An update for all staff, including latest information on academic progression, working on campus and rent reductions for our students.

Academic progression 2020-21

As you will be aware, we have currently suspended face-to-face teaching for most of our study programmes. This means that a large proportion of our students are being taught via online methods and the vast majority of them are studying from their permanent homes. We are planning for the lockdown restrictions to last until 1 March 2021; however, this date is provisional and linked to whether rates of infection start to decline across our country.

Understandably, many students are questioning how the coronavirus pandemic will affect their academic progression and ultimate degree classification. Staff are working incredibly hard to ensure no students are disadvantaged because of the pandemic and that academic standards can be maintained across the University.

We are currently updating our no detriment policy for the 2020-21 academic year. This includes offering greater flexibility for mitigation applications and making processes easier for students to follow. We will also be extending deadlines where feasible, including offering an additional week’s extension for deadlines due between now and the end of the second week of term (29 January).

One of the University’s very first employees, Cynthia Hawes, died in the Kent and Canterbury Hospital just before Christmas, having suffered a stroke at her care home in Wye. Many Former Staff Association (FSA) colleagues will remember her as a diminutive but feisty lady, who was always kind and encouraging while letting people know exactly what she thought about… anything.

Cynthia’s first contact with the University was in April 1963 when she was interviewed for the post of secretary to the first Vice-Chancellor, Geoffrey Templeman, at Westgate House in St Dunstan’s Street, which was all there was of the University at that time. Having worked for the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals (as it then was), Cynthia was ideally qualified for the post, and she was duly appointed. As the Vice-Chancellor’s secretary, Cynthia was based first in Westgate House and then at Beverley Farm before moving to the Registry building when it was completed in 1970. After Geoffrey Templeman retired in 1980, Cynthia continued to work for the new Vice-Chancellor, David Ingram, until transferring to the Graduate Studies Office as an Assistant Registrar. She spent the early years of her retirement caring for her widowed father, who lived near to her in Harkness Drive.

Away from her professional duties, Cynthia was a keen rock climber in her youth and later a dedicated hill walker until arthritis curtailed these activities. She was a long-serving singer in the University Choir and the Canterbury Choral Society and a regular and devoted worshipper at the Cathedral. After retiring, she trained as a volunteer welcomer at the Cathedral and spent her Friday mornings patiently explaining to visitors – often in passable French, though she was not a linguist – what it was they were looking at. She was particularly interested in St Gabriel’s Chapel in the crypt and knew a great deal about the murals there.

Cynthia was born in North London in 1934 and spent the war years as a child in Barnet. She was a pupil at the Queen Elizabeth’s Girls’ School in Barnet before going to Exeter University where she read history. She never married, but she was very close to her father and brother, and she had a wide circle of friends. She has a richly deserved place in the collective memory of the University as one of its founder members whose job placed her at the very centre of all that was happening in those early years. May she rest in peace.

Contributors: Mary Fox, Jane Millyard, John Butler

Due to popular demand, our E-Learning team have decided to run an additional webinar as part of the ‘Digitally Enhanced Education webinar series’ on Friday 15 January (the week before Spring term) so that people are able to share experiences of the previous term and also learn some tips and tricks before the start of the Spring term.

As our first webinar ‘Pedagogy and Practice when Teaching Online’ proved so popular, we will repeat this theme on the 15^th.

Please find the agenda for the event below:

10.00-10.05 – Phil Anthony: Introduction

10.05-10.20 – Ruth Drysdale (Jisc): Why it’s important to listen to your students and staff voice about their experience of your digital environment?

10.20-10.35 – Emma Roberts (University of Chester): Designing a ‘Connected Experience’ with Blended Learning

10.35-10.50 – Nadia Koloteva-Levine (University of Kent): Providing students with virtual lab experience during Covid-19

10.50-11.05 – Coral Condeco-Dunachie (IntoUniversity): Fostering a Sense of Belonging: Building Communities in Online Classrooms

11.05-11.20 – Jonathan Fanning (University of York): Interactive teamwork, playing games online with your students

11.20-11.35 – Mathew Pullen (University of South Wales): Not just access but developing a deeper technology integration

11.35-11.50 – Agnieszka Kulacka (Birkbeck, University of London): Using Class Notebook and One Note in teaching

11.50-12.05 – Maria Limniou (University of Liverpool): Student digital capabilities and independent learning over the first COVID-19 pandemic period

12.05-12.10 – Phil Anthony: Session 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.

The E-Learning team

A number of EDI training sessions are available to University staff during January and February .

Sessions available to book include:

Domestic Violence Awareness (28 January 2021, 10.00-12.00 or 13.30-15.30)

People from all walks of life are affected by domestic abuse, so if you have the confidence and knowledge to talk about abuse and where someone can seek help, it will make all the difference! Rising Sun Domestic Violence and Abuse Service is offering Kent two free training sessions around domestic abuse, in partnership with Clarion Housing.

This two-hour training session covers:
• the definition and dynamics of domestic abuse
• how it impacts survivors’ lives
• the barriers to seeking help
• how to respond if a survivor discloses abuse
• how to seek ongoing support

To register to attend a session, please use the Eventbrite links below
Session A 10.00 – 12.00
Session B 13.30-15.30

Trans Awareness: The Basics (Thursday 11 February 2021, 14.00 – 15.45)

This session will:
• explain what ‘trans’ means and describe the diversity of those who might use the term
• introduce key concepts crucial to understanding trans people
• list the main legislation relating to trans identities
• outline ways an organisation can work towards being trans-inclusive
• provide links to further resources and help

Managing Mental Health (February 4 (pm) and 12 February (am) – times to be confirmed

To support ‘Time to Talk Day’ on 4 February, this online workshop is being offered for all managers, team leaders and supervisors

The aim of the workshop is to enable and encourage managers to develop a management style that strikes the right balance between the needs of the individual/team and the needs of the business.

Content will include:
• signs that might indicate that a staff member is struggling
• impact of the Covid-19 pandemic – issues to be aware of
• two golden rules for managing stress and mental health at work
• practical problems for managers
• a good practice framework for managing mental health at work
• clarifying the role of the organisation, individual staff and the manager
• guidelines for managing sensitive conversations about stress and mental health
• practical support – ‘reasonable adjustments’ during and after the Covid-19 pandemic
• sources of support for staff and managers

How to book

To arrange to attend any of these sessions, please contact Talent and Organisational Development by emailing Ldev@kent.ac.uk

Student Support and Wellbeing are looking to recruit staff to the existing Sexual Assault Responder (SAR) Medway team.

The out-of-hours support service commenced in 2016 and provides a crucial service providing immediate support to students reporting serious sexual assault or rape at the Canterbury and Medway campuses. The service operates out of hours (between 17.00 and 9.00) and at weekends and bank holidays. Full training is provided, and SARs operate on a rolling rota system. The role is to provide advice and guidance to victims of serious sexual assault or rape with regards to aftercare support procedures. The role is NOT a counselling role. Currently, we are providing both remote and face-to-face support for students, a SAR is able to choose which they are comfortable providing at the moment whilst we are impacted by COVID-19.

SARs receive a £100 remuneration for joining the team and completing the training, and receive £70 for the first hour of a call out, with time and a half for subsequent hours. Any transport costs are also reimbursed.

A Sexual Assault Responder must meet the following criteria:

• Be a University of Kent member of staff
• If a SAR chooses to provide face-to-face support, they must be able to access the University of Kent Medway campuses within 45 minutes (approximately) of receiving a phone call from Campus Security out of hours (considering the accessibility of a staff member’s usual mode of transportation when accessing the University)
• Attend a training session
• Have the permission of their line manager to register for the role of SAR.

For more information, to request a role description, or to express an interest in becoming a SAR, please contact Becky Wyatt in Student Support and Wellbeing on rfw@kent.ac.uk.

From Brenda Brunsdon, Occupational Health and Wellbeing Team Manager

In spite of all our hopes and wishes for 2021, we have started the year in at least as difficult a position as we finished 2020. For many people, now faced with home-schooling younger children for the next 6-8 weeks, it is a worse position.

We are now experts at dealing with Covid 19 lockdowns but that only makes them somewhat less arduous to live through. With this one, probably the worst aspect is the length of time the politicians are projecting it will go on for. Mid-February, the end of February, the end of March? The weeks feel as if they lay heavily on us, like layers of blankets on cold nights in winter. They are there to keep us safe and warm, but they press down on our very being. But, as with the blankets, as spring approaches, they can be discarded as the weather improves. One by one, as the weeks pass, we can start to feel less oppressed.

This does feel like the beginning of the end. As one person I spoke to today commented, ‘There’s a light at the end of the tunnel and it isn’t a train.’

It’s important to continue doing all the good things you’ve been doing so far. Keep exercising; keep getting out to do this when you can, despite the winter weather. Be gentle on yourself, lowering your expectations of what you might be capable of, especially if you are juggling lots of additional Covid triggered pressures. Keep connecting with others as you can. This may be telephone calls or virtual meetings, but these contacts are essential at a time when the lockdown can make us feel alone and vulnerable.

In the other article I prepared this week, I’ve noted the health themes for January 2021. One of these is ‘Brew Monday’, scheduled to coincide with, the now infamous, ‘Blue Monday’. This year, it’s 18 January. This is a campaign organised by the Samaritans encouraging us to connect on that day by taking some time to share a virtual cuppa. You might want to use the day to reach out to a family member or friend for a natter over a hot drink. Workwise, it could be an excellent day to schedule in a group catch up. The emphasis is on connection as a way of supporting good mental health so maybe the agenda could be how we’re all doing in lockdown rather than specific work issues.

The Samaritans’ website emphasises that you can have a Brew Monday any week. Maybe the one in January could be the first of a series to help people cope with pressure and isolation while working remotely.

If you are finding life overwhelming, do speak to your manager so that consideration can be given to adjusting your work commitments, if this would help. You can use the COPE framework to do this. Your manager may believe that referring you to OH for assistance could be beneficial. If your issues and problems are inherently non-work related, remember that the Staff Employee Assistance Programme is available to take your call at any time of the day or night. The telephone number is 0808 168 2143 and it doesn’t cost you anything to call.

The University has been working to put plans in place to ensure the University remains operationally viable in the event of a no-deal Brexit. As part of this work, we have a policy to support managers and staff in the event that staff working on campus experience difficulties in getting on to campus due to increased congestion and delays on the roads across Kent after 31 December.

Under the Brexit Short Term Travel and Pay Policy, if you are a member of staff whose agreed way of working is on campus, you are expected to attend work in the normal way during any period of disruption and make all reasonable efforts to identify practical travel routes during a period of travel disruption.

If agreed by your line manager, the University will consider claims for reasonable additional expenses if you have to use public transport instead of your normal road journey in order to get to work.  Staff who are unable to get into work must let their line manager know as soon as possible.

Staff (including timesheet paid staff) who are not able to attend for work due to the travel disruption and who are unable to work from home will have their normal pay maintained for the first day of travel disruption provided this has been agreed in advance with line managers. After this, you will be expected to either take annual leave or TOIL.

Further details about the Brexit Short Term Travel and Pay Policy are available here.

Information to support your travel plans is available on our Transport webpages.

The first episode in a new series revealing how University of Kent staff and students have responded to the coronavirus pandemic will soon be airing on KMTV.

‘Coronavirus: Kent in Action’ focuses on the diverse work being carried out in fields such as medicine, business and media (to name a few), not only to combat the virus but also to provide a much-needed lift in people’s spirits.

Teaching and student life has been significantly disrupted, but the series shows how the University community has been hard at work tackling the greatest public health crisis in living memory. In Episode One, we see everything from bioscientists who’ve been working to understand the make up of the disease, to the musical Marsh family whose lockdown-themed rendition of the Les Misérables tune ‘One Day More’ went viral.

Series producer Cameron Tucker wants the series to be a celebration of what happens when people come together. ‘It was really important to everyone involved that we demonstrated the sheer breadth of activity that has been going on. These are stories from a supremely talented group of people who, in their own unique ways, are helping us through these unprecedented times. They are tales which deserve to be told,’ he said ahead of the first episode.

There’s even embroidery featured. Professor Jennie Batchelor, behind the Crafting through Covid project, in the programme says: ‘One of the wonderful things about needlework and other forms of craft is it feels like you’re putting something together when it feels like the sands are shifting from under your feet. It’s very much in the spirit of [The Lady’s] Magazine,” the 18 and 19th century publication which Professor Batchelor is an internationally recognised authority on.

Regular KMTV collaborator Betty Woessner, Research Excellence Manager at the University, is keen for this work to be shared with the wider public. ‘Whether it’s been medical advancements or perhaps having a laugh at a topical take on the current situation, everyone has been influenced in some way or another by what has been going on at Kent throughout the pandemic. These films are an opportunity to acknowledge that impact,’ she said.

The production of more than 4,000 face shields by a team of university technicians is one of many examples cited by Carole Barron, Director of KIE at Kent, and co-commissioner on Episode One, in demonstrating a vibrant research and innovation community: ‘Staff and students from across disciplines have come together through their ingenuity and enterprise, and I hope viewers will be inspired by the achievements showcased in the films.’

Coronavirus: Kent in Action premieres on Friday 18 December at 19.30 on KMTV (Freeview Channel 7, Virgin 159 and online at kmtv.co.uk).

You can also watch Episode One now on YouTube.

Picture shows: Pilgrims Hospice staff wearing face shields provided by University technicians.

KentVision is a major project underway at the University to bring together a number of different administrative processes and to simplify how we support the student journey.

A new Student Record System will replace the expiring Student Data System (SDS) and introduce simpler, more consistent ways to input, manage and process student data. This is one of a number of projects in 2021 focused on how we work together, intended to simplify processes and activity as new structures and teams take shape.

Launch Plans

The functional build of KentVision is complete, with the Student Record System performing as expected and an extended period of development and testing now underway. Data migration has proven more challenging and is now scheduled for February with preparation for the live environment taking place across March prior to KentVision launch in April 2021 following completion of the Spring Term. This revised launch date supports set-up and completion of Online Module Registration (OMR) as for previous years, and extends the time available for staff to familiarise themselves with the new system and to engage with the extensive range of training opportunities and user engagement sessions which are already underway. It also strengthens opportunities to incorporate user feedback within planned enhancements to KentVision later in the year.

Alongside current training, we will run a series of workshops early in the new year to talk through the new system and outline key changes with staff prior to launch in April. These sessions will include activities on getting started with the system, enrolment and registration, attendance recording, module assessment entries, and student support engagement. Workshops will take place remotely, with dedicated Microsoft Teams channels enabled to support users working across different areas of the University. Relevant groups of staff will be contacted directly in the coming weeks with further information regarding this support.

Training and Support

In addition to the dedicated sessions to be rolled out across the new year, online and face-to-face support will continue throughout 2021 as users get used to the system and we identify further ways to improve it. The KentVision project team will continue to be available throughout the run-up to launch, with their dedicated trainer Paul Sales leading on ensuring that people are equipped to make the most of the new simplified system.

A number of resources and video guides are now available on the KentVision staff webpages to help staff familiarise themselves with the new system at their own pace ahead of more in-depth support and guidance provided throughout the year.

Transitional Arrangements

The final stages of implementing KentVision may lead to known outage of specific systems at various points across the Spring Term. We will do everything we can to minimise this disruption, and are working closely with IS colleagues to ensure students and staff are provided with timely updates.

Find out more about KentVision