Colleagues are invited to the CSHE Seminar taking place on Friday 12 October, from 14.00-15.00 in the UELT Seminar Room, Canterbury.

The seminar, on Phenomenography: A Much Misunderstood Research Approach, will be presented by Professor Gerlese Åkerlind, Professor Emerita, The Australian National University.

Since its inception, phenomenography has been frequently misunderstood. Initially, growth in attempts to use the approach outstripped the publication of descriptive literature, leading to extensive variation in practice. Then, the relatively small numbers of experienced phenomengraphers available to act as reviewers has meant that published papers have not necessarily been reviewed by someone well experienced in the approach, leading to errors in descriptions of phenomenography in the peer-reviewed literature.  In addition, developmental changes in the approach over time, with associated changes in theory and practice, have exacerbated misunderstandings.

This seminar will map substantive changes in phenomenography over time, addressing questions such as: Is phenomenography a theory, a method or both? What is ‘new phenomenography’?  What is the relationship between phenomenography and variation theory? What are the most common misunderstandings of phenomenography?

The article on Variation and commonality in phenomenographic research methods is available here.

Please confirm your attendance by completing the online booking form.

In the first of this term’s FilmBites talks, Dr Tamar Jeffers McDonald, Head of Film in the School of Arts, talks about Doris Day, her film roles and performances and explores the source of the enduring virgin myth which persists to this day.

Doris Day Confidential: Hollywood Sex and Stardom (2013)
‘I’ve been fascinated by the clashes between the way Day is commonly remembered, her star persona, and her actual work in films. When I set out to write this book I wanted to work out why people always say “Doris Day always plays a virgin”. What does it mean to “play a virgin”? What is it in her roles or performances that makes the automatic response? In exploring these questions I found that very little the actor herself did accounted for this myth about her. I discovered instead that the movie magazines – cheap, colourful, numerous publications that swamped American news stands from 1911 to the early 1970s – were responsible for creating and eventually punishing Doris Day for the virgin myth.’
Tamar Jeffers McDonald

The FilmBites talks will showcase academic research and book publications by film lecturers at Kent

The talk will take place in the Templeman Library (next to the DVD Collection, Block B, Ground Floor) from 13.00 – 13.20 on Thursday 11 October.

Our brand new Staff Guide webpages are being trialled from today (Wednesday 10 October) and we’d love to know what you think.

The new Guide has been developed following a key recommendation from the Simplifying Kent Internal Project Phase One that we need to find a better way of signposting colleagues to key information.

A team, led by Wendy Raeside and Etienne Donzelot in Corporate Communications, have therefore spent the past few months developing an alternative to the existing Campus Online pages. We have been working closely with colleagues in other key teams across the University, including WebDev and HR, to ensure the new pages contain everything you need to know about working at Kent.

On the new Staff Guide pages, you will find essential staff information in easy-to-search categories, including:

• Getting Started
• Employment and Benefits
• Professional and Personal Development
• Day-to-Day Support
• Teaching and Research
• Safety and Wellbeing
• On Campus

You will also see an A-Z section that lists some of the things we find difficult to locate at times – including University policies and regulations, and forms, as well as a How do I? of common staff queries, from claiming expenses to booking a meeting.

A major feature is the new Search function which, in the first instance, is limited to information contained with the Staff Guide pages, and should help you find the key information you’re looking for.

There are also prominent links to key services for staff, including Online Directory, Staff Connect, SharePoint and Emails.

Lower down the home page, you will see highlights of latest staff interest stories, together with a link to the most recent Campus Online and News Centre stories.

The Staff Guide is very much a work in progress – and updates will continue throughout the Beta phase – but we’d really appreciate your feedback on the overall design/content and particular sections you are interested in.

Your feedback is key to ensuring that we get the correct content and the right links in place before launching the Guide as a replacement for the existing Campus Online webpages later this year.

Please take a look at the Guide and tell us what you think by emailing Communications@kent.ac.uk before Friday 9 November 2018.

We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Etienne Donzelot and Wendy Raeside, Corporate Communications

The latest issue of the Leadership Bulletin, designed to give an overview of key developments at Kent, is now available.

The Bulletin is distributed fortnightly to all members of the Leadership Forum to cascade to staff in schools and professional service departments. If you haven’t received your copy yet, you can read the bulletin online.

The latest issue contains a message from the Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Karen Cox, on options being discussed to address our recruitment and income challenges.

There are also updates on Executive Group meetings, Staff Connect Phase 2, our league table rankings and consultation on our masterplan for Canterbury campus.

Find out more about the Leadership Bulletin and see previous issues on the OVC webpages.

Want to try something new in your teaching? If so, why not apply for a TESSA – our Teaching Enhancement Small Support Awards?

TESSAs, introduced last year, are intended for Kent colleagues who are interested in encouraging and enabling teaching and learning innovation; or who have a great idea that would improve the quality of teaching, teaching-related activity, support for teaching, or the student learning experience at Kent.

We already have University Teaching Prizes, which reward colleagues on their achievements. But sometimes what’s needed is a bit of funding to try something new, or test out an idea or a different way of working – and now you can apply for a TESSA to do just that. We piloted this small grants scheme during 2017-18, and were delighted to be able to award a total of £28,000 to 21 successful projects – so we have been encouraged to continue for a second year!

You can apply for funding of between £500 and £3,000, with up to £5,000 on offer for large, high-impact, collaborative projects operating across Schools and ideally in more than one Faculty, or across Schools and PSDs. All colleagues who contribute to teaching, learning or teaching support are eligible to apply – you don’t have to be an academic, or based in a School.

There will be two rounds for applications in 2018-19. The first deadline, for projects to start during the Spring or Summer Terms 2018-19, is 12 noon on Tuesday 27 November 2018 (and you will hear the outcome by Tuesday 11 December). There is a second opportunity to apply by 12 noon on Tuesday 14 May 2019, this time for projects to start during the summer of 2019 or in the Autumn Term 2019-10 (and we will tell you the results by Tuesday 28 May).

Find out more, and download the short application form for a TESSA, on our Teaching webpages. You’ll see that previous applicants have been generous in allowing us to publish their forms, so you may be able to link up with someone doing a project similar to the one you are planning.

Please send us your applications and help improve the quality and enjoyment of education and the student learning experience here at Kent.

If you have questions, please get in touch with April McMahon or Jess Sutherland.

From Tuesday 9 October, the estateshelpdesk@kent.ac.uk inbox will no longer be in use; emails sent to this address after this date will not be forwarded.

Please address all enquiries to the Estates Customer Services team at estatescustomerservices@kent.ac.uk or ext 16666.

Estates Department

The deadline for signing up for Busy Bees childcare vouchers is Thursday, 27 September, at midday. Please visit https://www.bbblogin.com/Register/LZQIKWEO and enter the password CLEM52. You will need a copy of your payslip to hand.

Government changes to childcare funding, in the offing since 2015, are due to take effect in October when the new Tax-Free Childcare scheme will replace childcare vouchers. Anyone already in the Busy Bees scheme may remain a member, however the deadline for new entrants is this Thursday. This will not affect the Oaks’ Workplace Nursery Salary Sacrifice Scheme.

Please address any queries to the Payroll team on ext 3602.