Are you confident in digital accessibility? It’s not too late to sign up for a few sessions at this year’s Kent Digital Accessibility Conference which you can attend virtually wherever you are on the 9, 10 and 11 June.

Last year, the University of Kent & Kent County Council hosted the first Kent Digital Accessibility Conference to help attendees learn more about digital accessibility and inclusion and the impact of new regulations coming into force this September for web accessibility.

This year we have even more expert speakers and workshops to help you prepare, including the UK government, Microsoft, NHS experts and a European perspective showing how other countries are handling new regulations.

We will also be hearing from students and will be discussing what we are doing towards Kent’s accessible student experience, alongside a host of engaging practical sessions to help attendees grow the specialist skills required to deliver accessible services. A full agenda with speakers and timings is on the Eventbrite booking page, examples include Google speaking on creating accessible experiences for people in the workplace and international experiences of accessibility by a medal winning paralympian.

Book your free place now on Eventbrite to then receive links for all sessions via email – there will be 2 morning sessions and 2 afternoon sessions each day for three days. You can join for however many or few capture your interest and you can make time for in your schedule – do check out the timetable below for details.

Everyone is welcome, please do share with colleagues in your networks who might find this of interest.

For any queries, please email AccessibilityEvents@kent.ac.uk

What’s your background and when did you join the University?

I started working at Kent in 2009, initially in a joint role between Kent Union and the University. – I started my Environmental career as an academic with a PhD and some postgraduate research, before switching over to professional services when I joined Kent.

What does your role at Kent involve?

I work between two departments, the Safety, Health and Environment Unit and Estates Department. Although we’re supported by many colleagues across the University, there are only two of us working on Environmental Sustainability, so we’re extremely busy.

My role is very varied – I can be doing anything from writing policies and procedures and advising colleagues on compliance with environmental legislation, to working with students on academic projects. Our annual report showcases the wide range of work going on.

How has your role changed as a result of Covid-19?

Like many, my work is mainly desk-based, so I’ve adapted quite easily to this new way of working. However, with much of the campus closed and activities like waste management or landscape work not happening, the operational side of things is currently on pause.

Instead of delivering training face-to-face, I’m recording training sessions using the Kent Player system.

I hope there are some positives to come out of this – like video conferencing becoming the norm and people thinking twice about travelling to meetings/conferences. I’ve also noticed people are more aware of nature and spending more time appreciating outdoor spaces. Our campus is precious, and I’d love staff and students to get more involved in its management.

What’s worked well and what’s proved tricky?

I’ve found things that I was worried about, such as learning how to do video conferencing, have been straightforward, but other things have been trickier. I hadn’t realised how much I rely on bouncing ideas off people and I miss being able to pop my head into someone’s office and ask a question.

Both my partner James (who works in the Registry) and I are working from home while also home-schooling two primary-aged boys. This has been difficult at times!

As a team, we’ve had to get creative with how to keep our staff champions engaged. My colleague Emily (Mason) produces a weekly newsletter to keep everyone connected and that’s been well received.

Can you tell us more about the University’s Environmental Management System?

The day-to-day running of the EMS is a huge part of my role. It’s a structured framework that helps large organisations identify/manage all their activities and their impact on the environment.

Our EMS is certified to ISO14001 (the International Standard for Environmental Management). I deal with many elements including, keeping our legal requirements up to date, internal/external audits, and monitoring our environmental performance against targets like carbon emissions.

Last month we had an external audit of the EMS conducted remotely. The auditor commented on the enthusiasm and knowledge of the operational staff he spoke to, showing we have great engagement in key areas.

In your view, which environmental change has made the biggest difference at Kent?

Increasing media attention on climate change and ecological breakdown has seen a huge shift in public awareness, and an increasing number of staff and students are getting involved in sustainability projects.

Our ultimate aim is to put sustainability at the heart of all Kent’s decision-making and we’re now starting to see that happen. We’re also looking at embedding sustainability into the curriculum – showing its relevance even in courses you wouldn’t expect – which is both exciting and interesting.

Outside work, and out of lockdown, what do you enjoy doing?

The one thing I love doing and am missing during lockdown is gymnastics. I started going to an adult gymnastics class 10 years ago and was hooked. At my age, it’s not easy and I ache after every session, but I can’t wait to get back.

What will you look forward to most once we’re back on campus?

I’m looking forward to playing in the VC’s Cup. I’m the captain of the Estates team and we’re the current reigning champions so I’m keen to get back and defend our title. I’m also missing the Street Kitchen food!

The University’s Executive Group has confirmed the 2020/21 increase for parking permit charges. These charges will apply from 1 September 2020.

Kent’s parking permit prices remain low compared to other universities and we continue to offer free parking permits for those who have a Government Blue Badge or travel by motorcycle.

For staff, there will now be four tiers of payment in accordance with your salary. The new fourth tier will apply to anyone paid on the professional and management scale who will pay a higher rate (£1.24 a month above the higher rate of the other tiers).

All other permits (except daily permits) will continue to be charged according to staff gross monthly earnings, irrespective of the length of time the permit is valid for. 

Find out more about staff parking on campus and the permit changes on the Transport webpages.

Update – deadline to send in your favourite stories is extended to midnight on Sunday 7 June! 

Do you have a favourite book that you just couldn’t put down? Perhaps it’s one that you’ve read recently, or a story that you just keep going back to – either way, we want to hear from you!

To celebrate National Share a-Story-Month, we’re encouraging colleagues across our campuses and centres to share their one all-time recommended read.

It could be a crime novel, a favourite childhood book or a work of non-fiction – the only essential is that it’s a book you’d love others to get lost in and enjoy a sense of escapism.  We will then pick 10 of the best recommendations and include them in a ‘Top 10 Books to read!’ feature on our staff home page.

What to do:

Please send the title of your one favourite story/book to stories@kent.ac.uk, along with  your name, the department you work in and a brief sentence/one line describing why it’s your ultimate read.

Send your recommendation by Friday 29 May – and who knows your much-loved book could be included in our Top 10 books feature!

We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Alice and Wendy, Corporate Communications

Top 10 ideas:

If you have some good ideas for other possible ‘Top 10’ feature topics, share your thoughts with us at stories@kent.ac.uk.

The Centre for the Study of Higher Education will be convening the annual Learning and Teaching Conference from the 8 to the 15 June via Moodle. This year’s conference will focus on enhancing relevance: how we connect academic learning with the wider world.

The recent Principles for Powerful Learning Experiences at Kent study showed that students want and value opportunities to apply their learning to everyday life, real world problems and challenges, and potential career paths and activities. While this principle is one of the most important to students during their time at Kent, undergraduate student feedback suggests we can do more to embed it across the institution. This conference explores how we can create opportunities for students that are relevant to their goals, interests, cultural experiences, and ambitions.

Relevance pervades all of our decisions as educators. What do we want students to learn – and why? How do we develop students’ attributes to prepare them for productive and fulfilling lives after university? What do we ask students to read? With what other resources do we connect students? What examples are used to illustrate a concept? How are assessments designed? How do we engage students with local, national, and international communities, issues and perspectives? How do we help them see how professionals use the knowledge and skills we teach? Twelve papers will explore these questions and more in this online conference from 8 June to 15 June 2020.

To ensure maximum flexibility for academics juggling multiple commitments during this difficult time, the conference papers will be available online either as short (750 word) papers or 5 minute videos, with a facilitated discussion board from 8 June to 15 June. We recommend that participants allow 2 to 3 hours between 8 June and 15 June to review papers and contribute to the discussion board. Participants can use the discussion board associated with each session to ask questions or share their own experiences. Authors will be checking regularly during the week to answer questions and stimulate further discussion. In addition, feel free to connect with paper presenters individually for more in-depth discussion.

We recommend you revisit the discussion board before the live capstone event at 13.00 on 15 June. The capstone session will also be recorded for access for those who cannot participate in the live event. Conference papers will be archived for future reference.

Booking

To book your place, please sign up via Moodle

Do you have any great photos of our campuses or the local area from your walks during lockdown?

If so, we would love to share them on the University’s Instagram account – @unikentlive.

If you are happy to be featured on our Instagram account please tag us (@unikentlive) in your photos.

Alternatively, if you don’t have Instagram but would like your photos to be considered, please email communications@kent.ac.uk

The photo shown above is from Stephen Burke, Master of Eliot College.

Don’t forget to also share your favourite book with us by emailing stories@kent.ac.uk! 

Following last month’s update on the programme of activity required to return the University to a financially sustainable footing, work is continuing to carefully reduce costs while specifically targeting increase in income in areas that make sense. 

Staff Cost Savings 

Work has continued with the JSNCC on proposals to mitigate the need for redundancies in order to deliver the staff savings required this year, with a number of proposals either in effect or under consultation. This includes suggested changes to the University’s Reward Strategy, which staff are invited to give feedback on before 5 June, alongside specific proposals regarding promotions and discretionary payments for some senior staff.  

Cash & Capital Approvals 

A number of measures have been introduced to reduce our day-to-day costs, building on the good work already underway in a number of areas to reduce staff costs. This includes restrictions on both credit cards and travel use, work with budget holders to reduce end-of-year spend and tighter control on the use of external providers. 

Business Improvement & Value for Money 

Recent changes to our European strategy are now being implemented, centred around a strong hub in Brussels supported by an increased focus on partnerships with universities across Europe. Alongside this, progress has been made in a number of areas in exploring online opportunities through Future Learn as part of ways to complement on-campus teaching in the future. 

Find out more on the Financial Sustainability and Improvement programme. 

Four long-serving Kent Union officers will be leaving at the end of this term – and you can say goodbye to them via their e-leaving card. Please note that you’ll need a free Google account in order to sign the card.

Students’ Union President Sasha Langeveldt is leaving after, in her words, ‘five long but extremely fun years’. Also leaving are Omolade Adedapo, Vice-President Welfare and Community; Emily Window Vice-President Student Engagement (both after two years’ service); and Laura Carlin, Vice-President Postgraduate Experience (after one year).

Describing her Kent experience Sasha said: ‘It’s been a pleasure to work with the University in creating a better student experience for all. We are sad to leave but are grateful to have worked alongside some amazing people.’

Normally the four departing officers would be gathering goodbye messages around campus. But, because of Covid-19, they are hoping that as many University staff as possible will be able to sign their e-leaving card.

Picture shows (from left): Laura, Sasha, Omolade and Emily.

Kent is committed to fostering a positive working environment where all staff and students are treated fairly, with dignity, courtesy, respect and consideration.

All of us are responsible for creating an environment that’s free from harassment and bullying. We are therefore excited to launch our new EDI Harassment website, which sets out how to report incidents of harassment, how to become a Harassment Contact, and includes an up-to-date Harassment Contact list.

If you are interested in becoming a Harassment Contact for the University, please email the Learning and Organisational Development team and we can talk through what it involves.