Colleagues are invited to an online workshop on Climate & Energy being staged by the 3i University Network (comprising Ghent University, KU Leuven, University of Lille and the University of Kent) on 16 June, from 14.00 -16.00.

The workshop, chaired by Simon Barnes, Funding & Partnership Development Manager at Kent, will provide an opportunity to explore the theme of Climate and Energy and discuss areas for future joint research collaboration.

You can register for the workshop via this Workshop Climate Energy link.

Other workshops

The workshop is one of four online thematic sessions being organised this term by the 3i University Network. Each session will bring together researchers around a particular theme, enabling them to meet, present lines of research and strengths at each partner institution and sketch a plan for future collaboration.

Other workshops taking place are:

• Workshop on Community and Well-Being, coordinated by University of Lille, 11 June, 13.00 – 15.00. Registration link
• Workshop on Marine and Maritime Challenges, coordinated by Université of Ghent, 15 June, 14.00 – 15.30 Registration link
• Workshop on Nutrition and Health, coordinated by KU Leuven, 11 June, 9.00 – 11.00. Registration link

About the 3i University Network

The Interregional Internationalisation Initiative (3i) University Network was launched with a Memorandum of Understanding in 2020.

The Network was created to intensify collaboration opportunities and utilise the combined strengths of research, academic and professional training, administration and infrastructure to find solutions for common problems and challenges facing these regions.

Find out more on the 3i University Network webpages

Welcome to Professor Ben Cosh who joins the University as Director of our Division of Computing, Engineering & Mathematical Sciences in September. 

Ben is joining us from the University of Reading where he is currently Head of the School of Mathematical, Physical and Computation Sciences. 

Ben completed a PhD at Goldsmiths, working with Bill Jackson on Vertex Splitting and Connectivity Augmentation in Hypergraphs, before starting his career in FE teaching maths to students on BTEC, GCSE, A-Level and International Baccalaureate courses. 

On returning to Goldsmiths as a Lecturer, he taught undergraduate courses in Mathematics, wrote a Foundation Year programme for Computer Science and took significant responsibility for teaching quality assurance. 

In 2004, Ben joined the University of Reading as Programme Director for the Science Foundation Year. He was appointed Faculty Director of Teaching and Learning (in 2008), Head of the School of Systems Engineering (2010) and Dean of the Faculty of Science (2014), before becoming Head of the School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences in 2016. He has served on the University Boards for Teaching & Learning and Research, the Senate and the governing Council, and contributed to committees and working groups on all aspects of the University’s operation. 

Ben is married to Amy, and they have two boys aged 9 and 7. In his spare time, he enjoys walking in the Lake District, playing the guitar and piano, and failing to keep up with his wife in CrossFit workouts! 

On his new role at Kent, Ben says: ‘I am thrilled to be joining the Executive Group as Director of CEMS and I am very much looking forward to working with the Division’s outstanding staff and students.’ 

Congratulations to Professor Juliette Pattinson, Deputy Director (People) in the Division of Arts and Humanities, on her new role as an Athena Swan Chair for Advance HE.

Juliette’s appointment by Advance HE reflects her commitment to promotion of the EDI agenda. Specialising as a gender historian, she has three degrees in Women’s Studies and History. She sits on the Editorial Board of Women’s History Review, and has previously served on the Steering Committee of Women’s History Network (2009-12) and co-edited its Women’s History journal.

As Deputy Director (People) at Kent, Juliette leads on probation, promotion, mentoring, appraisal and career development and is acutely aware of the pressing issues of equality, diversity and inclusivity.

As Head of the School of History (2015-2020), Juliette worked closely with colleagues in the submission of an Athena Swan Bronze, which was successfully awarded in 2017, making it just one of eight History departments in the country to hold the award. Her EDI work has also included organising International Women’s Day events, as well as women’s history outreach/aspiration-raising/recruitment events and helping the University to mark Black History Month, Disability History Month, Holocaust Memorial Day and LGBT History Month.

Commenting on her new Athena Swan Chair role, Juliette says: ‘I am delighted to have this opportunity to work collaboratively together to advance gender equality in the Higher Education sector and I hope this role will be to the benefit of the University of Kent in preparing future Athena Swan submissions.’

About Advance HE

Advance HE is a member-led, sector-owned charity that works with institutions and higher education across the world to improve higher education for staff, students and society. It has a particular focus on enhancing teaching and learning, effective governance, leadership development and tackling inequalities through its equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) work.

You can find out on the Advance HE website.

Following the UK Government’s recent relaxation of travel rules, our Procurement team has published an updated policy on staff travel during 2021-22.

The new policy states that staff should travel in the UK and abroad only where absolutely necessary and following detailed risk assessment and latest FCDO guidance.

Travel requests will have to be approved by your line manager or director. The expectation is that travel will be much lower in the financial year 2021-22 than in pre-pandemic years.

The new policy includes detailed information on what you need to take into account before you travel including:

• Your health, safety and wellbeing
• Insurance cover
• Financial implications
• Travel/border/visa requirements

Find out more

You can view the new policy now on our Procurement webpages.

Entries are now open for the University’s Research and Innovation Prizes 2021.

The annual prizes are designed to celebrate the achievements of academic and professional services staff across a range of areas – especially activities that have had a transformative effect, created new knowledge, benefited a particular community and/or supported others in the research and innovation ecosystem.

This year’s prizes include:

• Starting Research Prize
• Consolidator Research Prize
• Advanced Research Prize
• Knowledge Exchange and Innovation Prize
• Technician of the Year Prize
• Professional Services Support of the Year Prize
• The 2021 Kent Research and Innovation Community Prize

Entry deadline is 12.00 on Friday 28 May. To find out more about the categories and how to apply, please see our Research webpages.

The University has submitted its first funding application to the Turing Scheme – the UK’s new global programme for study and work abroad.

The application has been submitted by our International Partnerships team, who will manage the University’s activities within the Turing scheme, in consultation with Divisions and other relevant parties across the University. We will receive the outcome of our bid by the end of July 2021, allowing us to support students going abroad in 2021-22.

In this first year of the Turing scheme, we have bid for funding for Kent students going on a term/year abroad outside Europe and, if successful, additional grants will be available to students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Those going to Europe will continue to be covered by Erasmus funding during 2021-22.

We have also bid for additional funding to support students taking part in shorter-term, co-curricular activities abroad such as summer schools. Priority will be given to students from disadvantaged backgrounds and under-represented groups.

We look forward to sharing the results of our bid in July and working with colleagues in Divisions and professional services to promote and support the opportunities available to Kent students.

For more details, please contact internationalpartnerships@kent.ac.uk or visit the Turing Scheme webpages.

Our next staff webchat will take place on Teams on Thursday 20 May, from 12.00-13.00. The theme will be Health and Safety on Campus.

The webchat, will be chaired by Professor Richard Reece, DVC Education & Student Experience, and takes place as the latest lockdown continues to ease. Richard will be joined by our Head of Safety, Health and Environment, Dr Jim Bloor, who will outline what the University has been doing to ensure everyone stays safe and how staff can help as more of us start returning to campus.

Ahead of the session, it would be helpful to have as many questions as possible so we can do our best to cover everything in the time. To do this, please sign-up via the form where you can include your question when prompted.

Webchat in June

You can also sign-up to our webchat taking place in June:

Thursday 10 June, 12.00-13.00: Kent Summer – Our plans to mark the end of term with a fortnight of fun and community on our Canterbury and Medway campuses from 21 June to 2 July. Sign-up via this form.

Find out more

Recordings and slides from all previous webchats are available on our staff webpages.

As the Government continues its easing of lockdown, we have a roadmap for staff returning to campus from 10 May 2021 onwards.

Roadmap for return

You can find an accessible version of this image on our Roadmap for staff returning to campus webpage.

What’s changed

Starting from 10 May (the start of our Summer Term), our criteria for staff returning to campus is changing. As well as essential staff (eg, those who provide practical support for students or work in a lab), those staff who cannot work from home for various reasons will be able to return to work on campus. This might apply if you:

• need access to lab equipment
• perform critical activities unable to be done remotely
• would benefit for physical/mental health
• are unable to work from home effectively due to eg, lack of space/Wi-Fi issues/childcare close to campus

Working on and off campus

As highlighted at our recent Covid-19 Staff Webchat, flexible working will become more and more of a feature of how we work as more staff come back onto campus. From September onwards, this will become University policy under our new Hybrid Working Scheme. Further details will be shared with colleagues shortly.

Staying safe

On return to campus, it is important that you help everyone stay safe by following latest guidelines (subject to Government review), including:

• Following the two-metre social distancing rule and room occupancy limits
• Using the hand sanitiser on entering a building and wearing a face covering (unless exempt) at all times, unless in a single occupancy office
• Opening windows, if possible, when sharing a room with others
• Not dropping your guard in informal settings

The University has an Asymptomatic Test Site on campus and all staff and students are eligible for two free Covid tests per week. Everyone regularly on campus is strongly encouraged to take up this opportunity or, if attending on an occasional basis, arrange a test before coming in. Where facilities are available closer to home, you may prefer to be tested regularly at a local symptom-free Community Test Site.

What to do next

In the first instance, you will need to talk to your line manager about the nature of your role and how this affects when you might return to campus. You should also discuss whether in the future, you may be eligible and wish to work partly at home. Once you have agreed a return date to campus, you will need to return any office equipment you have been using to work from home eg, chairs, computers, screens, keyboard/mouse.

You should also ensure you are aware of current safety measures, including the University’s Risk Assessment.

Find out more

You can keep up-to-date with latest Covid-19 changes and guidance on our staff coronavirus pages.

With best wishes,

Richard

The E-Learning Team are pleased to announce that the next event in our series of ‘Digitally Enhanced Education webinars’ will take place on Thursday 10 June, from 11:00-13:30, with the theme ‘Pedagogy and Practice when Teaching Online’.

Please find the agenda for the event below:

11:00 – 11:05 – Dr Phil Anthony (University of Kent): Introduction

11:05 – 11:20 – Dr Sam Lau (Hong Kong Baptist University): Engaging Quiet Students in Online Teaching

11:20 – 11:35 – Assistant Professor Phinu Jose (Christ University, Bangalore – India): Teaching Digital Natives-Privilege or Pain

11:35 – 11:50 – Dr Maren Deepwell (Chief Executive of the Association for Learning Technology): Key Insights from ALT’s Annual Survey for Teaching Online

11:50 – 12:05 – Kate Lister (Open University): Embedding mental wellbeing in technology enhanced learning

12:05 – 12:15 – Break

12:15 – 12:30 – Assistant Professor Alexandra Mihai (Maastricht University): Active learning online? Yes you can!

12:30 – 12:45 – Lara Bird (Office for Students): Gravity assist: Propelling higher education towards a brighter future – Where are we now?

12:45 – 13:00 – Dr David Martin (University of Dundee): Taking engagement in lectures to the next level – an experimental improved audience response system.

13:00 – 13:15 – Dr Lisa Quinn (University of Leicester): Integrating Multi-Source Inputs into Pre-recorded & Remote Live Lectures

13:15 – 13:30 – Professor Barbara Oakley (Oakland University, US): The magic of the brain’s hidden learning system

If you would like to join the webinar series, please express your interest here if you haven’t done so already. We will add you the Microsoft Team linked to the series. Colleagues from outside the University of Kent are very welcome to join –  so please feel free to circulate.

If you would like to present at a future event, please complete this form and I will be in touch.

We hope to see you on 10 June.

Phil Anthony and the E-Learning Team

Staff can now purchase additional annual leave via our Staff Connect pages.

You can buy 35 hours of additional leave (pro-rata for part-time staff) to be taken between 1 July 2021 and 30 June 2022.

The closing date for applications is 30 June 2021.

Further information on the Additional Leave Purchase Scheme, including how to apply, is available here.