Student Volunteer Week is a chance for you to get involved in making a difference in the community and going above and beyond! We want you to get involved in our volunteering projects, support the activities the student groups are running and fundraise!

This is a great opportunity for you to get involved and see what Kent Community Action has to offer so look at the timetable and sign up!

Find out more here.

Wildwood

We are going to Wildwood Animal Park again! The keeper team have asked us to clear out our old green lizard + hedgehog enclosures by the main entrance, to get the area ready for some sand lizards that are arriving at the park in the near future. The work will entail removing plants and a dividing small wall, raking and tidying it up. Afterwards there may be the opportunity to paint some small houses/miniature sheds in red + white ready to be part of our Christmas village we are getting ready for the holidays.

If you want to come sign up here.

Christmas Gifts Collection (available to staff too)
The Children’s Ward at Canterbury Hospital are looking for Christmas presents for children from newborn-16 year olds. Come and donate something from 10.00-14.00 in Keynes Atrium!

Alumni Pub Nights, the new social and networking series for Kent alumni and students, will take place in local pubs in Canterbury or London on the last Tuesday on the month every two months and we would love you to join us!

What are the events?
The events aim to bring together alumni, students and staff from a range of disciplines with each night themed to different subjects surrounding workplace skills, networks and employability opportunities. Events could include speakers, or they may be geared to people interested in a particular sector or skillset, but all events will be a great opportunity for you to meet up with local alumni to network and think about your future.

When is the next event?
The next event will be at the Miller’s Arms in Canterbury on 28 November from 18.00 – 20.00. Meet TeachFirst’s Graduate Recruitment Officer and former teacher, Ross Cooper, who will lead a short, interactive discussion on working in education and teaching. This is a great chance for budding teachers to meet up to find out more about the profession and meet others who are interested in education. However, all are welcome to come along and catch up with Kent graduates.

Please register and join the event on Facebook for relevant updates.

First drink free! If you have any questions regarding this event please email us.

A team of 10 alumni and students will work together to support social activities for the elderly at The Chase care home in Canterbury on Saturday 25 November 2017, 10.00-13.00. If you would like to get involved please contact us.

Alumni in Boston (27/10), Washington DC (02/11), Chicago (11/11) and Los Angeles (09/12) have also volunteered for local community projects through the scheme including creating and serving meals for critically ill people and children and supporting food banks for the homeless.

So far 10 students and 28 alumni have volunteered their time through the scheme for community projects in 2017.

The next project will be in Canterbury, Medway, the US, France, Belgium and Greece in May 2018 we are happy to take suggestions for projects from anyone who would like us to support their cause, just email us.

Network, donate your time and share stories with Kent students and alumni!

A Kent international commercial law expert Dr Gbenga Oduntan has organised a series of training conferences in Nigeria on tracing funds transferred as a result of corrupt practices.

The first two-day conference takes place in Lagos on 20/21 November with a second two-day conference following in Abuja on 23/24 November. Each event is targeted at anti-corruption activists, media practitioners, compliance officers, anti-corruption agencies, opinion leaders, bloggers, lawyers and legal advisers.

With the first day entitled Tracking Noxious Funds: Strategies and techniques for whistle blowing and tracing property purchased and the second day entitled Investments from Proceeds of Bribery and Corruption Transferred to the West and Tax Havens, the training offers a practical, doctrinal and procedural introduction to researching company and property ownership using public sources of information. Conference attendees will also learn how to find shell companies and their property and how to identify online resources and sources of information. The training includes practical sessions that will enable participants to conduct their own searches under the supervision of expert facilitators from Europe, the US and Nigeria.

Dr Oduntan was awarded a grant of $50,000 for the training project by the MacArthur Foundation and the Institute of International Education after running a successful one-day conference at Kent Law School in July.

Dr Oduntan said: It has become clear over the last few decades last that the phenomenon of bribery, corruption and stolen funds is one of the principal causes of underdevelopment in the global south. The stolen wealth of Nigeria and other ECOWAS countries has not only found safe haven in the banks and financial institutions of the UK and other western countries but has become a major source of the funds for the purchase of UK properties contributing to housing shortages in London

International Partnerships is delighted to announce that nominations have now opened for the University’s second Go Abroad Awards (1 March 2018), celebrating the efforts and achievements of students who have undertaken a study or work placement abroad.

There are five categories with cash prizes for the winners, including:

– Go Abroad Promotion Through Social Media – (accepting self-nominations)

– Making a Difference While Abroad – (accepting self-nominations)

– Best School Ambassador for Go Abroad

– Best Go Abroad Events Volunteer

– Go Abroad Student of the Year

An outline of each category is given on the website, along with the cash prize amounts and a link to the nomination form.

We look forward to receiving your nominations, and please get in touch if you have any questions at internationalevents@kent.ac.uk.

Good luck to all of our nominees!

The International Partnerships Team.

The Dean for Internationalisation is inviting all undergraduate students to apply to become Kent’s Global Officers for 2017/18 through taking part in his Global Officer Leadership Development (GOLD) programme.

Through the programme, the Student Global Officers will work with him to support and partner on the range of internationalisation projects which will be taking place during the academic year.

Apply now

Call for nominations from students returning from a year abroad! 

International Partnerships is delighted to announce nominations are open for the University’s annual Go Abroad Awards.

The Awards celebrate the efforts and achievements of students who have undertaken a study or work placement abroad.

Make a nomination

The Awards Ceremony is sponsored by the Dean of Internationalisation and is a lovely formal evening including a full course dinner, speeches and great entertainment.

Individual Writing Tutorials give you the opportunity to discuss your academic writing with a member of staff from The Centre for English and World Languages (CEWL), who will give you advice on the structure, coherence and cohesion of your work. Individual sessions last 20-30 minutes each and are free of charge.

Course dates: Tutorials are available all year

Registration: make an appointment by emailing us.

The sessions aim to guide you through the process of revising and editing your academic writing. You will learn how to identify organisational and syntactical strengths and weaknesses in your writing and edit your own work

Please note: this is not a proofreading service.

Darwin Rose Garden – Removal of Trailing Cherry Trees

Removal trees will take place from Monday 16 October – Wednesday 18 October 2017

On Monday 16 October between 08.00 and 16.30, the removal of the trailing Cherry trees is due to take place.

There will be some noise disruption and some of the footpaths will be closed whilst the works are carried out.

The trees will be replaced week commencing 6 November 2017.

Cornwallis Octagon/ Computing 2 Lift Out of Order

The lift will be out of order from Friday 13 October – Friday 20 October, 2017

The Cornwallis Octagon/ Computing 2 Lift will still be out of order until Friday the 20 October 2017 due to the failure of the door mechanism. Lift engineers are scheduled to attend and carry out modifications.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. If there are any queries please contact Keith Margrave on 01227 824129 or email k.margrave@kent.ac.uk . Alternatively contact the Estates Helpdesk on Extn 3209.

Essential fire alarm testing will be carried out by an in-house engineer during October.

Each test will last no longer than two minutes. All rooms will need to be accessed, as this testing is a legal requirement.

Mandela Building – Monday 16 and Tuesday 17 October
The Venue – Wednesday 18 to Friday 20 October
Marlowe Building – Monday 23 to Friday 27 October

We apologise for any inconvenience. If you have any queries please contact the Estates Helpdesk on Extn 3209.