Message from David Nightingale, Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost:

As you may know, the new General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) will be coming in from 25 May 2018, which will have a discernible impact on how we obtain, update and use the personal information we hold on our constituents and stakeholders. The Information Compliance team and Development Office have been preparing various processes and resources to support the University in remaining compliant and will deliver some information sessions for data users in schools and departments across the institution.

The following sessions are designed to give those working on employability, alumni relations, fundraising, recruitment and marketing, or anyone else using personal data, a chance to hear about the general ‘dos and don’ts’ and guidance going forward. Any colleague may go to any session, though, if you work in a faculty, it might be helpful to go the one specific to that faculty as any questions raised may be more pertinent.

If relevant to your role, I recommend you attend if you can. Please register below so that the organisers can ensure the room is fit for purpose. If you cannot attend a session and have concerns, you may contact the Development Office or Information Compliance team directly.

Tuesday 17 April 10-11am, Keynes Lecture Theatre 3 (Social Sciences) Register here
Friday 20 April 10-11am, Keynes Lecture Theatre 3 (Humanities) Register here
Monday 23 April 10-11am, Keynes Lecture Theatre 3 (Sciences) Register here
Thursday 26 April 10-11am, Medway building 3-04 (All) Register here

The University of Kent Players are raising money for a local stroke charity by performing Arnold Ridley’s ‘The Ghost Train’ at the Gulbenkian on 12, 13 and 14 April.

The Ghost Train plot revolves around a party of assorted railway travellers who find themselves stranded in the waiting room of an isolated country station in the evening. Despite the stationmaster’s weird stories of a ghost train, they decide to stay the night in the waiting room. Soon they regret this decision as ghostly and not so ghostly apparitions materialise, before a young man reveals the true reason behind the night’s events.

Book your tickets online now via the Gulbenkian website.

Profits from ticket and programme sales will go to Canterbury and Coastal Stroke Association.

The eighth annual Enterprise and Impact Training event will take place on Wednesday 25 April from 09.00 to 16.30, in the Darwin Boardroom, Canterbury campus.

This programme will give you the knowledge, confidence and practical tools necessary to engage successfully in enterprise activities such as consultancy and collaborative funding streams.

You will increase your potential to apply your expertise within industry, public sector and third sector organisations, and will learn about how enterprise and knowledge exchange activities can benefit your career.

The training, run by Kent Innovation & Enterprise (KIE) is recommended for academics and researchers, at any stage of their career, who would like to develop skills for enterprise activity and optimise their interactions with external organisations. It is also suitable for members of support staff that work at the interface between academia and external partners.

There are only 20 places available, so to reserve your place on training day please by following the booking link here. A light lunch is included.

A team of students and staff from the School of Engineering and Digital Arts attended The Big Bang, the UK Young Scientists and Engineers Fair, from 14-17 March 2018, the largest celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) for young people in the UK.

EDA’s interactive stand equipped young people with the skills to create a Radio Frequency Identification tag, enabling them to add an integrated circuit and test the design. The activity draws on future Smart Manufacturing techniques where ink is used to make electronic circuits, meaning that future technologies can be made on the spot.

At the event, Team EDA engaged with 816 young people and interacted with 2.5 times more girls than boys, which is great news for inclusion in the sector and for future recruitment into engineering which was illustrated as a rewarding, interesting and creative career. By the fourth day, EDA’s exhibition stand had dealt with well over 1,000 participants and feedback from visitors suggests a keen interest in studying Engineering at the University of Kent.

Well done to all involved, particularly our student ambassadors in this important Year of Engineering.

Message from Denise Everitt, Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Chief Operating Officer:

Yesterday’s failure to find support for the settlement suggested by UCU and UUK following talks at ACAS is obviously disappointing to everybody concerned.  We are aware that many staff, as well as the University itself, had high hopes that these discussions would allow us all to move forward with a better pension outcome for staff and certainty for our students.

In response to this setback, we will continue to urge all those involved at national level to return to the table to continue discussions with a view to resolving the current industrial dispute as quickly as possible, as well as lobbying for an outcome that protects the interests of our staff and students. Alongside this, our priority is to support schools in seeking to mitigate the impact of the action on students as much as we can.

We continue to be engaged in talks with Kent Union and the local branch of the UCU and will use a joint voice wherever we can to press for positive change. In the meantime, we remain committed to the sentiments underpinning our joint statement of 9 March in which we called for a solution that reflected Kent’s core values of fairness, equality, collaboration and respect. It is these values that will continue to make a career in Higher Education an attractive choice for both current staff and those just beginning their working lives.

We will continue to keep you informed with any developments relating to this situation.

Colleagues are invited to attend the Learning and Teaching Network session on Wednesday 28 March, 13.15-14.30 in Rochester R2:09, Medway.  The session titled ‘External Examining and Boards of Examiners at Kent’ will be presented by Malcolm Dixon, Head of Quality Assurance.

This session will give an overview of regulations and requirements relevant to External Examiners and Board of Examiner meetings. Participants will be given up-to-date guidance about the Credit Framework and related examination conventions/procedures for the classification of awards, in accordance with Annexes J and K of the Code of Practice. The relevant policies and procedures will be reviewed, and there will be time for questions and discussion.

This session is for University staff and external examiners who are involved with organising, attending or recording Board of Examiner meetings. Staff new to Boards of Examiners are strongly encouraged to attend.

To book a place, please email: cpdbookings@kent.ac.uk

The University is one of the key supporters of the first Ableism In Academia conference (AIA) being held at UCL on 23 March 2018.

Even in a field where inclusivity and diversity are given due priority many pressures and challenges are faced by disabled, chronically ill, and neurodiverse staff in HE. By engaging in debate around academic ableism, including how it intersects with gender, race, class, age, and sexuality, AIA aims to create a policy-facing manifesto that will challenge academia’s existing notions of able-bodied perfection and provide impetus for change.

AIA organiser Nicole Brown, is Academic Head of Learning and Teaching within UCL’s Institute of Education, as well as undertaking PhD research here at Kent with Dr Jennifer Leigh (CSHE).

The event will be live-streamed to ensure wide accessibility and members of staff are warmly invited to participate by following the steps summarised on Nicole’s website.

The AIA keynote speaker is Fiona Kumari Campbell (University of Dundee), author of Contours of Ableism.