Our Staff Guide webpages were launched last December. And to mark their six-month anniversary, we’d like to hear what you like, and don’t like so much, about the new guide.

During June, we will be holding focus groups on the Staff Guide at our Canterbury and Medway campuses. They will be taking place on

• Monday 10 June, 14.30-15.30 – Darwin Board Room, Canterbury
• Thursday 13 June,  15.30-16.30 – Darwin Board Room, Canterbury
• Wednesday 19 June, 14.30-15.30 – Medway Building (M2.04), Medway

The sessions will be led by Etienne Donzelot and Wendy Raeside from Corporate Communications who created the guide, with help from colleagues in other key teams such as WebDev and HR.

The Staff Guide aims to cover everything you need to know about working at Kent – with essential staff information in easy-to-search categories, such as:

• Getting Started
• Employment and Benefits
• Professional and Personal Development
• Day-to-Day Support
• Teaching and Research
• Safety and Wellbeing
• On Campus

Although six months old, the Staff Guide is very much a work in progress and we are keen to hear your feedback so we ensure it works for you.

Sign-up for a focus group now – ideally by Friday 31 May – by emailing us at communications@kent.ac.uk with your preferred day, time and venue.

First Responders’ Training sessions, delivered by EKRCC (East Kent Rape Crisis Centre), are taking place on the following dates:

Designed for Campus Security Staff, College Masters and Sexual Responders

• Tuesday 12 June and Wednesday 13 June 9:30-12:30

Designed for Harassment Contacts, general frontline staff who come into contact with students

• Wednesday 10 July and Thursday 11 July 9:30-12:30

Please book your place by logging onto Staff Connect.

The University is offering a one-off opportunity for staff to purchase one week (pro rata for part-time staff) of additional leave which can be taken between July 2019 and June 2020.

The cost of buying the leave is the same as the reduction in salary would be for taking unpaid leave, but the advantage is that the cost is deducted from salary over 12 months, thereby spreading the cost throughout the year. Pension contributions are not affected.

The facility is available to professional service staff in grades 1 to 10 and professional and senior management staff, holding full-time or part-time contracts of employment either on an open-ended or fixed-term basis. Unfortunately, due to either contractual or operational constraints, some groups of staff are excluded from applying for this facility.

Full details of the facility can be found on the HR webpages.

This facility is mutually beneficial to both staff and the University by providing additional flexibility for employees whilst generating savings for the University through the deduction of salary.

Applications to purchase the additional leave, and requests to book the leave, are made through Staff Connect. Guidance on how to do this is available via Staff Connect. Scroll down to Additional Leave (purchased).

We have added another Pre-Retirement workshop on 25 June, from 09.00 to 16.30. The course is open to members of staff planning ahead for retirement; aimed at age 50+. The workshop aims to give participants knowledgeable advice in regards to all aspects of planning for retirement, looking at areas such as finance, health and lifestyle, through a full day’s agenda.

Booking is now open via Staff Connect.

The LGBT+ Staff Network has issued a statement in response to the University’s decision to host the Lambeth Bishop’s Conference 2020.

‘Network members are deeply disappointed and hurt by the University’s decision to host the Lambeth Bishop’s Conference 2020 despite the Church’s decision to exclude same-sex spouses (see statement from 25 April 2019). The University should have cancelled hosting the Conference, because specifically excluding same-sex spouses is homophobic from the side of the church, and hosting the event on University premises facilitates this act of institutional homophobia. The Staff Network calls on the University to reconsider its decision to host Lambeth 2020 and to prioritise its commitment to LGBT+ students and staff alike on issues of equality, diversity, and inclusivity.

‘Should the University of Kent maintain its decision to host, the Staff Network calls on the University to withdraw its facilities and support for the discriminatory “spouses programme”. Those events should take place off campus. The University cannot uphold its commitment to values of equality, diversity, and inclusivity while allowing the discriminatory stream of the Lambeth Conference to go ahead.

The University’s statement from 25 April acknowledges “the hurt experienced by many people because of the decision to exclude same-sex spouses”. Cancelling support for the exclusionary and homophobic spouses programme would not only recognise that hurt, but actively mitigate it. It would be one very important and material step that the University of Kent can take to support its LGBT+ staff and students and to uphold its commitment to the values of equality, diversity, and inclusivity that the University says it stands for.’

In the latest episode of the Nostalgia podcast series, Dr Chris Deacy, Reader in Theology and Religious Studies in the Department of Religious Studies, speaks to Michael Hession, an American lawyer and documentary maker.

Michael has recently completed a film about Rev Brian Hession (no relation) – a cancer patient who fought in the 1940s and 50s against the stigma of illness and who had also been a filmmaker (and whose work Chris covers in his own Religion and Film teaching and research). Michael tells us how his study of Brian Hession reignited his interest in film noir and they talk, in turn, about the value of ambiguous endings.

They also talk about why nostalgia comprises ‘history plus emotion’; what motivated Michael to enter the legal profession; the influence of ‘The Buddy Holly Story’; voting in the 1992 Presidential election; what it is that triggers sad memories; why life is a marathon rather than a sprint; and what his 13 year old self would have thought about what he has achieved.

Dr Lucy O’Meara, Senior Lecturer in French in the Department of Modern Languages and Acting Associate Dean for Graduate Studies in the Faculty of Humanities, has won the Society for French Studies 2019 Prize Research Fellowship.

The Fellowship is open to early and mid-career academics in all areas of French Studies, and provides funding for a period of research leave in the 2019-20 academic year.

Lucy’s project is entitled: ‘Interrogating the Encyclopaedia in European Fiction and Autobiography 1870-2020’. She describes it as “a comparative literary project examining the attitudes of French, German and British authors towards the encyclopaedic organisation of knowledge in European novels and autobiography from the 1870s to the present. I’ll be analysing mainstream and experimental fiction and a range of types of memoir. The prize entitles me to research leave from January to June 2020 and I’m really looking forward to taking up the fellowship.”

The sun is shining, the sea is calling your name – summertime is here!

Kent Sport wants to help you get more active with our popular 50% off summer membership offer, giving you the chance to experience Gold membership at Kent Sport for one-month at a time.

The summer membership offer provides unlimited access to modern sports facilities including the fitness suite, squash courts, outdoor facilities and entry to all fitness and dance classes. If you’re looking to get out in the sunshine, then Gold members can hire a range of high-quality bikes for free through the Kent Sport Cycle Hub. Or simply brush up on your tennis skills with our outdoor grass tennis courts.

Prices for 2019:

• New for this year: the incredible staff rate of just £13 per month. That’s only 80p per day!
• Juniors* (anyone in full-time education or 16 to 18 years old) pay just £29.
• And those outside of the University get an all-access Gold membership for £37.

Summer membership is available for purchase from 1 June to 1 September 2019 inclusive and are for use for one month from purchase date. To purchase your membership, visit the Sports Centre or Pavilion receptions. For further details and terms and conditions, please visit kent.ac.uk/sports/membership. You can view the Kent Sport facility opening hours here.

*To apply for the junior rate please bring with you proof of full-time education (student card, etc.)

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