Students’ return to campus

The Government is expected to publish its latest guidance on 22 February 2021 concerning students’ return to face-to-face teaching. We anticipate that the guidance will cover how institutions should prioritise particular students’ return and how the regular testing programme should be managed on campus. At this stage, we know that the Government is likely to recommend a phased return which may centre on those subjects needing access to specialist equipment and final year students.

We know that many of our students are keen to return to campus. However, it is important that we manage expectations and ensure they do not make firm travel plans until all information is available to them. This is particularly important for any students needing to travel from other countries as the Government has announced strict new regulations concerning travel into the UK.

Our priority has been, and will continue to be, the safety of our community and ensuring we can adhere to social distancing regulations on campus. Divisions are currently working on their plans for teaching for the remainder of the academic year; these plans include requesting timetabled events where students require access to specialist equipment or spaces. Further information will be available once the Government guidance has been published.

Update on the Covid-19 Hardship Fund

The University has received £588,000 of hardship funding from the Office for Students to support students disadvantaged through the effects of Covid-19. Most of the funding is to be prioritised for “rent related hardship” and must be dispersed to students by the end of March 2021. Working in partnership with Kent Union, we have launched a scheme to support disadvantaged students who can apply to the Covid-19 Hardship Fund for a one-off payment. In phase 1, students can apply for a £500 award using a simple online form and, if successful, will receive their money in 10 working days. As of 17 February, over 1,000 students have applied to the scheme, a large percentage of the 1,200 applications that it will be possible to fund. Once that funding has been allocated, a second phase will open later in the term.

The University continues to support students in hardship in a variety of different ways, with 271 laptops distributed and 41 currently on loan to students needing technical support to study effectively. Any students needing financial support can contact the Financial Aid team, or Kent Union’s Advice Service (Canterbury) or GKSU’s Advice Centre (Medway) for more information.

Students’ return to campus 

According to the current Government guidelines, universities have been required to suspend face-to-face teaching for the majority of study programmes until at least 8 March 2021. New guidance is due to published during week commencing 22 February 2021. We expect this updated guidance to recommend a probable phased return to campus, prioritising students who need access to specialist equipment or facilities. Divisions are currently developing plans outlining which cohorts of their students should be prioritised for return and will be completing this work shortly.

Our teaching spaces are being reorganised to allow for two-metre social distancing, and this will significantly impact the number of students that can be taught face-to-face in any single session. Assuming the Government does allow students to return to campus, preparatory work will take place in the fortnight before to organise accommodation, HR policies, on-campus facilities and other student-facing areas.

Any additional staff required to work on campus will be contacted by HR at least a week in advance so they can make the necessary arrangements. Further information regarding returning to work on campus is available on the Staff Coronavirus webpages.

Regular testing for Covid-19 

As the number of students and staff accessing campus increases, it is vital that regular testing for Covid-19 takes place. The Government recommends that individuals without symptoms are tested twice each week and you can do so at our campus testing facilities at both Canterbury and Medway.

There are currently no reported positive cases of Covid-19 at the University; however, with many students still living off-campus or at their permanent homes, this may not necessarily be an accurate reflection. It is important that all positive cases are reported via the Student and Staff procedures so do please encourage all students and staff to do so.

Since 7 September 2020, there have been 392 reported positive cases among our student population and 33 amongst our staff. These cases reflect community spread rather than transmission through any University teaching and learning activities. This is testament to the hard work and commitment of our whole University community to keep each other safe.

The E-Learning Team are pleased to announce that the next event in our series of ‘Digitally Enhanced Education webinars’ will take place on Friday 5 March, from 10.00-12.10, with the theme ‘Pedagogy and Practice when Teaching Online’.

Please find the agenda for the event below:

10.00 – 10.05 – Dr Phil Anthony: Introduction

10.05 – 10.20 – Sideeq Mohammed (University of Kent): Lessons Learned from Teaching a 550-Student Blended Learning Module

10.20 – 10.35 – Pip McDonald (Royal Agricultural University): Indiana Jones and the Temple of Zoom. A Transnational Online Pivot Adventure

10.35 – 10.50 – Dominik Lukes (Oxford University): What should educators know about User Experience and User Interface Design: Lessons for learning and teaching

10.50 – 11.05 – Joseph Berry (University of Birmingham): Digital Fieldwork During Lockdown

11.05 – 11.20 – David Bedford (University of Kent): How academic departments and librarians can work together to help students develop important skills

11.20 – 11.35 – Terese Bird (University of Leicester): Learning Medicine Mobile, Online, Blended, and Hybrid

11.35 – 11.50 – Debbie Holley & John Moran (University of Bournemouth): Creating, supporting and sharing: moving value-based learning online

11.50 – 12.05 – Future Teacher project: Lilian Soon (University of York), Alistair McNaught & Ron Mitchell: Supporting skills in online delivery by modeling good practices

12.05 – 12.10 – Phil Anthony: Wrap-up

If you would like to join the webinar series, please express your interest by enrolling on the Digitally Enhanced Education Webinars Moodle module, or by requesting access to the Team ‘Digitally Enhanced Education webinars‘ linked to the webinar series.

We hope to see you there.

Dr Phil Anthony
Learning Technologist | Division of Natural Sciences & KBS

What’s new in your team and why have you changed your name from Learning & Organisational Development?

We used to offer learning and development at Kent in a trusted and traditional way, with a heavy reliance on classroom training. We’re now moving towards a ‘blended’ model. There will still be plenty of opportunities to engage with colleagues in bite-sized training sessions but also greater access to e-learning. This means we can reach more colleagues, giving them the freedom to learn away from the classroom, at a time that suits them.

So ‘Talent & Organisational Development’ better represents our support for the University’s strategic plans and what’s happening elsewhere in our profession. It’s important to make sure learning and development isn’t a standalone activity, but part of a more holistic approach to people development at Kent.

Who’s who within your team?

From top left: Claire Chapman, Loretta Izod, Amy Terry; middle left: Clemence Marest, Lyn McBriar, Kitty Fairweather; bottom left: Jena Dady.

The first person you’re likely to meet is Kitty Fairweather, our T&OD Co-ordinator. Kitty manages our team email box (Ldev@kent.ac.uk) and is always happy to respond to general enquiries. As well as co-ordinating learning and development activities, Kitty works on a range of T&OD projects including communications and budget.

Our team is headed up by Clemence Marest, Assistant Director. Clemence is the strategic lead for our full T&OD remit, including Employee Apprenticeships and equality, diversity and inclusion. Clemence has a particular interest in how we can best develop talent and maximise the potential of staff across the organisation. She ensures that best practice and current thinking, both within and outside HE, are reflected in the design and delivery of our leadership development.

In 2020, we created two exciting new posts for Talent & Digital Learning Specialists. We were delighted that Jena Dady (previously L&OD Adviser) secured one of these posts. We also welcomed Amy Terry, who joined us from Saga. Jena and Amy have been working hard developing and shaping our new digital content and modules. A great example of this is our Future of Work e-learning suite on Staff Training Moodle. Here, you’ll find practical tips and guidance on working remotely, managing remote teams and support for staff wellbeing.

Loretta Izod, our Employee Apprenticeships Manager, offers specialist advice and guidance to the University regarding Apprenticeships and, in particular, how Kent can maximise the Government’s Apprenticeship Levy. Loretta is the ‘go to’ person for those interested in the opportunities Apprenticeships can open up for divisions, departments and individuals.

We have two T&OD Consultants, Claire Chapman and Lyn McBriar, who provide specialist professional learning and development support. Claire and Lyn work closely with the new academic divisions, central directorates and networks of partners to support the identification, design, delivery and evaluation of an expanding range of learning and organisational development initiatives.

Can you tell us more about your immediate plans?

Since our new structure went live in September last year, our focus has been on rationalising and prioritising how we deliver our service to staff.

As well as the new e-learning content, we’ve refreshed and updated many of our mandatory training modules (like Unconscious Bias). We’ve also introduced new sessions such as Assertive Communications and Trans Awareness.

We’re continuing to translate our leadership and management training into engaging and accessible format (for example, our Crucial Conversations and leadership programmes).

From an EDI perspective, we’re committed to doing all we can to ensure an environment and culture that support a balanced, inclusive and diverse community

What else do you have in mind for the longer-term?

We’ve lots of exciting projects planned for the future!  

For example, we’ll be continuing to develop our digital offer on Staff Moodle and also making the most of opportunities offered by Employee Apprenticeships.

We also have a number of University-wide projects underway to update our Induction and support career development and mentoring partnerships.

In time, many of these key projects will feed into the development of a talent development strategy for Kent. This will help us ensure that University leaders are supported, and that future leaders are identified, nurtured and developed to confidently take on relevant strategic leadership roles.

How can interested colleagues find out more/get involved?

We’d love to hear from you! Do connect with us and we’ll continue to keep you updated as our own plans and services develop further.

To get involved, you can:

• Check out our blog for our latest news and what’s happening in the world of T&OD
• Explore our range of e-learning sessions on Staff Training Moodle
• Join our Staff Training Teams channel so that you won’t miss out on news of upcoming sessions, including those provided by our internal and external partners
• Book onto training via Staff Connect – you can check out a short video explaining how it works and another video showing how to book
• Follow us on Twitter
• Email us at: Ldev@kent.ac.uk for general enquiries or L.J.Izod@kent.ac.uk to find out more about Employee Apprenticeships.

The next meeting of the University’s Honorary Degrees Committee will take place in March 2021 and we are looking for nominations for the award of honorary degrees for the consideration of the Committee.

Anyone can put forward a nomination and to ensure the award of honorary degrees across a broad range of academic disciplines and subject areas it would be helpful to receive a number from each Division (for example one from each School/Centre).

You can find all the necessary information, including the nomination form on the honorary degree nominations webpage.

Nominations should be returned by 25 February 2021 by email to B.R.L.Carroll@kent.ac.uk’