Learning & Organisational Development are pleased to announce that the University has achieved Level 2 of the Disability Confident Grading Scheme and we are now accredited with ‘Disability Confident Employer’.

Through Disability Confident, we will work to ensure that disabled people and those with long-term health conditions have the opportunities to fulfil their potential and realise their aspirations. Recognition of this scheme will help us to recruit and retain the widest possible pool of talent and help develop our valuable skills and experience.

As a Level 2 Disability Confident Employer, we have committed to all elements of Level 1 and also commit to:

• getting the right people for our business
• keeping and developing our people

Disability Confident Employers are recognised as going the extra mile to make sure disabled people get a fair chance.

The certification is valid for two years and we can now display the Disability Confident Employer badge on University stationery, correspondence and websites.

Please review where and how you can use this badge within your own processes.

Over the next two years, we will continue to review the criteria for the Level 2 certification ‘Disability Confident Employer’ to improve services and the experience for all employees. We will also review the next level of the Disability confident scheme ‘Disability Confident Leader’ and understand requirements to move forward.

Garrett Gorman and Rich Payne from our Finance Department have completed a 220-mile cycle ride to Paris, and raised nearly £2,400 for charity.

Garrett and Rich joined 70 students (seven from Kent) for the Breast Cancer Now London to Paris from 5 to 7 July. They were keen to support Breast Cancer Now as they have both had family members and friends affected by the disease.

Garrett said: ‘We wanted to do something to support a charity that is actively researching a cure for this disease. More recently, myself and Rich have had a very close friend and work colleague fighting this disease – she was especially in our thoughts as we completed this challenge and we wish her the very best as she gets through this.’

The three-day cycle, which raised a total of over £90,000, started in Waltham upon Thames and stopped off at Portsmouth, Caen and Evreux en route to Paris.

Garrett said: ‘Emotions were running high as we came around the road under the Eiffel Tower. There was family, friends and strangers cheering us on and cars tooting their horns in encouragement for the final stretch. Both of us appreciated just how much our family and our work colleagues did to support us – without them, we don’t believe we would have managed to raise the full amount.’

In an extra boost to their fundraising, Garrett and Rich held a raffle and cake sale on campus during March ahead of the cycle ride.

There’s still time to support them by clicking on Garrett’s sponsorship page or Rich’s sponsorship page.

The Universities at Medway fifth annual festival of learning, teaching and assessment, entitled ‘Developing a culture of student engagement’, will take place on Thursday 12 September at the Medway Campus, Pilkington Building Room 008 from 09.30-14.30. The Festival is free to attend but you must book your place before 6 September by completing the online booking form.

Our keynote speaker will be Professor Colin Bryson.  His talk will be complemented by 17 presentations from colleagues from all three universities.  The programme and details of parallel sessions is available on the festival webpage.

This year’s theme is on student engagement.  It is a consistently strong theme that runs through the sector and is a priority for all three universities and their partner colleges.

The Annual Medway Festival aims to promote, share and celebrate our collective practices across all three universities and their partner colleges based at Medway to benefit all students studying at Medway.  Although our primary focus is the development of the Medway Campus, staff from Canterbury are most welcome to attend.

Over the next few months the way you print at Canterbury, Medway and Tonbridge will change.

Our Executive Group has approved a new Print, Copy, and Scan Policy (pdf) which will be rolled out across the University. The new policy was agreed in October last year and is vital to our reduction of both the costs and environmental impact of printing, as well as the procurement and maintenance costs of the equipment.

We’ll replace desktop printers with multi-functional devices (MFDs) that have combined print, scan and copy functionality. There will be fewer printers overall. The likely date of the first change will be 12 August 2019. Where it is necessary, desktop printers will be kept by exception.

We’re finalising locations with help from your school/department. Your departmental IT representative (excel file) should shortly be able to share the finalised printer map for your building with you. If you’re concerned that your needs may not be met, please discuss with your departmental IT representative.

We’ll let you know when your offices will switch to the new service and provide advice for using the new printers.

How printing will work

Why this is happening
We have over 850 desktop printers on campus – some of which only print a handful of pages a month. Desktop printers are expensive to maintain and operate, and are energy inefficient.

This change will enable us to:

• reduce costs considerably
• reduce energy usage by 55,000kgs of carbon a year
• reduce paper usage by around 15% – 3 million sheets of paper a year.

Our existing print provider, Apogee, will provide the service and dispose of excess printers in an environmentally-conscious and safe way.

Mark Reed, Head of Procurement

Professor Catherine Richardson has been appointed as the academic Co-Director for our Institute for Cultural and Creative Industries.

Catherine brings a wealth of experience to the role, including past experience of the cultural and creative industries and her work as Associate Dean (Research and Innovation) for the Faculty of Humanities.

Catherine said: ‘I’m really excited to be taking on this new challenge, working with colleagues across the University and beyond to develop a clear and very distinctive vision for our research and education in the cultural and creative industries, and helping to ensure that our creativity spreads more broadly, right across the University, into every part of what we do at Kent.’

She will start in the role this summer, working with our other Co-Director, Liz Moran. Plans will be formed through Autumn 2019 with more announcements made in due course. We anticipate that the Institute will be a major catalyst for Kent as we build to our 60th anniversary in 2025, with work in education, research and innovation.

Professor Simon Kirchin | Dean of Humanities

The Estates Department will be holding its annual Celebration Day on Friday 12 July for Estates staff.

Campus Security and the University switchboard will be operating as normal; however, there will be some service disruptions as follows:

• The Estates Customer Services Centre and the main Estates reception will be closed from 11.30 on Friday 12 until 08.00 on Monday 15 July. If you need to report a building or service emergency, please contact Campus Security on extension 3300 and the relevant trade will be called out.
• Any visitors or contractors should report directly to Campus Security.
• Design and Print Centre will be closed from 11.30.
• The Transport Team (based in the Security and Transport building) will be closed from 11.30. Information regarding transport and parking is available on the Transport website or, in an emergency situation, please contact Campus Security on extension 3300.
• Postal Services will not be delivering or collecting mail after 11.30. Delivery and collection times will be brought forward for departments that normally have their delivery/collection after this time.
• The Post Room will be closed from 11.30 until 15.00 and the postal counter service for personal mail will not be available until Monday. We will do our best to process all outgoing items collected before 11.30. Urgent items of business mail may be hand-delivered to the Post Room between 15.00 and 16.00, where they will be processed in order of priority

We apologise for any inconvenience caused. If you have any concerns, please contact Estates Customer Services on extension 16666 or email Estates Customer Services.

Professor Elizabeth Mansfield, of the School of Mathematics, Statistics and Actuarial Science, will present the inaugural Noether Public Lecture at the University’s Canterbury campus on Monday 15 July.

In her lecture, entitled On the Nature of Mathematical Joy, Professor Mansfield will describe and illustrate the seven levels of mathematical joy, beginning with the discovery of patterns, illustrated from her own mathematical travels.

The lecture will take place in the Sibson Lecture Theatre 3 at 18.00 and is free and open to all, although prior booking is required. For more information and bookings see our Eventbrite page.

Medway Council is offering Kent staff special deals for next week’s Rochester Castle Concerts. Don’t miss the opportunity for some nights of great music and dancing from Brit Award nominees, music legends and soul superstars in a wonderful setting.

Offers include:

• Wednesday 10 July – Rudimental (Sound System). The genre-defying supergroup and BRIT nominees – who have sold more than 20 million singles and over two million albums – will be bringing their own unique sound to the castle with their Sound System set which features a DJ set with live brass and vocals. Joining Rudimental on the opening night are two special guests; platinum-selling artist Example, and fellow BRIT nominee, Mahalia.  SPECIAL OFFER for University staff £35 (down from £48.50) – just click on the partner offer button on the Castle Concerts website.
• Thursday 11 July – Craig David. We are delighted to welcome back superstar Craig David who replaces Jess Glynne who had to cancel due to ill health. From his iconic early tracks and club classics, to his numerous recent hits and collaborations, Craig takes a break from his Ibiza Rocks residency to perform his packed back catalogue. Tickets £45.
• Friday, 12 July – is party night at the Soul Party concert, when the audience will get to boogie the night away under the stars and singalong to their favourite floor-filling hits from the likes of Chaka Khan, Tina Turner, James Brown, Aretha Franklin and Lionel Richie, to name just a few. The evening will be headlined by legend George McCrae, singer of the smash hit Rock Your Baby. Joining him will be the disco group Odyssey and Heather Small, singer of the famous Proud track and former M People star.  Tickets 37.50 – SPECIAL OFFER – FOUR TICKETS FOR THE PRICE OF THREE.
• Saturday, 13 July – The great Proms finale, featuring the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra who will be performing a selection of James Bond movie themes along with classical hits such as Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, Fantasia on British Sea Songs, Rule Britannia and Jerusalem. They will be joined by with special guests Collabro – the world’s most successful musical theatre group and stars of Britain’s Got Talent – and soprano Laura Wright, one of the biggest selling classical artists this decade. The Kent Rock Choir will also be performing and interval entertainment will be provided by NChant, the Senior Girls’ Choir from The Rochester Grammar School. Tickets £35.

TO BOOK tickets, visit the Castle Concerts website or ring 01634 338338. You will need to click on the  Partners, Armed Forces button when you book on the Rudimental offer.

Congratulations to Helena Torres, Central Administration Manager, Brussels, on her appointment as an AUA Trustee.

The AUA – the Association of University Administrators – is the professional association for higher education administrators and managers. The AUA promotes excellence and professionalism and is run at local, regional and national level.

Helena is a long-standing member of the University’s local AUA network, which is part of the Southern Region and currently has around 60 members of staff employed in different areas across the University. The Board of Trustees, as the AUA’s governing body, leads and executes the overall vision and direction adopted by the Association at its Annual General Meetings.

Helena has overseen administration at our Brussels centre for the past 22 months. Before that, she was School Administration Manager for the School of English.

Commenting on her new AUA role, Helena said: ‘Having benefited from being a member and fellow of the AUA throughout my career in Higher Education administration, I am delighted to have the opportunity to take on this significant voluntary role.’

Melissa Mulhall, the AUA lead for Kent, highlighted that this is the second time that Kent has had a member of staff serve as an AUA Trustee, which shows the commitment of our staff to engage with the AUA nationally. Melissa said that she is absolutely delighted with this fantastic news and congratulates Helena on her appointment and wishes her every success with her new voluntary role.

Further information on the AUA, including how to become a member, can be found on the Association webpages or via Melissa Mulhall.

Kent Sport Physiotherapy Clinic will be running a staff-only discount on massages throughout July to help you relax and unwind now that summer is here! Massages are being offered at £19 for 30 minutes – and that’s the same great price regardless of whether you’re a Kent Sport member or not.

Massage has a number of both physical and psychological benefits, these include:

• Lifting your mood
• Relax tense muscles
• Reduce stress
• Relax the mind
• Improve circulation
• Increase overall feeling of wellbeing

To book an appointment, please visit the reception desk inside the fitness suite at the Sports Centre, call the clinic staff on 01227 824375 or email physio@kent.ac.uk

Please remember to bring your staff Kent One card so we are able to apply the discount!