journalist in Germany, Canada and the UK. She has led on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at a wide range of different organizations including Tower Hamlets, Westminster and Brighton and Hove Councils, London Ambulance Service as well as at several universities including the University of Southampton and Manchester Metropolitan. She enabled London Ambulance Service to become one of the Top 100 Employers on the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index in the last five applications she led on and has successfully overseen Athena Swan submissions and Race Equality Charter work as well as attaining the Disability Confident Leader accreditation for the University of Southampton, the first university in the country to be awarded this status.

In her free time Janice enjoys going to the theatre and gym and also doing music reviews.

During Kent Giving Week the staff netball team ‘Kent Unicorns’, took on the Moving Challenge in their own way and pledged to donate £1 per goal scored during their Tuesday match in the Thanet Netball League.  The game was a win to the Unicorns, with the final score being 28-5.

The Unicorns then took on a Netball Challenge during Friday’s livestream event, with team members each taking turns to score as many goals as they could in 1 minute.  Unfortunately, none of their shooters were able to make this event, but they gave a good show, with their team captain, Ali Webster, scoring the highest, with 12 goals.  The Unicorns added these to their total on Tuesday night, making a total donation of £45 for the Parkinson’s Centre for Integrated Therapy.

Vice Captain, Emma Marku, who works within International Programmes, said ‘it was once again great to get involved with events on campus, to be part of that community, while doing something that we all enjoy and at the same time, raising money for a worthwhile cause‘.

Kent Giving Week is a week of fundraising activities raising vital funds for the University, with a focus this year on raising £25,000 towards the Parkinson’s Centre for Integrated Therapy. The Centre will provide integrated and individualised non-drug therapies to improve the mental and physical wellbeing of those living with Parkinson’s.  For more information about the Parkinson’s Centre for Integrated Therapy please click here.

You can still make a donation here.

If anyone is interested in getting involved with Netball, you can go along to ALL Active Social Netball every Monday lunchtime, 12.30-1.30pm in the Sports Centre. Kent Sport membership required. Minimum membership £2 per session with pay to play membership. For more information, please see our website or follow @ALLActiveKent on Facebook, twitter, Instagram or TikTok for updates.

Must-do Training!

If you have not completed the University Data Protection training or refresher in the past two years. Please do so as soon as possible. Data Protection training for people handling personal data is a mandatory Information Commissioners Office requirement as well as a University requirement.

If you have any queries or would think your service may benefit from additional team or service question and answer sessions please contact us on dataprotection@kent.ac.uk

Personal Data Security Incident or Breach

Not every personal data incident security incident is a data breach and not every data breach is reportable to the Information Commissioner. But the University has a statutory duty to investigate, evaluate and record all incidents (whether reportable or not).

When reporting a data breach to the Information Commissioner’s Office the first or second question is always “have staff involved completed data protection training”?

The UKGDPR and DPA 2018 gives the Information Commissioner the power to issue penalties and instructions for lack of process. Lack of training will be considered lack of process leaving the University vulnerable to financial penalties, enforcement notices and bad publicity!

If in doubt seek advice and assistance from Information Compliance dataprotection@kent.ac.uk

All incidents are distressing to individuals affected by them so it is important that lessons are learned and  that all incidents are reported to Information Compliance. If incidents are not reported we cannot learn lessons or comply with the law.

First lesson in Data Incident Management if you can get it back – get it back – then contact us!

New Online Reporting Tool

Information Compliance have launched a new online reporting tool. This form provides all the information we need to evaluate any incident or breach. If you cannot access this form for any reason please e-mail Information Compliance on the e-mail above.

Incident Trends

Most information security incidents happen because of human error or lack of thought, this is true of all the incidents reported in the past quarter. Common mistakes include

• e-mails sent to the wrong people
• e-mails sent to a group rather than an individual (or wrong group).

Information Compliance  has reported 1 breach to the Information Commissioner’s Office in the past quarter and held discussions about a further two incidents which were very close to the statutory requirement to report (to the Commissioner’s Office)

Think

Where you are working and who can see your work

Recently I travelled on the Euston to Crewe train I returned to my seat having walked through the corridor. I sat down and informed the man opposite me that he worked for the MoD! the person two seats down was a lecturer… etc! I could read their screens just moving through the carriage! I do not work on the train unless I have a privacy screen fitted (they are easily removeable when not needed and are very light).

For the cost of £30 (approx.) could save the University and Departments £000s’

How do you send information?

Is it secure? Who can see it?  Do you know the privacy settings. Is it appropriate use of acebook or teams for example?

Laptops

University Laptops are encrypted. The reason for this  to prevent inappropriate access if laptops are lost or stolen. Organisations have been fined  tens of £000,000.00s’ for losing unencrypted laptops. Keeping log in details (such as encryption key and passwords) with the laptop negates encryption and leaves the UoK open to financial penalties. Please keep them separate!!

Don’t Keep Encryption Keys and passwords with your computer

Think what you do with other people’s data treat it at least as securely as your own!

• Keep personal data secure
• Don’t share your passwords
• Beware of scams
• Lock your computer even if you leave it for “only a couple of minutes”

Last but not least, congratulations to Laura Pullin, who has now commenced her role as Head of Data Protection!

Kent’s BAME Staff Network was launched in 2019 to support the University’s commitment to equality, diversity and inclusivity and provide an active forum in which BAME staff can engage to discuss issues and experiences important to them.

About the Network

Full Terms of Reference for the Network can be seen on the HR webpages:
https://www.kent.ac.uk/hr-equalityanddiversity/networks/bame-network.html

Current Network Co-Chairs are Mita Mondal, Vanisha Jassal, Dr Bridget Ng’andu, Dr Barbara Adewumi and Dr Gurprit Lall; all have been staff members at Kent for several years. One of the Co-Chairs is studying for a PhD research degree at the University. They therefore bring a range of experience and knowledge related to both staff and students. This is critical to forming a comprehensive understanding of BAME experiences at the University. To find out about the people behind the Network, take a look at this blog produced by the Co-Chairs during the University’s virtual ‘Belong and Grow’ week in May 2020.

Following its launch in 2019, a key objective of the Network has been to reach out to all BAME staff members so please do contact the Network at bamestaffnetwork@kent.ac.uk if you would like to talk to the Co-Chairs about membership or any other matters.  Please note that this inbox is only accessible by the five Co-Chairs and all communication will be kept confidential and anonymous.

Staff survey Phase 2 Case Studies

In 2020, all staff at the University of Kent were invited to take part in the BAME Staff Network Survey Phase 1 to help the Network explore and examine staff experiences of working at Kent.  The BAME Staff Network All Staff Survey 2020: A report on the findings, is now available on the BAME Staff Network website – BAME Network – Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity – University of Kent. The Report was positively received and endorsed by Professor Georgina Randsley de Moura, Deputy Vice-Chancellor – Academic Strategy, Planning and Performance.

We are now building on the exclusive insight of Phase 1 of the qualitative research by progressing the research study to Phase 2, which involves rich in-depth Qualitative Interviews with colleagues that expressed interest in participating in the case studies.  To enable us to have a good representation of colleagues from BAME backgrounds, we requested for amendments to the initial Ethics Application of 2020, to include a specific request for BAME staff that did not take part in the Phase 1 research, but would like to participate in the case studies, to now do so. The amendment was approved by SSPSSR Ethics Committee in March/April 2022.

Our research in Phase 1 foregrounds the significance of colleagues wellbeing, progression and sense of belonging and we wish for BAME staff to deeply reflect on their lived experiences whilst working at Kent. This will enable the Network to continue its collaborative work with the University’s Senior Management Team in addressing racial inequalities and create an inclusive culture and environment where all staff are able to thrive, irrespective of their race or ethnicity.

Please remember, if you have any questions about the Phase 2 Case Study research, to email the Principal Researcher, Dr Bridget Ng’andu on B.Ng’andu@kent.ac.uk.

For expressions of interest to participate in the study, please contact Dr Daisy Emoekabu on d.a.emoekabu@kent.ac.uk

Thank you, Bridget, Mita, Gurprit, Barbara and Vanisha, Co-Chairs of the BAME Staff Network

We are delighted to announce that on 26 and 27 May 2022 an event will take place to celebrate our colleague Professor Adrian Podoleanu’s distinguished career.

About Professor Podoleanu

Professor Podoleanu is a pioneering researcher who helped advance greatly the field of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT). The University of Kent has benefited for many years from Adrian’s dedication and enthusiasm and the world-leading quality of his research and its application.

The conference will include speakers from across the Division of Natural Sciences including academic staff and current research students. There will be the opportunity to view our current laboratory spaces and to network with a swathe of high-calibre researchers.

Since 2005 Professor Podoleanu has led the Applied Optics Group in the University of Kent (and continues to do so), developing OCT both as a methodology and with applications across a wide range of fields from clinical practice to forensic sciences. He has supervised (and continues to do so) of more than 50 postgraduate and visiting researchers during his career at Kent, many of whom have gone on to lead in their fields.

As members of the Applied Optics Group, we look forward to welcoming in May a number of world leading researchers and also giving Adrian an opportunity to be reunited with many of his alumni who benefited not only from his undoubted research excellence but also from his leadership and training to go on and be high achievers in the field of Optical Coherence Tomography and Photonics in general.

Find out more about Professor Podoleanu and his career

Registration

Registration is open until Monday 23^rd May

To register please navigate to

https://kenthospitality.kent.ac.uk/Register/CC22Conference

To register as a current member of staff or PG student (in possession of a KentOne card) and benefit from the discounted £25 conference fee, please ensure you check the appropriate option and fill in the 6-digit staff number on the back of your card when asked to do so. There is no need to input a discount code.

Former Kent staff can get a discount code by emailing George Dobre – this will enable you to progress through the registration screens.