Four long-serving Kent Union officers will be leaving at the end of this term – and you can say goodbye to them via their e-leaving card. Please note that you’ll need a free Google account in order to sign the card.

Students’ Union President Sasha Langeveldt is leaving after, in her words, ‘five long but extremely fun years’. Also leaving are Omolade Adedapo, Vice-President Welfare and Community; Emily Window Vice-President Student Engagement (both after two years’ service); and Laura Carlin, Vice-President Postgraduate Experience (after one year).

Describing her Kent experience Sasha said: ‘It’s been a pleasure to work with the University in creating a better student experience for all. We are sad to leave but are grateful to have worked alongside some amazing people.’

Normally the four departing officers would be gathering goodbye messages around campus. But, because of Covid-19, they are hoping that as many University staff as possible will be able to sign their e-leaving card.

Picture shows (from left): Laura, Sasha, Omolade and Emily.

Kent is committed to fostering a positive working environment where all staff and students are treated fairly, with dignity, courtesy, respect and consideration.

All of us are responsible for creating an environment that’s free from harassment and bullying. We are therefore excited to launch our new EDI Harassment website, which sets out how to report incidents of harassment, how to become a Harassment Contact, and includes an up-to-date Harassment Contact list.

If you are interested in becoming a Harassment Contact for the University, please email the Learning and Organisational Development team and we can talk through what it involves.

The Joint Staff Negotiating and Consultation Committee (JSNCC) is the main forum for consultation between the University and its staff on matters of mutual interest.

Staff membership of the JSNCC comprises representatives of each of the trade unions and four representatives of non-union staff: two from the professional services and research support staff in grades 1 to 6; and two from the academic, research and professional services staff in grades 7 and above.

One of the current representatives, Denise Twomey, will be leaving the University, and so nominations are now invited for one position to represent staff grade 7 and above. Staff members working within grade 7 and above are encouraged to apply.

Nominations can be made by responding to the nomination email which was sent to eligible staff on Tuesday 26 May 2020.  All nominations must be proposed and seconded by two other staff members and nominees must confirm that they agree to be nominated. The deadline for completed nomination forms is 17.00 on Tuesday 9 June 2020.

Why join the JSNCC?
Acting as a staff representative is interesting and rewarding. It provides the opportunity to discuss and comment on University plans and policies, to meet a wide range of new people and to gain valuable personal development. Training and support will be provided to the successful candidates.

Find out more about the JSNCC and the nomination and election processes on the JSNCC website or by contacting HR via ERBP@kent.ac.uk

What’s your background and when did you join the University?

I came to nursing via an unusual route! I had a summer job as a nursing auxiliary while doing my degree in History. I qualified as a teacher but decided I really wanted to nurse. I have worked in Occupational Health (OH) nursing since 1988. I am also a fully trained counsellor.

I moved to Kent from Wales in 1998 and joined the University in 2012. Among my initial aims were to increase counselling and mental health support services for staff. We were able to offer extra resource just a year later, and earlier this year, we were able to launch our long-planned Employee Assistance Programme*, a fantastic addition to staff wellbeing support.

What does your role at Kent involve?

I head up a team of five, responsible for delivering OH and wellbeing services to staff. Part of the Safety, Health and Environment (SHE) Unit, my team advises the University on the health needs of staff. This includes advice on ergonomics and computer workstation set-up, staff rehabilitation and disability needs, and adjustments needed under the Equality Act.

My own role involves individual case management, and writing policy and process documents on OH and wellbeing such as the Staff Health and Wellbeing Strategy Statement and Psychological Wellbeing Standard.

How has your role changed as a result of Covid-19?

Like many others, I’m working from home and have had to speed-learn Teams and Zoom meetings. I’ve now settled into a routine and got to grips with virtual communication – which has underlined the importance of communicating regularly with your team, as a group and individually. It’s a different mindset from being able to pop into the office next door when you make a cup of tea!

What’s worked well and what’s proved more tricky?

The first few weeks were hard. Not only were we dealing with hardware and software challenges within our own team, but we had to ensure colleagues across the University had the best computer set-up while working at home. Careful planning meant that we were able to circulate a home-based Display Screen Assessment, just after the Easter break.

It was also crucial to ensure that all staff had easy access to mental health support as and when needed, and we worked alongside the Communications team to promote this.

Tell us more about the health and wellbeing support that’s currently available to University staff?

There’s a wealth of health and wellbeing support available for staff through Covid-19 and beyond, including:

• Our chosen Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)* provider Sodexho/Care first offers advice on all types of problems or wellbeing issues – including webinars, free access to expert help, and counselling (currently available virtually).
• Our Staff Health and Wellbeing website is a comprehensive guide to wellbeing support available at Kent, featuring common health topics and upcoming national health promotion.
• The Learning and Organisational Development team have put together a series of wellbeing webinars to tie-in with its Belong and Grow Week and Mental Health Awareness Week (18-24 May 2020).

What’s been the response so far to the Employee Assistance Programme? 

There’s been great support from management and all affiliated trades unions on campus in spreading the word about the EAP. It’s early days, but it seems colleagues are engaging and using the resources when needed – especially over the early weeks of the Covid-19 crisis.

 What other health and wellbeing initiatives would you like to see at Kent?

I am heading up the University’s working party looking at implementing the Government’s ‘Thrive at Work’ initiative. The initiative recommends employers provide a structure for mental health support for all, especially for those struggling with mental ill health problems/disabilities.

Outside work, and out of lockdown, what do you enjoy doing?

Gym exercise, socialising with friends, good food and wine, playing cards and board games, music concerts and visiting relatives in Wales.

What will you look forward to most once we’re back on campus?

Going back to Rock Choir – I haven’t managed to make any of the virtual sessions so far! And going for lunch with my team

[*To access the EAP website, use the login: uokent and password: university]

Following the popularity of the Additional Leave Purchase scheme in 2019, this will become an annual scheme from 2020.

The University is committed to providing policies that support work-life balance for staff, and recognises that there may be instances where staff wish to increase their annual leave for personal reasons.

This scheme has been devised to provide staff with additional flexibility in respect of planned time off work whether that be for a special occasion, an extended holiday (once travel restrictions are lifted), to help with caring responsibilities, or simply to support your wellbeing.

Applications for this year can be made from now until the end of June 2020 and the leave can be taken between July 2020 and June 2021. Full details of the scheme, including eligibility and how to apply can be found on the HR webpages.

The University recognises the impact COVID-19 is having on the usual patterns of annual leave. For some, operational pressures are affecting their leave plans, many will have had holiday plans for the coming months cancelled and, for large numbers, an increase in caring responsibilities means annual leave is not being used in the normal way.

Although social distancing is expected to continue for at least the next few months, it is still important that you take annual leave when you can. Even though most people are currently unable to leave their homes, spending time away from work is really important. We all hope that normal circumstances will resume in the coming months, which is why this annual scheme is being launched now as previously planned.

Entries for the Times Higher Education Awards 2020 are now open.

Entries are invited from UK higher education institutions across 19 categories, which will be shortlisted and judged by an expert panel. This year’s categories are listed below and, unless otherwise stated in the specific subject criteria, the judges will be looking for outstanding examples of best practice during the 2018-19 academic year.

• THE Outstanding Achievement Award
• Business School of the Year
• Widening Participation or Outreach Initiative of the Year
• Knowledge Exchange/Transfer Initiative of the Year
• Research Project of the Year: Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
• Research Project of the Year: STEM
• Outstanding Research Supervisor of the Year
• Technological or Digital Innovation of the Year
• Outstanding Contribution to the Local Community
• Outstanding Support for Students
• Outstanding Entrepreneurial University
• Outstanding Library Team
• Outstanding Estates Strategy
• Outstanding Marketing/Communications Team
• Most Innovative Teacher of the Year
• International Collaboration of the Year
• Outstanding Contribution to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
• Outstanding Technician of the Year
• University of the Year

Winners will be announced at a prestigious awards ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London on 26 November.

Corporate Communications will once again be co-ordinating Kent’s award entries this year and is happy to support schools/departments with their submissions. Please email Corporate Communications by Friday 22 May if you know of a potential entry – deadline for all completed entries is Wednesday 10 June.

Further information on the awards is available on the THE Awards 2020 website.

Picture shows: Kent’s Outstanding Library Team at the THE Awards 2019

Office 365 can help you develop the way you work online

Office 365 can replace Skype for Business, Dropbox, Zoom, Trello and more. It lets you work in an integrated way that is consistent with other teams at Kent.

Office 365 is the new University of Kent collaboration platform. Make it the first place you visit to collaborate with colleagues and students, or contacts at other organisations.

What Office 365 offers

• The full suite of Office applications available online on any device: log in here with your Kent IT Account to see them
• Extensive file storage for you and your team: individual OneDrive cloud storage (1 Terabyte) and collaborative storage within Teams sites (25 Terabytes)
• Live multi-user document editing are possible on files in both Teams and OneDrive
• Collaboration and productivity tools such as Teams, Planner, and To Do
• Teams offers web, video and audio chat which can include presenting or screen sharing
• Teams meetings can be set up from your Outlook calendar

Integration saves time

Unlike third-party applications such as Zoom and Dropbox, Office 365 applications are integrated:

• with each other
• with our Kent IT Accounts and user directories
• and with existing services such as email and shared mailboxes.

When you book a meeting in Teams it goes into your email Calendar. Or you can book a Teams meeting directly from your calendar.

You can see colleagues’ availability and chat instantly or arrange a virtual meeting. You can plan project work and integrate this with your personal online to-do list and your team’s or project group’s work plan.

Read why O365 tools offer much more than other video conferencing, storage, messaging or planning tools.

Secure and supported

Office 365 provides all of the security and account governance that comes with a University IT Account. Office 365 is regularly updated by Microsoft, with new features expected for Teams very soon (including the ability to ‘raise your hand’ in a large video chat, and see 9 participants at once on screen).

Save money on third-party licenses

Departments should use the functionality within Office 365 to avoid incurring costs for third-party software licences. Third-party tools may be less secure, and many of them (such as Zoom or Dropbox) offer similar features as Office 365, without the integration or collaboration benefits.

We aim to develop services to meet your needs: if you believe the functionality you need doesn’t exist in the tools provided, please contact us.

Development of the service

From September 2020 Office ProPlus will be installed on student and staff PCs (managed desktops). Teams will replace Skype for Business as our staff instant messaging service.

Our Office 365 portal will offer more applications over the coming 12 months including Stream, Sway, Forms and Bookings. These will offer you new ways to share video, create online media, create interactive forms, and manage interviews and events.

Support and guidance

• Visit the University Staff Guide to O365
• For further help with O365 tools, contact us

After the events and changes of the last few weeks, and now that we are all working in new and unexpected ways, we would like to invite your views about the University’s response to the current situation, how supported you are feeling and what additional measures we might take to help.

We have therefore prepared a short online survey, which should take between 5 and 10 minutes to complete.  We’ve used the headings (Collaborate, Organise, Prepare, Enable) of our new COPE Framework, which you should now be aware of, as well as  some other more general questions.   Your Staff and Trades Union Representatives have had the chance to see the survey in advance and feed in their thoughts about the issues you should be asked about.

The closing date for completion is 17.00 on Thursday 7 May. Do please take a few minutes to share your views and any suggestions you have to improve how we all work together during these challenging times.

Alison Ross-Green|Director of HR & Organisational Development

Our annual Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity (EDI) report, showcasing the excellent work across the University to promote and embed equality and inclusivity, is now available on the HR webpages.

The 2018/19 report goes beyond the fulfilment of our statutory duties for equality reporting and is a testament to Kent’s commitment to being in the vanguard of organisations that view equality as not simply a matter of institutional fairness and access but a key component of a fair and just society.

We believe that all staff and students have a role to play in improving equality and removing barriers to inclusivity. Our aim is to provide experiences in the work and education space that will inspire and empower them to be a part of a changed world.

Find out more about our strategic aims, some of the EDI challenges over the past year and how we’re responding to them, by linking to the online annual report now.

Learning & Organisational Development Team

In response to Covid-19 and our new working arrangements, adjustments have been made to policies covering  annual leave and additional sick pay. FAQs on these changes are now available on our staff coronavirus webpages.

Annual leave

Our Executive Group and JSNCC have agreed some principles for interim annual leave arrangements during 2020.  These are aimed at ensuring staff continue to take annual leave wherever possible to promote wellbeing and to avoid staff losing untaken leave at the end of the year:

• Staff are encouraged to still take annual leave during the current period of disruption, even if they are at home.
• Staff wishing to cancel booked leave should immediately re-book it on confirmation that their request has been authorised.
• KVSS applications, where approved, will be conditional on all outstanding leave (pro-rata) being taken prior to the last day of service.
• For those staff with an additional work burden due to Covid-19 or maintaining essential operations on campus, we will increase the carry forward above 5 days, in line with the amended Working Time Directive.
• There will be no change to the current policy of not ‘buying out’ untaken leave at the end of the year, and that any untaken leave, over and above what can be carried forward will be lost. 

Additional sick pay

The NHS has advised hospitals to suspend all non-emergency elective procedures for an undetermined period, possibly for a number of months, because of the surge in coronavirus patients.

To ensure staff already in receipt of long-term sick pay are not disadvantaged by the NHS delay, the University plans to maintain the current level of sick pay (either full pay or half-pay) for an initial period of up to three months, pending receipt of a (new) treatment date.  These arrangements will be reviewed after three months if the NHS continues to defer treatments or if delays are experienced due to a high backlog of deferred treatments.

If you have any questions on these new arrangements, email the HR Operations Team hropsteam@kent.ac.uk.

Other new FAQs

Other new FAQs on our staff coronavirus webpages include the University’s approach to the Government’s Staff Retention Scheme.