We will no longer charge fines on overdue loan items. This improvement to the library service is one of many to support you during the cost-of-living crisis.
This change will come into effect from 3 February at the Templeman and Drill Hall libraries.
Already have fines for overdue items on your account? Good news – return any overdue items as soon as possible and any related fines will be removed.
Please remember that some other charges may remain on your library account until you clear them.
If you’ve returned after the winter holidays thinking about what changes you might make in your life this year, you’re not alone. The start of the year is a great time to take stock and start thinking about ways you might change your behaviour to reduce the pressure on the planet.
What does sustainability mean?
To sustain means to ‘support’, ‘hold’ or ‘keep up’, and when we talk about sustainability, people often firstly think about environmental sustainability – that is protecting the planet, halting climate change and promoting social development. This means thinking creatively about how we might cover our present needs without compromising resources for future generations. This is also intertwined with concepts of social and economic sustainability, making sure that our progress as a society can be maintained without leaving anyone behind.
What are we doing at Kent to meet sustainability goals?
The University are signatories of the Sustainable Development Goals Education Accord. That means we are committed to embedding the 17 biggest global challenges of our time into everything we do; our operations, teaching and research.
Our ambition is that by 2025, even before visiting us, people will be aware that the university is a key actor in addressing the climate and ecological emergency and is demonstrating dramatic reductions in CO2 emissions. Through our campuses and online presence, our staff, students and the local community will experience the obvious actions and activities that show how seriously the University of Kent takes climate action and social and environmental responsibility. Every building on our campuses will show signs of having moved to more sustainable power. Our transport systems will be much less fossil-fuel based, and our shops, cafes and restaurants will focus on more sustainable produce. Our green spaces will demonstrate our connection to the natural environment, making spaces for people to enjoy that protect, enhance and allow biodiversity to flourish. More than all this, our education will be steeped in a culture of continuous improvement to ensure that all our students in all subjects are learning the skills and knowledge needed for a sustainable future. You can read about all of our targets in the University’s Sustainability Strategy.
How can you get involved?
Orchard Planting
This term we will be planting an orchard of over 300 fruit and nut trees on the edge of the Canterbury campus. What will be known as the diamond anniversary orchard has been planned ahead of the University’s 60th birthday in 2025 and the space has been designed by the future class of 2025, our undergraduates who started a 3-year degree this year.
The site on the Southern Slopes of the campus provides an ideal setting for a semi-natural orchard and meadow that will not only be a beautiful space for students, staff and community members to enjoy, but also provides a complex habitat that will boost biodiversity in the area.
As the space matures it will become a mosaic of trees, grasses, shrubs and wild flowers supporting a wide range of wildlife. As fruit trees age quickly, they create the perfect habitats for invertebrates and birds, such as the lesser spotted woodpecker and the rare noble chafer beetle. Orchard meadows with swathes cut through for paths provide a peaceful space to walk through and enjoy and with the increase bird life in the area the birdsong in this area will begin to match that heard in Bluebell wood. You can get involved with the planting and find out more about activities planned in the space on our anniversary orchard webpage.
We also have plans for the Medway campus bringing high pollen value plants for bees and butterflies to the communal seating area at Rochester Lawn, building upon the new seating and shaded area there. We will also be planting up large pots around the Medway building to improve access to nature at an urban campus and seeded a new wildflower meadow to bring nature in!
Veganuary
Doing or trying the plant-based thing? The Templeman library are supporting this month with a themed reading list that includes books and films on veganism, and sustainable living but also on the cost of living and how to manage money., check out the library blogpost on veganuary for more information.
Want to share your sustainability tips/ wins/ challenges? Find unikent.sustainability on Instagram, #UniKentSustainability.
Written by Natalia Crisanti, Catherine Morris and Emily Mason, staff 10.01.23
Welcome or welcome back to Kent! It can be hard to get going with dark days and cold weather, so check out our Tips to boost your winter wellbeing.
As we move into Spring Term, remind yourself of all the support on offer at our Canterbury campus and online.
Not sure where to go to ask a question? Head to Nexus in Templeman Library. Enter the library through the main entrance, go through the turnstiles and take the first right.
As well as a social and study area, Nexus is your campus help point. The staff at Nexus can help with any query and point you in the right direction.
You can also access Nexus online.
With the cost of living rising, you are probably thinking more about your finances. Our cost-of-living support webpage includes information about Campus Pantry, our £3 meal deal in Rutherford Dining Hall and our range of emergency financial support options.
Our financial help and advice webpage also includes tips on budgeting, getting a part-time job and who to contact for further support. Plus, we offer a range of emergency financial support options.
You can also speak to Kent Union’s Advice Service about any extra support or advice you might need.
If you have a disability, chronic condition, mental health condition, specific learning difficulty or autism, please contact Student Support and Wellbeing to see how they can help you make the most of your university journey – you can access services at any time during your studies.
We have a team of expert staff who can help you face the challenges of studying, socialising and living independently, whatever else you might be going through, whether it’s something you’re experiencing for the first time at university or something you have dealt with for a while.
There is also a free confidential counselling service which offers you a safe space to address issues concerning you and can help get thoughts, feelings, behaviour and perspective on life back in balance again.
Our Student Learning and Advisory Service (SLAS) can help you to develop your studying skills – everything from perfecting your essay writing to learning how to reference properly.
Don’t forget your School and Division is also there to help you with your studies and offer a range of study support.
The friendly Colleges and Community Life Team can help you connect with other students in your College community through activities and initiatives, working with your College Committee and Residential Life Assistants. They can offer advice and refer you to other specialist services.
Kent Union is your Students’ Union. From money worries to housing issues, academic problems to visa support, Kent Union’s Student Advice Service is available to help through their free, impartial and confidential advice service.
You can also get in touch with your Kent Union full-time officers who are each responsible for specific areas within the Union.
Kent has its own NHS general practice on campus called the University Medical Centre, with an independent pharmacy next to it.
Our University Nursing Service provide advice for minor illnesses/injuries and contraception, and is staffed 24 hours a day during term time by registered nurses. Check out this Visual Guide: Finding Health Support and Emergency Services at University
Ready to dust off your racquet, or just looking to take up a new sport, the tennis centre has you covered!
Tennis is also a great way to get fit, meet new people and improve your physical and mental health!
There are a couple of ways you can get involved. For those of you who feel semi confident to just have a go, use your Kent Sport membership or take out a free Pay to Play membership if you’ve not yet signed up. This enables you to book a court through the online portal whenever you fancy a game. Student Pay to Play sessions are just £4.50 and if you’re a Premium Plus member, it’s completely free! You can check out all our membership options on our website.
Alternatively, if you would like a little more input, book a place on one of our LTA group coaching sessions for just £10 per session. Develop your tennis skills with our fully qualified LTA coaches. Nick Skelton is an LTA Level 5 Coach and leads the team of LTA-qualified coaches at Kent Sport. Sessions run over one hour and are the perfect place to meet new people and enhance your technique.
To find out more about these sessions, read our latest blog!
The Santander Universities Scholars Programme is a new flagship initiative aimed at breaking down barriers for students who are most likely to face challenges when attending higher education.
The initiative provides funding to support them through to graduation, alongside training opportunities to develop their potential and help them build brighter futures.
The programme will support 100 full-time current undergraduate students, due to graduate in 2025, throughout the duration of their studies. They will receive £30k of funding over three academic years, a series of employability training and development sessions and a dedicated mentor to guide them through the programme.
This flagship, multi-million-pound scholars programme, was developed in collaboration with our partner universities, including the University of Kent, and is aimed at providing more structured and holistic higher education support that is ongoing, combats a range of challenges and is not just a stamp in time.
Am I eligible?
In order to be eligible to apply, you must meet the following criteria:
Apply now:
Applications are now open and will close at 23:00 on 31 of January 2023.
Apply and learn more about the Santander Universities Scholars Programme >
Watch the video to find out more:
Update: 04/01/22 at 12.50
Following the earlier power cut, we are pleased to confirm that power and internet access has been restored to the whole of the Canterbury campus and the Templeman Library has now reopened. Thank you for your patience and apologies for any inconvenience caused.
We have been made aware of a power cut temporarily affecting some of the buildings on our Canterbury campus. We currently believe the buildings with no power are Rutherford, Rutherford Annexe, Templeman and Tyler Court. Due to the power issue, the internet is also currently down in Darwin and the Postgraduate Study space in the Senate building. This is part of a wider outage affecting Canterbury and work is underway to address the issue.
In the meantime, if needed, staff should move to another building temporarily to work where they can.
Templeman library is closed for the time being and alternative study spaces are being highlighted. Here’s a full list of places to study on campus.
Given the localised power issues, we recommend you save work regularly throughout the day wherever you are working in case they are short-term outages as power is restored.
We will provide a further update shortly.
We’re looking for part-time staff to join our team at the IT & Library Support Desk in the Templeman Library.
Location: Templeman Library, Canterbury Campus
Salary: £12.06 per hour
Information Services is looking for people to join our team as Support Assistants, working flexible hours part-time to staff the IT & Library Support Desk in the Templeman Library. These vacancies will begin in January 2023 and continue until at least the end of the 2022/23 academic year. Training will be provided.
Responsibilities include:
In an average week we aim to offer at least 6 hours of work, though this is not guaranteed. The Support Desk is open 7 days a week, up to 12 hours a day, with most shifts between 09:00-21:00 Monday to Friday and 12:00-18:00 Saturday and Sunday.
Initial pay will be at least £12.06 per hour. Upon gaining sufficient experience there is an opportunity to progress to a higher rate.
The successful candidates will have a keen desire to help others and excellent communications skills, coupled with a good understanding of the library and IT facilities provided by the University of Kent.
We expect all Support Assistants to be available to work during Welcome Week (September), as this is our busiest time of year.
For full details of the role and the selection criteria please refer to the job description linked below.
The IT and Library Support team is part of User Experience within the Information Services department at the University of Kent.
Closing date for applications: 14 March 2023
If you’re a Kent student and need advice on job applications and interviews, contact the Careers and Employability Service.
Due to the volume of applications expected for these posts there may be a delay between the closing date and receiving a response from us. Please do not contact us for updates on the status of your application; we will contact every applicant with the outcome of their submission in due course.
Interviews are scheduled to be held in early January, however we will continue to accept applications until 14 March from people who are available to work later in the year.
To decide how to celebrate and mark Disability History Month this year, members of Kent Union, staff and students from a variety of divisions, networks, and groups across the Medway and Canterbury campuses met frequently throughout the term to plan and collaborate. Sharing ideas and looking at how far we have come has been part of the process in continuing to think of new and inspiring ways not only to celebrate Disability History Month, but also to identify areas where there work is still needed to continue to grow and develop new inclusive ways to remove barriers.
Exhibition and film screening
Student Engagement and Communications Officer Natalia Crisanti and Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic Strategy, Planning, and Performance) Professor Georgina Randsley de Moura, introduced the screening of a number of short videos called ‘Our Stories’ (BSL interpreted) with students and staff, current and past, talking about their experiences of disability. The films emphasise considering and anticipating the seen and unseen needs of all, with people listening to one another carefully and understanding that each person is the authority on their own best conditions for thriving. With such a wealth of inspirational people at Kent it has been a great opportunity to take time to focus and reflect on our community and what disability means to us as a University. Janice Markey, Kent’s Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion notes that “the exhibition and screening [which took place on 6 December] are an inspiring impetus for us in our work to create an environment at Kent which is welcoming and inclusive for all”. For more on the screening and exhibition opening, read the blogpost summarising this event. You can also watch a video version of the timeline (narrated, with closed captions), or read a slightly abridged version on Kent’s Disability History Month webpage.
Chloe Timms author talk
Former student Chloe Timms returned to Kent to give a talk on her debut novel ‘The Seawomen’ (2022). Chloe discussed about how she became a published author alongside the challenges of being a disabled writer. To find out more about her professional journey, visit Chloe Timms’ blog.
Research and career opportunities
Also this month was an opportunity for one of our PhD students to showcase her research with a Virtual Reality Wheelchair Driving Experience, and the Careers and Employability Service hosted a number of online groups for students, including workshops on how to ask for adjustments in the workplace, and sessions on the Change 100 internship scheme, which offers paid summer work placements for students with disabilities.
Finger casting workshop
On the topic of health and wellbeing, a finger casting workshop was held whereby participants could let their artistic sides show through creating their own finger sculpture and foil embossed artwork. The idea was to encourage awareness and connection with the body through creativity.
Millie Knight – sports champion talk
Kent Union’s focus was on creating opportunities for students to come together and learn from each other. Their events included plant pot painting and a talk from former student, and four-time Paralympic skiing medallist and Karate world champion, Millie Knight. Thomas Freeston, Vice President of Welfare and Community was Kent Union’s lead on DHM, and reflected on the month as an “opportunity to celebrate the achievements of people living with a disability and also raise awareness”.
What’s next? Let’s shape tomorrow together…
Of course, opportunities for discussion and progress are not limited to Disability History Month. You can get involved in many different ways throughout the year. Perhaps through the Staff Disability Network and Student Accessibility Network. Please contact EqualityAndDiversity@kent.ac.uk if you would like to share any ideas or feedback about this year’s disability history month or disability provision in general.
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Did you know that Student Support and Wellbeing (SSW) advisers can help students set up the support they need at any time during their studies? Check out this guide on Seeking Support from SSW for more information.
Follow #DHMKent22 and #InclusiveKent on social media for the latest, and if you would like to contribute your experience and perspective to conversations, podcasts or articles on this theme, please email StudentServicesWeb@kent.ac.uk.
Written by Maddy Kendall, Joshua Stevens and Natalia Crisanti, Student Services, 13.12.22
Got a new phone or laptop recently, or hoping to get one this Christmas? Stay connected to all Kent systems by adding a second authentication method (such as a home phone number and/or mobile number) now to your account. It’s quick and easy to do.
Choose a method that won’t be affected if you change device or mobile phone number. For example, if you use an authenticator app on a device you’re replacing, this won’t transfer to a new device unless you’ve backed it up. Adding a secondary method such as your home phone number or mobile number (if you intend to keep the same number) will help avoid any loss of access.
This will be especially useful during the vacation when the University is closed and our staff won’t be around to help reset your account.
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is required for off campus access to email and other Kent IT systems and online services. It adds an extra layer of security to your IT Account. It provides a 99.9% reduction in compromised accounts and will also help to protect your own personal information.
If you have any questions, please contact IT and Library Support:
Josh – Hi, my name is Josh Jardine and I’m currently doing a master’s by research in Sport and Exercise Science. My main interests are mostly anything sport related, I’m a big QPR supporter and enjoy going out with friends and family.
Gemma – I’m Gemma Bealey and a Law and Politics LLB Student. Among other interests I am a very keen korfball player. I started playing korfball at age 7 after I was introduced to it at primary school and have played ever since. This has included playing for Kent Junior age groups and now playing in the National Korfball League. I’m also a qualified coach and have been able to coach in my old club for many years as well as coaching one of the Kent Youth Teams.
Gemma – Korfball is a mixed-sex game which originated in the Netherlands and has similarities to both netball and basketball. It is very fast paced and relies on a diverse team where all players can attack and defend. I joined UKC Korfball last year and was grateful to be able to join such a welcoming and social club. Due to not running for a year as a result of the pandemic, the club was much smaller than it is now, and nearly every member was new to Korfball.
Josh – Last year we competed in three tournaments: prelims, regionals, and nationals against other universities all over the country. After winning regionals we qualified for the national championships. At the nationals we managed to reach the final but unfortunately lost by two goals against UEA but being second in the country is nothing to be ashamed of!
Josh – Advice would I give to other students would be to join a society. Societies provide a great way to meet like-minded people or people with the same interests and hobbies as you.
Gemma – I would advise any students to just get stuck into university as much as they can through joining societies. This gives a student an instant social circle and an easy opportunity to make more friends. It also offers students with a better work/life balance to take the pressure off their studies. Korfball is a very welcoming and inclusive game with players of all abilities and level of experience. As not many players have played before we offer the opportunity learn a new sport together as a team which isn’t always possible in other games. Being mixed also gives the game a rare dynamic which is very refreshing.
Gemma – I will graduate from Kent this year and know that I will continue to play korfball following this. I have continued to play with clubs outside university while I have also been representing the University at BUCS tournaments and while I will miss being able to play BUCS, I’m glad I will still be able to play the game at a competitive level. I also hope to be able to continue my coaching once I have left university and I have always enjoyed this.
Josh – While completing this master’s degree, I have been lucky enough to have the opportunity to work for Gillingham Football Club while collecting data. So, my aim after this year is to hopefully get a job in a Sport Science department at a professional football club.