Author Archives: Wendy Raeside

Careers and Employability Service shortlisted for national award

The University’s Careers and Employability Service is delighted to announce that it has been shortlisted in the category of Best University Careers/Employability Service by the National Undergraduate Employability Awards 2017 (NUE Awards).

The award is sponsored by Microsoft and celebrates the outstanding achievements of universities, students and employers in the undergraduate employability market.

This latest shortlisting acknowledges the Careers and Employability Service’s many successes in recent years. These have included developing the dynamic Work-Study Scheme, providing generous bursaries for students undertaking work experience, extending the annual Careers Fair onto a grand scale, innovating with the popular online Careers Award and staging a highly effective Employability Festival attracting over 10,700 students.

The impact of these developments on students’ employability is demonstrated by the glowing feedback they receive and by the recent outstanding outcomes in graduate destinations surveys.

Tim Reed, Head of the Careers and Employability Service, said: ‘The University of Kent is delighted to have been shortlisted in the Best University Careers and Employability Service category at the 2017 NUE Awards. This award category acknowledges Kent students’ outstanding success over the past few years as well as recognising the exceptional contribution made by Careers and Employability Service staff to the student experience at Kent.’

The HEIs that Kent will be competing with are the Universities of Liverpool, Reading, Glasgow and Westminster. The Careers and Employability Service will have to wait until Friday 24 February 2017 when the winner will be announced at an Awards Ceremony in London.

For more information about the Careers and Employability Service, take a look at its webpages, telephone 01227 823299 or email careerhelp@kent.ac.uk.

Staff Connect – update on launch next term

Update on progress

It was hoped that the new HR and Payroll system Staff Connect would launch in January 2017 and with it online payslips.

In November a major step on the road to launch took place. Data was migrated from the old system to the new by the software supplier. Whilst this automated process was largely successful, it was not completely successful and therefore required the supplier to undertake some additional work, before HR, Payroll and Pensions could start the next period of testing – running the current and new systems in parallel. Unfortunately, this additional work has put the project back by at least one month.

Work on “tidying up” the data has now completed, and “parallel running” of the two systems has started this week. This final pre-launch work does not impact on staff.  It is to enable HR, Payroll and Pensions and the Staff Connect Project team to conduct final testing of the new system ahead of launch.  Every effort has been put in place to try and catch up as much time as possible, including having staff from the supplier on site up to the Christmas break.

We will update you again in January with the progress of the project and the new target date once the impact of the additional resources will better known.

Meanwhile, demonstrations of Staff Connect have already been given to most University Schools and Departments, the remainder are scheduled for January. If you were not able to attend your demonstration, have a look at the project support site where you can find tutorials, guidance, frequently asked questions and answers and an online video walk through of Staff Connect.

Su Westerman – Staff Connect Employee Communications & Engagement Manager

Memorial plaque for Kent Law Clinic founding Director Adrian Taylor

A plaque honouring the memory of Kent Law Clinic founding Director Adrian Taylor has been unveiled in the Wigoder Law Building.

Adrian Taylor, a lecturer in law at Kent from 1967 to 1977, was the foremost pioneer of clinical legal education in the UK and became the founding Director of Kent Law Clinic (the first university-based law clinic in the UK) in November 1973. He later became a patron of the Kent Law Campaign (together with his wife Yvette Gibson), helping to champion the £5m campaign to raise funds for the Wigoder Law Building, the new home for Kent Law Clinic that was officially opened by the Rt Honourable the Baroness Hale of Richmond and principal benefactor The Honourable Charles Wigoder in October 2016.

After his retirement and two years before his death at the age of 79, Adrian returned to Kent Law School in 2012 to deliver a lecture on the history of clinical legal education to a rapt audience of Kent staff and students. The full text of this lecture was reproduced in a special memorial booklet for those who attended the unveiling of his memorial plaque within the new Law Clinic office on Saturday 19 November.

The memorial event was organised by Adrian’s former student Professor Richard de Friend, a former law lecturer at Kent Law School and former Pro-Vice-Chancellor in the University. More than 30 guests attended the unveiling ceremony including Adrian’s widow, Yvette, members of Adrian’s family, and many former students and colleagues who had worked with him in the Clinic.

Amongst the guests were also Lucy Scott-Moncrieff (the current Standards Commissioner for the House of Lords) and His Honour Judge Peter Thornton QC (former Chief Coroner of England and Wales).

Estates Department – Disruptions to services on Friday 16 December

In order to allow staff from the Estates Department to enjoy their Christmas lunch on Friday 16 December, please be advised of the following disruptions to service on that day:

  • The University switchboard will be not be staffed from 11.30. Any callers contacting the main University number, who know the extension they wish to be put through to will be informed how to do this, and callers will be advised to contact Campus Security in the event of an emergency. Normal service will resume at 08.30 on Monday 19 December.
  • The Estates Helpdesk will also be closed from 11.30 until 08.00 on Monday 19 December. Authorised intranet users will still be permitted to report defects via Web Central; however, all emergencies should be sent to Campus Security on extension 3300.
  • Postal Services will not be delivering or collecting mail after 11.00. Timings will be brought forward for the departments that normally have their first or only delivery/collection after this time. The Post Room will be closed between 11.00 and 15.00 and the Postal Counter service for personal mail will not be open on this day. If mail volumes are not excessive, outgoing items collected before 11.00 should still be processed on the same day. Urgent items of business mail may be hand delivered to the Post Room between 15.00-15.30 on 16 December, where they will be processed in order of priority.

The Design & Print Centre will remain open as usual until 16.30.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused. The Estates Department would like to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

Sarah Cooke
Head of Departmental Administration & Telecoms

Your essential Xmas playlist

Food for thought over the holiday season? Think Kent.

Stimulate your brain with a series of short video lectures from some of the University’s leading thinkers and researchers.

The latest Think Kent lecture videos are now live on the Kent YouTube channel.

Similar to TED Talks, these 15-minute videos feature Kent academics speaking about their research and the international impact it has had.

So whether you want to discover the truth of the 1914 Christmas Truce, whether a computer can be creative and why it’s a good idea to go for a run today, watch the Think Kent playlist and subscribe for additional weekly Think Kent lectures.

Suggested Think Kent lecture playlist:

Most viewed In Conversation videos:

25 days now :-)

Post your parcels on campus

Don’t forget you can post your Christmas cards and parcels on campus.

Estates postal service, on Canterbury campus, is open to members of staff from 12-14.00 daily. Call in to have your cards and parcels posted – a member of the postal team will weigh your package and advise on the posting options.

All parcels need to have a return address and it is also advisable to check what is on the prohibited items list to see what is allowed both internally in the UK and abroad. Payments can be accepted by cash only.

And don’t forget, the final posting dates for Christmas – ranging from Saturday 3 December for Africa and the Middle East (International Standard), to Wednesday 21 December for 1st class and Royal Mail Signed For cards and packages across inland UK.

Dr Zoe Davies secures EC Research Fellowship worth 2m Euros

The School of Anthropology and Conservation is delighted to announce that Dr Zoe Davies has successfully secured a European Commission research fellowship to the value of 1,953,716 Euros.

Dr Davies’ project, Environmental Spaces and the Feel-Good Factor: Relating Subject Wellbeing to Biodiversity (RELATE), seeks to explore how nature underpins human wellbeing. This timely and influential research will pioneer a unique approach to examining interactions between nature and humans, drawing together expertise across disciplines and utilising both qualitative and quantitative methods.

The funding, spanning over five years, sees Dr Davies draw together a team of researchers who reflect the interdisciplinarity of the study. Dr Robert Fish, Reader in Human Ecology from the University of Kent; Dr Katherine Irvine, Conservation and Environmental Psychologist from James Hutton Institute, Aberdeen; and Dr Martin Dallimer, Lecturer in Environmental Change, University of Leeds. The project will also be appointing two Post-Doctoral Research Assistants and a Research Assistant.

This is the largest ever fellowship awarded to a member of the Social Sciences Faculty and we are extremely proud of Dr Davies and look forward to seeing how this research fellowship progresses.

Professor Philippe De Wilde, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research and Innovation, commented: ‘The University is incredibly proud that Dr Davies has obtained this prestigious award from the European Commission. Her research brings together Science and Social Science, a strong point for the University of Kent. Dr Davies’ work is high-profile and well-cited. She is a member of DICE, the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology in the School of Anthropology and Conservation.’

 

Information Services Staff Excellence Awards 2016

Each year Kent’s Information Services department gives Staff Excellence Awards to staff – nominated by their colleagues – who have gone the extra mile in their work for our Library and IT services.

The awards can be for anything from leading a project to helping colleagues to giving great student support every day.

The staff recognised in this year’s awards were:

Jane Alderson-Rice
Chris Bailey
David Biron
Andrew Bridge
Sarah Cotterall
Rachel Dickinson
Suzanne Duffy
Andy Friday
Peter Frost
Nikki Gregory
Catherine Henley
Lauren Morris
Chris Morrison
Tom Mortimer
Marisa Orrin
Jo Picton
Crispin Toby
Gemma Tucker
Fran Williams

John Sotillo, Director of Information Services, says: ‘We are proud to celebrate once again the outstanding effort, commitment and achievement exhibited by our staff in the annual Information Services’ Staff Excellence Awards.’

Well done to everyone!

 

University celebrates Kent’s Sporting Legends

Over 300 people connected with elite sport from across the county celebrated past, present and future sporting successes at Kent’s Sporting Legends on 2 December.

The University hosted the event at the Canterbury campus  in partnership with Kent County Council to highlight exceptional sporting achievements.

Legends include University sports scholars who have gone on to international honours, Kent sports persons who have represented our country or been part of Team GB, and individuals who have contributed to Kent’s sporting achievements.

Dame Julia Goodfellow, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Kent, commented: ‘This is an opportunity to bring together and celebrate sportsmen and women from across the county who have competed at the highest level. It is particularly appropriate that we should do so in this Olympic and Paralympic year. I am a firm believer in the power of sport.’

Many Kent alumni have gone on to win Olympic medals, compete internationally and succeed in their field. These include Wayne Otto OBE, nine-times World and European Karate Champion; Susannah Townsend, 2016 Olympic Gold medallist in hockey; and Natasha Brennan, World Champion rugby player.

Existing students and staff excelling in sport include Kent student Oliver Mangion, Wheelchair Rugby sports scholar with his sites on the 2020 Paralympic Games; Kent student Jasmine Pomeroy excelling in karate on a national and European level; and Mel Clewlow, Assistant Director of Sport at Kent and double-Olympian.

Graham Holmes, Director of Sport at Kent, said: ‘This event is about bringing together elite sportsmen and women from across the county to celebrate sport at its highest level and inspire up and coming athletes for the future. This event gives an indication of the wealth of talent that flourishes at the University and across the county.’

Find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @UniKentSports #kslegends
www.kent.ac.uk/sports/kentsportinglegends