You are invited to our next Drill Hall Dialogue event.

Dr.Richard Webb from Canterbury Christ Church University will be joining us for this discussion.

Richard will be discussing the following:

Vitamin D has been well documented along with Parathyroid hormone in the homeostatic control of calcium levels within the body. Reduction in Vitamin D has been shown to result in Ricketts and long bone malformation/defects. Current Differentiation cocktails continue to exclude vitamin D in favour for growth factors or a base differentiation media.

In this study we have replaced growth factor with vitamin D and early results indicate 100 fold increase in calcium deposition when vitamin D is used as a component of differentiation media when compared to standard base differentiation media where dexamethasone, ascorbate-2-phosphate and beta glycerophosphate are utilised.

All welcome, however, please RSVP to Jackie Wright for numbers attending.

The Government has updated its advice to include those who have recently travelled from Italy, Iran and South Korea, as well as Wuhan and Hubei province.

The University’s coronavirus response group is currently writing up the set of principles which we have established to help staff assess any travel plans line with government advice. These principles will also inform the support that we are giving to students who are impacted by the situation and will also advise schools and departments who have visitors coming to the University. These principles will be available shortly.

In the meantime, if you have visitors coming to the University from any of the areas identified by the Government, we would suggest you contact them to make sure they are aware of the steps to take to keep themselves and others safe, as outlined by Public Heath England and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

We would also like to remind you that all overseas travel, work and study undertaken on behalf of the University, as part of a University teaching programme or organised by the University must be risk assessed.

All travel on University business should be booked through Key Travel. Not only is this a procurement requirement, it also enables the University to know where travelling staff are just in case we need to support them due to the impact of the coronavirus or other issues.

It is also important that you are covered by the University’s travel insurance.  This will not only provide essential cover, but give you access to a wide range of travel advice, including the option to sign-up to daily intelligence briefings and SMS travel alerts.

The National Technician Development Centre (NTDC) ran its first technicians photo competition this year, as part of its work to promote the delivery of high quality and sustainable technical services across all sectors.

There was a huge response from across the country with applicants submitting high quality images of technicians undertaking a variety of roles across a wide range of disciplines. The judges were overwhelmed with the quality of submissions and faced a tough decision to select their winner and eleven runner up photos.

The School of Engineering and Digital Arts (EDA) very own Technician Ayman El-Kharrat was successfully chosen as one of the 9 runners up with his photo showing a specialist electronics technician fabricating printed circuit boards. Aymans photo will be featured in the NTDC competition winners’ calendar and used to promote technicians throughout the country.

Paul Sinnock, Director of IT and Technical Services and a member of the Kent technician commitment working group commented, “It is fantastic to see Ayman recognised for the quality of his work which highlights the essential role of technicians within the University. We have such talented technical staff who, often behind the scenes, deliver vital support to all aspects of our operations. I am so pleased the University of Kent has joined other institutions in recognising technicians by signing the technician commitment which aims to ensure visibility, recognition, career development and sustainability for technicians working in higher education”.

The University has for some time been thinking about its brand and we have now started a project to clearly define the University’s brand purpose.

As part of that project, we would like your views on which areas of the University’s strategy are most important and your thoughts about the future of the University.

This project will lead to a review of the University’s brand identity and tone of voice, ensuring that the way we present ourselves visually and how we sound is aligned with our purpose and values.

Please do take the time to have your say as this will shape our thoughts and thinking.

Many thanks

David Nightingale, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Engagement and Civic Mission

Sunday 8 March is International Women’s Day.

This year’s theme is #EachforEqual and a number of events are taking place across campus to mark the day:

Within the Templeman Library, there will be a display throughout March from our women’s history reading list in the library café.  There will also be a display of women in STEM books from 6 March that will be accompanied by slides of winners of a competition celebrating women in Physics.

Gulbenkian has a number of events planned around ‘This Girl Can Family day’ on 7 March. Kent Sport This Girl Can..lift is also happening on the day, which is part of our Lets Play suite of events/activities.

Kent Union has a number of events, including:

• Quiz in Woody’s on 8 March themed around women’s history and iconic women.
• Kent Uniboob has confirmed a photoshoot for body positivity with the money going towards the National charity. 29 Feb – 1 March. The shoot is £10 per person.
• Movie night on 12 March.

The Athena SWAN team will be hosting a special meeting of the Women’s Network on Thursday 5 March in honour of International Women’s Day, on the theme of inspirational women. We will be holding an informal discussion about the amazing women who have inspired us in work and life.

The event will take place from 12.00–14.00 in the UELT Seminar Room. Everyone is welcome to come along and join in the conversation, or just listen and get inspired. Lunch will be provided. Book your place via Eventbrite.

Engineering and Digital Arts have a an event titled Flexible Working in Project Management: How to make it work, and how not to on Wednesday 11 March, 12.30-13.30 in the upper area of Jay’s Tea bar, Jennison Building. Book your place via Eventbrite. 

Chris Morrison has proved his copyright credentials by winning an award for best dissertation on his Master’s degree course.

Chris, our Copyright, Software Licensing and IS Policy Manager, has graduated with a Master of Arts in UK, EU and US Copyright Law at King’s College London. He passed the course with distinction and was awarded The Dickson Poon School of Law Prize for best dissertation, at his graduation ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall, London.

Chris’ dissertation, now available on the Kent Academic Repository was titled ‘Illustration for Instruction and the UK Higher Education Sector: Perceptions of risk and sources of authority’.

Chris said: ‘The dissertation is the culmination of my work and interest in copyright. At the end of my study, I realised that I knew a lot about the legal side of copyright but not so much about how it affects us in education. My dissertation aims to provide some clarity in this area.’

Chris has worked in copyright most of his working life – first for PRS for Music and then as Copyright Assurance Manager at the British Library. He joined Kent in 2015, becoming our first dedicated copyright manager.

At Kent, he has continued to champion all things copyright – for example, as a member of the Universities UK/GuildHE Copyright Negotiating and Advisory Committee, co-organising an annual ‘Icepops’ conference and co-authoring a regular blog on copyright.

He is currently finalising the Kent Copyright Literacy Strategy, the first of its kind among UK universities and regularly presents ‘Copyright the Card Game’ sessions for Kent colleagues. The next session is on Monday 23 March.

Chris remains a passionate advocate for the importance of copyright: ‘Copyright matters because everybody is a creator these days – but similarly everybody uses other people’s material. As an education institution, it is important that we do things the right way.’

The Joint Staff Negotiating and Consultation Committee (JSNCC) is the main forum for consideration and negotiation between the University and its staff. Its membership includes Management, Union, and Staff representatives who meet each term.

The second meeting of the academic year is due to take place on Thursday 5 March 2020. The Committee website contains links to all of the previous meeting minutes and forthcoming meeting papers, which can be accessed  on the JSNCC webpages.

If you would like to comment on any of the Agenda items (shown under the ‘Papers’ tab – March 2020), please contact your Representatives.

We are half way through our bookable offer of Crucial Conversations sessions this year. The objective of the course is to support leaders at Kent to achieve results through bold, courageous dialogue, with their teams and each other. To enable leaders to create a climate of mutual trust and respect and to provide tools, techniques and materials for participants to take away and apply to real-life leadership situations.

The next course is in Medway and takes place on Thursday 14 May and Thursday 28 May – you must be able to attend both days. We have workshops in Canterbury and Medway and as always, all staff are welcome to attend at either site.

This two-day programme is for academic and professional service leaders. The target audience is primarily Grades 9 &10. However, if you are operating in a Leadership role outside these grades and you feel it would be of benefit to you, please contact us before booking, by emailing LDev@kent.ac.uk

See Staff Connect for more information and to book.

Also, see our previous blog to read more about the session from a Trainers viewpoint.

Wednesday 26th February is Ash Wednesday.

Ash Wednesday  marks the beginning of the season of Lent, which is observed by Christians across the world as a period of austerity and spiritual refreshment.

On Ash Wednesday traditional church services will be held in Eliot College Chapel at the following times: 12.30 (Church of England); and 13.30 (Catholic).

Each will last approx 30 minutes, and staff and students are welcome to attend