Staff have easy access to expert help with both workplace and personal issues – thanks to a new Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) being launched this week.

Whether you have questions on issues from debt and landlords to nutrition and stress, the EAP website should have the answers.

If not, you can telephone the providers, Care first/Sodexho, free of charge and get help from an information specialist or an accredited counsellor.

Key facts

-All EAP communications and consultations are completely confidential between you and the EAP.
-The same confidentiality applies to any additional support provided or organised for you by the EAP, eg counselling.
-You contact the EAP directly; you do not have to go through your manager to access any of the support the EAP provides
-For managers, a dedicated area of the EAP website offers generic advice on dealing with both individual and team issues; access the link below and click on the Managers tab.

The EAP providers, Care first/Sodexho, were chosen following a competitive tender and interview process, which included input from trades unions. Advice and support is provided at no cost to staff; the University funds all costs associated with the EAP

The EAP incorporates the existing University Wellbeing resource provided by Revitalised, which offers advice on all aspects of wellbeing, including self-assessment.

How to access

Take a look at all the EAP has to offer on its website: www.carefirst-lifestyle.co.uk

Log-in details are: USERNAME: uokent PASSWORD: university

For telephone advice, the freephone number is 0808 168 2143.

If you wish to know more about the EAP before accessing its website or services, see the Occupational Health intranet pages. If you still have questions after this, email occupationalhealth@kent.ac.uk or discuss with your manager, HR or trades union representative.

Remember that the EAP is a great resource so keep these log-in and contact details handy!

The Guardian University Awards 2020 are now open and entries are welcome until the final deadline of Friday 7 February.

The Guardian is inviting entries from UK higher education institutions across 14 categories, which will be shortlisted and judged by an expert panel. Winners will be announced at a prestigious awards ceremony in April. Corporate Communications will again be co-ordinating Kent’s award entries this year and is happy to support schools/departments with their submissions.

This year’s Guardian University Award categories are listed below and, with only a couple of exceptions, any projects nominated must have started within the last 18 months.

1. Staff experience
2. Business collaboration
3. Digital innovation
4. Employability and entrepreneurship
5. Internationalisation
6. Marketing and comms campaigns
7. Research impact
8. Course design, retention and student outcomes
9. Social and community impact
10. Student experience
11. Buildings that inspire
12. Sustainability
13. Teaching excellence
14. Widening access and outreach

You can find out more about the awards on the Guardian webpages.

Please do get in touch with Corporate Communications asap if you know of a project that we should be considering for this year’s awards – email us on communications@kent.ac.uk.

Back by popular demand all University staff are invited to a very special Gulbenkian open day on Friday 17 January from 11.00 to 14.00.

You can:

-Meet our team

-Find out what’s on in 2020 and learn about your staff discounts

-Hear about our £100,000 redevelopment of the Café/Foyer space

-Taste the best coffee on campus (oh yes it is!) and fresh food from our chefs

-Find out how you can hire our spaces, volunteer, or become more involved with your arts centre here on campus

-And much more!

We look forward to seeing you then.

From 1 February 2020, the University is introducing PensionsPlus to help offset the cost of saving for your retirement.

PensionsPlus is a new way to make contributions to your SAUL or USS pension scheme, which reduces your National Insurance deductions and means you take home more pay than you would outside of PensionsPlus.

All salaried staff will be automatically opted in to PensionsPlus from 1 February 2020 unless they choose to opt out before 31 January 2020. An opt out form is available on Staff Connect.

You can find out more about the way PensionsPlus works, and calculate how it will affect your take-home pay, on the PensionsPlus webpages.

Or you can attend a presentation/drop-in session this month (January) to obtain more information and ask questions:

-Drop-in – Tuesday 14 January, 09.00-11.00 (Cornwallis East Seminar Room 1, Canterbury)

-Presentation – Friday 17 January, 10.30-11.30 (Grimond Lecture Theatre 3, Canterbury)

-Drop-in – Monday 20 January, 17.00-19.00 (Keynes Seminar Room 15, Canterbury)

-Drop-in – Thursday 23 January, 11.00-14.00 (Keynes Seminar Room 20, Canterbury)

-Drop-in – Tuesday 28 January, 15.00-17.00 (Peter Brown Room, Canterbury)

All staff are welcome. There is no need to book in advance.

Moreen Biron, a retired Tonbridge Centre tutor, passed away at home on Monday 9 December 2019.

Moreen’s broad knowledge of architecture, design and the decorative arts inspired students for over 30 years since the Tonbridge Centre was built in 1984. Her energy, enthusiasm and kindness was boundless, and she achieved much in a long life. Moreen made many friends through her association with the University of Kent, and she will be fondly remembered by all who worked with her or were taught by her.

Staff interested in sending condolences to her family, or attending her funeral (likely to be in mid-January 2020), should send cards internally to the Tonbridge Centre or email tonbridgeadmin@kent.ac.uk.

For most people, preparations for Christmas are in full swing.

For many, there is much to look forward to: the family getting together, the giving and receiving presents, lots to eat and drink, a holiday getaway abroad, building memories and reflecting on Christmas Past.

For others, the upcoming festivities are a nightmare prospect: the family getting together, the giving and receiving presents, lots to eat and drink, a holiday getaway abroad, building memories and reflecting on Christmas Past!

Whatever your practices and beliefs about the upcoming mid-winter festivities, there are things you can do to help you manage through the period. Below are links to advice from a number of different organisations on what to do to keep healthy and well, in mind and body:

Reducing stress

• BUPA (reducing stress)
• BBC (reduce stress)
• The Spark Organisation (counselling service tips for a stress free Christmas)
• Medical News Today (reducing Christmas Stress)

Mental health

• University of Kent Wellbeing Zone
• MIND
• Mental Health Foundation
• Time to Change
• Anxiety UK
• Priory Group
• Heads Together
• Net Doctor
• Relate (relationships quiz)
• Samaritans
• BEAT
• Cosmopolitan (eating disorders)

Diet

• • BBC Good Food Guide
  • British Nutrition Foundation
  • British Heart Foundation (eating advice)

Exercise

• • Daily Telegraph (general fitness)
  • Real Buzz (fitness)
  • The Guardian (exercise)
  • Metro (fitness advice)

General wellbeing advice

• Forbes (general Christmas wellbeing advice)
• Real Buzz (general health advice)

Brenda Brunsdon, Occupational Health & Wellbeing Team Manager

Do you have any availability to help the Kent and Medway Medical School (KMMS) with its Multiple Mini Interviews?

We are seeking support on the following dates at the University of Kent campus:

Tuesday 7 January 2020
Wednesday 8 January 2020
Thursday 9 January 2020

You would be supporting the selection process for the first cohort of medical students, joining KMMS, meeting some of the first students and getting an insight into how the Medical School selects doctors in training.

The sorts of things we need help with are: timekeeping (the multiple mini interview circuit consists of seven different stations with a specific amount of time for each station so good time keeping is crucial!), handing out of information to students, chaperoning students, directing people around the circuits and any general admin responsibilities.

These are three 12-hour days for KMMS staff so we would be incredibly grateful of your time and support!

We have created videos for our students about MMIs on our website (scroll to the bottom of the page) so you might like to watch them too.

Please get approval from your manager as needed.

To find out more, or to offer your time please email Mary Langford: mary.langford@kmms.ac.uk

The University’s new Ethics Code is now available to read online. The Code – first published in May 2019 – was drafted by the Ethics Committee, a sub-committee of Council, and approved by both Senate and Council.

The Code applies to the University of Kent community – students, staff and members of Council – who are expected to adhere to, uphold and apply the Code during their day-to-day activities.

The Code aims to help community members make decisions where there are ethical implications. These are a common feature across all areas of University life – from staff members deciding whether to accept a gift from an external supplier, to behaviour and decisions taken during elections for student and staff committee posts. The Code also identifies how and where ethical concerns should be raised.

The Code has guidelines built around the following headings:

1 – Responsibility and accountability
2 – Integrity, honesty and transparency
3 – Academic freedom, critical thinking and intellectual creativity
4 – Equality, diversity and inclusivity
5 – Collegiality
6 – Sustainability
7 – Making a positive impact

Sarah Gibson, Chair of the University’s Ethics Committee and a lay member of the University’s Council, said: ‘We all face ethical decisions in our professional lives, and this Code provides a clear framework to help the University community identify and work through these issues. It demonstrates the University’s commitment to the highest standards of ethical behaviour in all aspects of university life.’

Membership of the Ethics Committee includes University representatives from the areas of research ethics and governance, fundraising, anti-bribery and corruption and international partnerships alongside lay members of Council and students.

Dr Rory Loughnane, Senior Lecturer in Early Modern Studies, has won the 2019 The Calvin & Rose G Hoffman Prize for distinguished scholarly work on Christopher Marlowe.

The title of Dr Loughnane’s winning entry was ‘Shakespeare, Marlowe, and Traces of Authorship’. His essay investigated the authorship and early publication history of the Henry VI play cycle. It builds upon his earlier research into the canon and chronology of Shakespeare’s works for the New Oxford Shakespeare (2016-17).

Dr Loughnane has recently been appointed as General Editor of a new Collected Works of Christopher Marlowe for Oxford University Press, an international editorial project that will be primarily based at the University of Kent. On this project, he will be collaborating closely with colleagues in the School of English, Professor Catherine Richardson and Dr Sarah Dustagheer, as well as a team of over 20 international scholars.

On receiving the 2019 Hoffman Prize, Dr Loughnane said: ‘I am deeply honoured to receive this prize, and grateful to all those involved in its adjudication. I would like to thank especially my colleagues on the New Oxford Shakespeare and Marlowe projects.’

Now in its 30th year, the Hoffman Prize was established by a bequest of the late Calvin Hoffman. The prize is highly competitive and open to Marlowe scholars the world over.

Find out more about the prize on the Marlowe Society’s website.

Our Adverse Weather Policy has been updated and reissued to clarify pay arrangements for staff during periods of severe weather conditions when the University may not be able to operate normally.

The policy includes advice on additional payments to recognise the efforts of ‘essential services’ staff who may have to come to work when others cannot.

A copy of the updated Policy can be found on the HR webpages.