Kent Bunny’s Epic Easter Egg Hunt is back this week and all staff, students, alumni and our neighbours have the chance to win a selection of great prizes and loads of chocolate by taking part.

It’s taking place across Canterbury, Medway, Tonbridge, Paris and Brussels all week. Follow all the fun on Facebook, Twitter @unikentbunny and Instagram @unikentlive and @unikentbunny.

Work out the clues to find the little magic eggs and return them to the warren in Rutherford Common Room to claim your prize!

Good luck! #KentBunny

The editor of the political magazine, the New Statesman, Jason Cowley appears at the University’s Canterbury campus on Wednesday 3 April.

Mr Cowley will take part in a conversation with Dr Adrian Pabst, Head of the School of Politics and International Relations (POLIR), as part of the POLIR Public Speaker Programme.

The event will take place in the Grimond Lecture Theatre 2 at 17.00. Admission is free and open to all. There is free parking on campus from 17.00 and the talk will be followed by a drinks reception.

Jason Cowley is a journalist, magazine editor and writer. He has worked for Granta, the Observer and the Times. As current editor of the New Statesman, he is credited with revitalising it, and re-establishing it as an influential weekly publication.

He has written books about politics and football. His next book will explore England and Englishness, expanding on his essay on England Rising.

Physical Actor Training – An Online A-Z, a digital resource created by Professor Paul Allain, Professor of Theatre and Performance in the School of Arts and Dean of the Graduate School, Stacie Lee Bennett, Honorary Senior Research Associate in Arts at Kent, and Professor Frank Camilleri of the University of Malta, has been nominated for the David Bradby Award by the Theatre and Performance Research Association (TaPRA).

TaPRA was formed by a group of senior academics in theatre and performance, including Professor Allain, to promote the growth of research in the field by fostering a cooperative and collaborative ethos that would benefit postgraduate students, early career researchers and provide a platform to share the diverse discoveries of the discipline. The David Bradby Award celebrates outstanding research, including practice-based/applied research, in any theatre or performance area or discipline.

PATAZ: Physical Actor Training – An Online A-Z establishes a foundation for physical training exercises through over 60 dynamic videos with accompanying audio commentary, reflection, and texts for today’s physical actor, teacher, and trainer. Using innovative camera work and editing processes, each film explores a term from their A-Z, ranging from specific skills like Grounding and Balance to more abstract concepts like Energy or Craft.

The winner(s) of the David Bradby Award will be invited to present a keynote lecture at TaPRA’s annual conference in 2020.

PATAZ is available via Bloomsbury Publishing’s digital platform Drama Online, a digital resource available on subscription or as a one-time purchase to schools, colleges, conservatoires and university libraries worldwide:  www.dramaonlinelibrary.com/pages/physical-actor-training-an-online-a-z

Several of the films and more about the project are available here: thedigitalperformer.co.uk

Drama Online is a constantly growing collection of drama play texts, video and audio, providing contextual and critical background through scholarly works and practical guides for theatre students, teachers and practitioners. Physical Actor Training – an Online A-Z adds bespoke actor training content of the highest quality to the collection.

The Centre for Higher and Degree Apprenticeships has grown considerably over the past two years and UELT are proud to announce an e-Learning Forum on Tuesday 2 April to show how apprenticeship programmes are developed, designed and delivered.

This session – from 12.00-13.30 in the UELT Seminar Room, Canterbury campus – will clarify how the existing apprenticeship modules are created, from their initial conception through to academic release with support offered by CHDA and UELT.

Academics from CHDA will provide information on how they create content, interact with learners and deal with the challenges they face on a daily basis and Dr Scott Wildman, the Centre Director, will also be on hand to discuss the process of embarking on new Degree Apprenticeships.

In addition, we will take an in-depth look at some existing modules, explain the reasons behind their design and look at how existing face-to-face modules can be adapted for distance learning. This will be an opportunity for colleagues to find out more about apprenticeships and discuss the potential for developing new programmes.

To confirm your attendance, please complete the online booking form.

Join us on Wednesday 10 April at the Canterbury campus to find out why understanding productivity is vital for business and what can we can do to improve it.

At this event, businesses and Kent staff will have the opportunity to be involved in shaping ideas and responses to the productivity challenges businesses are facing. Along with university experts on productivity and innovation, the event will hear from companies including Viridor and AbBaltis Ltd, as well as the Chief Executive of the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce and the Head of the Kent and Medway Growth Hub.

The event’s keynote speaker, Ralph Meyer, Global Customer Success Manager for LinkedIn, will outline why data is crucial to an understanding of how organisations can improve productivity.

One-to-one meetings with our business relationship team and advice on funding for innovation and improving productivity will be available to all businesses who book in advance. Lunch and refreshments will be provided.

To reserve your place at our annual showcase event please visit the Eventbrite booking page.

Need help building a business case for your project? A new business case template may be the answer.

A well-thought out business case document will help get you approval for your projects to go ahead and ensure you receive resources  to complete them successfully.

In formal projects, a business case is one of the key documents that senior managers review when deciding whether to give a project the funding it needs to go ahead. In the business case, you detail the benefits that the project will deliver, how they’ll be achieved, what it will cost, and how long it will take.

To help you develop your business case in a consistent way, a Business Case Template has been created as an integral part of the Kent Project Management Framework (KPMF).

This document will help you:

• Provide justification for your investment to enable senior management decision making
• Adequately capture the background, business need, scope, investment, risk, dependencies, and anticipated benefits so that the project/investment can be approved, funded and prioritised.
• Introduce a review mechanism at certain points in the process to ensure work is proceeding as planned and decide whether it should continue

The template is simple to use, includes clear “how to” guidance prompts and has been tried-and-test on a number of major Kent projects. Additional online help is also provided in the form of a Business Case LinkedIn Learning pathway.

For further information about Projects, contact the BIPU team: BIPU@kent.ac.uk

The work of our Employee Apprenticeships Manager, Loretta Izod, was recognised at the recent East Kent Apprenticeship Awards.

Loretta was a finalist in the award for the East Kent Apprenticeship Champion of the Year award. The inaugural awards took place during National Apprenticeship Week (4-8 March 2019) and celebrated the success of apprenticeships for both individuals and businesses.

Apprenticeships have been subject to a number of changes in recent years, including the way they are funded. Large employers like Kent now pay a monthly Apprenticeship Levy, meaning we can offer apprenticeships for  career development to existing staff, as well as new employees.

Loretta was nominated for the award by her colleagues in the HR Learning & Organisational Development team. Over the past year, she has been working with schools and departments to promote use of the levy and taking an apprenticeship to colleagues in any occupation, regardless of age, work experience or job level.

Across the University, there are now up to 50 staff who are being supported by the levy to develop their skills and knowledge in roles from Laboratory Scientist to Digital Marketer and Chartered Manager. A further 70 staff have expressed an interest in studying for an apprenticeship.

Loretta said: ‘I am really happy to be a finalist in these awards. My job is to ensure that employees understand the benefits of apprenticeships and that Kent is able to use its levy effectively – this type of recognition of my work makes all the hard work and effort worth it. This award is a really nice recommendation, but there’s still lots of work to do.’

To find out more about apprenticeship opportunities at Kent, contact Loretta Izod by phone (ext 16568), email: L.J.Izod@kent.ac.uk, or visit the Kent Apprenticeships webpage.

Don’t forget we also offer Higher and Degree Apprenticeships – you can find out on the  CHDA webpages.