All week: Black History month events

October is Black History Month and the theme this year is ‘Time for Change: Actions not words’. Get inspired at our Black Pioneers exhibitions at both Canterbury and Medway campuses. See the exhibition in the Drill Hall Library Café at Medway (throughout the month) and in Keynes Atrium at our Canterbury campus (from 10 October). As well as these exhibitions, there are also online and in-person events throughout the month.

Monday: Part-time job help and Chorus choir practice

Would you like a part-time job but not sure where to start? Join this online session about finding a part-time job.

An un-auditioned choir of around 100 singers, the Chorus, meets weekly on Monday evenings, and prepares for three concerts in the year with the Symphony Orchestra, both on campus and in Canterbury Cathedral.

This Imperialism Past and Present event at Gulbenkian Arts Centre is free for students. Book your ticket online.

Tuesday: Free LinkedIn headshots (Medway) and independent learning

Get a professional LinkedIn Headshot at our Medway campus. Photographer Matt Cook will be taking free headshot photos 10.00-16.00 so don’t miss out.

Our Student Learning Advisory Service have a wide range of online bitesize sessions. On Tuesday, you can join the session about Independent learning, reflective & critical thinking.

Wednesday: Mindfulness and inspirational speaker

If you’d like a moment of calm, consider joining the in-person mindfulness session on Wednesday 17.00-18.00. Or there is an earlier online mindfulness session 13.00-14.00.

Hear from inspirational speaker Kami Asamani on Wednesday 15.00-17.00 in Marlowe Lecture Theatre. Kami studied BA Politics and International Relations and LLM International Law with International Relations. She works for the British Council, as Head of Business Management for Arts Sub Saharan Africa. Hear her inspiring story and ask any questions. The event will also be livestreamed.

Get involved in the Inter College Football League and play for your College football team. Find out where and when your trial takes place.

Thursday: careers support

Our Careers and Employability Service offers lots of sessions to help you on your career journey. On Thursday you can join a session on how to answer interview questions and how to network. Both these events are taking place in Keynes and will also be livestreamed.

Friday: Mature, Part-Time and Commuting Network coffee social

There’s a Mature, Part-Time and Commuting Network coffee social happening at Woody’s on Friday. Meet other students in a similar position to you.

Opportunities

• Become a Student Ambassador (some deadlines this week)
• Get involved in the Black Student Voices project
• Apply to be a Global Officer (deadline – 10 October)
• Book an appointment with a Careers Advisor

Check out the student events calendar to see all the events.

October can only mean one thing… we’re celebrating Black History Month at Kent. This year, the national theme is ‘Time for Change: Action, Not Words’ and this has never felt more pertinent. At Kent, we are committed to ensuring that all our students and staff, including our Black students and staff, have the best experience possible whilst they are with us.   

Celebrating Black History 

Black History Month is an opportunity for us as an organisation to celebrate and recognise the myriad of ways in which Black people have contributed to the arts, science, culture, history and technology of Britain and the wider world. It allows us to shine a spotlight on those achievements, and also provides a platform for staff and students to discuss and reflect on their own experiences. Our activities here are organised by a team of people that include the BAME Staff and Student Networks and representatives.   

Get involved – Black History Month events 

Events to look out for include art exhibitions, a book club, online theatre screenings, an open mic night, a coffee morning, 10,000 Black Interns project, Inspirational Speaker Ezechi Britton MBE, film screenings, staff webinars, a Black Owned Business Market and lots of online resources for you to enjoy and to deepen your own learning.  

Check out Kent Union’s Black History Month website for all events and resources. 

Continuing the celebrations #Black365 

We don’t just limit this celebration to one month a year. That is why we have #Black365; a series of events and activities that take place throughout the year that continue the legacy of Black History Month.  

Challenging racism also takes a university-wide approach and we know there is always more we can put in place to both be better and do better. We recently launched our Antiracism Strategy which outlined our commitment to taking action against all forms of racism at the University, and beyond.  

We also launched our work on the Race Equality Charter, the national framework which universities use to identify and self-reflect on institutional and cultural barriers that stand in the way of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic staff and students to help us grow and improve as an institution.  

We really hope you explore and enjoy all the different events and activities that have been organised by staff and students for staff and students. We are always seeking to improve though, so if you have any ideas for the future, or feedback, please do get in contact with us on StudentEDI@kent.ac.uk  

Happy Black History Month 22!  

#BHMKent22  

We have just sent details of the Goodwill Payment Scheme to students affected by Industrial Action during 2021-22. The email has been sent your Kent account. If you have any questions or haven’t received the email but think you’re eligible, please email industrialaction@kent.ac.uk 

How the Goodwill Payment Scheme was agreed 

The University decided that the most accurate way to find out which students were impacted by industrial action was to assume that, where a staff member had declared that they were on strike, that the teaching events due to take place on those days would have been impacted in some way. This could have taken the form of a missed class or missed content, for example. Adopting this principle, we determined that there were almost 8,000 students who experienced at least one affected teaching event. Of these, around 2,770 were impacted ten or more times with approximately 2,300 students impacted by just one missed teaching event. I am aware that many of these missed teaching events were also mitigated by, for example, make-up activities or through the availability of alternative resources.  

The savings made by the University across all strike days in 2021/22 through withheld salaries amounted to around £194,000. Whilst the amount of savings might seem significant, when divided between impacted students, it becomes thinly stretched and potentially would not acknowledge the level of disruption suffered by the more seriously affected students. Therefore, in order to provide an appropriate and meaningful goodwill payment to those affected most significantly, we reached the decision that students who were affected only once by an impacted teaching event, would not receive a goodwill payment.  This is regrettable, but please be assured that the decision was made after very careful modelling of a variety of banding options for payments in consultation with Kent Union. This consultation involved presenting different options and models to student representatives to understand what the most satisfactory decision would be to as many students as possible.  

The following goodwill gestures will be offered:  

Band A: Students impacted 11 times or more = £75  

Band B: Students impacted 6 – 10 times = £50  

Band C: Students impacted 2 – 5 times = £25  

Band D: Students who were impacted once and will be returning to study next academic year, will receive a drinks voucher to use on campus when they return.   

If you have any questions, please email industrialaction@kent.ac.uk 

When will my results be available?

2022 results release dates can be found on the Student Administration website. You will be contacted via your University of Kent email address when your results are available.

How do I view my results?

Please see our video and text guidance on how to view your results.

What do I do if I think there is an error with my results?

If you believe that there is an error with your results, please contact your Division within 5 working days of receipt of results.

Academic appeals

We strongly encourage you to contact your Division in the first instance to informally resolve any queries before entering the formal appeals process. Please contact your Division within 5 working days of receipt of results or a decision to ensure that the informal process can be completed within the 15 working day deadline to submit a formal appeal.

If your exam results aren’t what you were hoping for, see our blogpost and video for your options and support available.

Full information, including FAQs and contact details, can be found on the academic appeals webpage.

If you did not do as well as you hoped, please don’t panic, there is support and processes in place to help you through this.  

Your options include: 

• Appealing your results – this is when you appeal your result because you disagree with the outcome of the Exam Board. It is strongly advised that you speak to your Division to start with (within 5 working days of the release of your result) to try to come to an early informal resolution. This can be helpful because you will get a speedy outcome and may not need to enter the formal appeals process, which will take longer. If you are not satisfied with the outcome of the early informal resolution, you can submit a formal appeal. Formal appeals must be submitted within 15 working days following the release of your results (there is some flexibility to this deadline if you are waiting for a response to an early informal resolution request).
  
• Resitting means you will either retake an exam or resit a piece(s) of coursework in August. Fees for resitting have been waived for 2022.You can find out more on the Exams FAQs webpage.  
• Repeating means that you need to attend all lectures and seminars and follow the full assessment requirements. You will also need to pay tuition fees. Tuition fee costs are calculated on the number of credits you repeat – please contact the Income Office for more details. 

Support 

We understand getting your results can be stressful, especially if they were not what you were expecting or had hoped for. If you are feeling distressed or upset, there are trained professional staff at Student Support and Wellbeing who can help and support you. We can offer text, online and in person appointments to help you deal with and process this difficult experience, as well as out of hours emergency support. 

For information on what your academic options are, you can contact you tutor or Student Support Office in your Division.  

Kent Union can also provide independent advice and support with processes such as mitigation and appeals. Use this online form to contact the advice centre to let them know what you need. 

Find out more  

Full information, including FAQs and contact details, can be found on the Student Guide. 

It is also a good idea to speak to your Division as early as possible to talk through your options.