Michael Crick, University Council Member, volunteered his time to help at the March graduation celebrations and enjoyed it so much he has done so again this month.

In this message he encourages his fellow Kent staff to join the celebrations for our 2021 graduates in Rochester Cathedral on 11 May, and Canterbury Cathedral from 16 – 20 May. You can sign up online here or email congregations@kent.ac.uk.

I became a lay member of the council of the university last autumn, but during my first few months on the council it was difficult to get a proper feel for the university because of Covid restrictions.

Then I saw an appeal in the email news bulletin for volunteers to help out on graduation days.  “Why not?” I thought.  I’ll do one day in each of the four sessions in 2022, and it will be great way to meet recent students, their families, and members of staff, and to immerse myself in what the university is all about.

I did two ceremonies one day in Canterbury a couple of weeks ago.  I loved it.  I was kitted out in a blue and gold gown (strictly it should only have been blue only.)  I helped with laying the programmes on the seats and in guiding people to their places, but then I was asked to hand out the graduation certificates.

I was in my element.  As each new graduate walked past I gave them a big smile to catch their eye, and then handed over the certificate whispering a few words, trying to vary what I said each time, or making a joke of it, say, when someone got an especially loud cheer from their friends.  I was meeting people for only for 2-3 seconds, but it felt like making friends for life – almost 400 in one day!

There was also plenty of time both before and after the formal ceremony to speak to people about what they thought of the university and the course they’d studied.  I’m actually quite a shy person, but as a TV reporter I’ve learnt how to seize the moment and go up to strangers, introduce myself and chat to them (and the blue and gold gown helped on this occasion).  One trick outside on the lawn was to approach a group taking photos of themselves, and offer to take a photo of all of them altogether.  They almost always accepted – it broke the ice and the conversation flowed.

My abiding memory is the sheer joy of the occasion.  This was one of the exciting, memorable days of these new graduates’ lives, taking part in a great historic setting, the culmination of several years hard work.  Now for one day free of work and pressure, they were joined by their proud parents, families and friends.  It was great to take part in that, to share their happiness and sense of achievement, to watch young men and women setting off on their careers and new lives.

I can’t wait to do it again, and I strongly recommend to all university staff and also my fellow council members, that they volunteer for a ceremony or two.

Did you become a parent in the last two years?

Is English your second (or third) language?

We invite parents who have recent (within 2 years) experience of accessing birth and ante/post-natal services in Kent to participate in informal and creative workshops with artists from Birth Rites Collection to explore how language and culture shape our expectations and experiences of these services. Group workshops last two hours.

Workshop dates:

Thursday 28 April 2022 – 11.00 – 13.00

Friday 6 May 2022 – 10.00 – 12.00

Friday 6 May 2022 – 13.30 – 15.30

Location:

University of Kent campus, Canterbury CT2 7NZ

To attend this workshop please register by completing this form, or scan the QR code below.

For further information visit the Birth Rites Collection website or email Rebecca Ogden

Staff will soon be able to purchase additional annual leave via our Staff Connect pages.

From 2 May, you can buy 35 hours of additional leave (pro-rata for part-time staff) to be taken between 1 July 2022 and 30 June 2023.

The additional leave will be credited and monthly deductions will begin in July 2022.

The closing date for applications is 30 June 2022.

Further information on the Additional Leave Purchase Scheme, including how to apply, is available on our Additional Leave Purchase Policy and Procedure.

Spring is always a special time on our campuses as our fantastic spaces come into their own, with blossom, flowers and bluebells seemingly everywhere you turn. We are lucky to have such a wonderful environment to work in and such fantastic assets to offer our students; my thanks to our Estates and Maintenance teams across Canterbury and Medway who do such a brilliant job at making us look our best. 

The Easter break also offers some welcome time for reflection after a busy term and I hope that many of you have been able to step away for a short while in recent weeks. A lot has happened already this year, from the return of in-person graduations to a further period of industrial action; I never lose sight of how much work goes into managing the ups and downs of each term and am hugely appreciative of your continued focus on delivering the best for our students throughout.  

A lot has also been happening outside the University too, as like so many others we have watched with horror at the ongoing fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This, combined with the Government announcements on refugees seeking sanctuary now being ‘processed’ in Rwanda, have kept wider humanitarian issues around safety, dignity and compassion firmly in our minds. Those of us who live in the county will be aware of how closely felt this can be given our region’s deep current and historical links to the movement of people – it’s also an area where I’m keen we use our unique position to have meaningful impact as a University. 

The activity across our community to support those affected by the war in Ukraine is a source of real pride and showcases the ways we work together across areas to benefit others. We are also developing wider recognition for our research expertise in this area through our signature theme of Migration and Movement, with events this year such as the visit of Amal, Abdulrazak Gurnah’s return to campus and workshops with Kent Refugee Action Network adding further depth to our work. 

Bringing all of this together is our ambition to become a University of Sanctuary, with work ongoing on how we can develop a ‘whole university’ approach to opening our doors to those in need across the world. Our campuses are special places and the feeling of connection is real to many of us here; widening that sense of a place of sanctuary to those fleeing war and persecution wherever they are will deepen that further, while also being a compelling example of what a civic University like ourselves should offer. 

I look forward to updating you all further on this important work as it develops and in the meantime which you all the very best for the remainder of the academic year. 

In teams of up to 6,  work together to catch the killer in this interactive murder mystery event! Get together a team of your friends and colleagues for this brand new show in Mungos on the 20 & 21 May 2022. Get your tickets here!

Knickerbocker Gloria’s is the gaudiest American themed diner in town, known for their milkshakes, roller skates and cheap chips. There was nothing unusual about the hustle and bustle of the evening crowd until a piercing scream of “murder” rippled through the diner. The body found stabbed, bloody and covered in sprinkles, Gloria’s murderer can’t have gotten far… But can your team deduce what led to the Death in the Diner?

In this interactive murder mystery event your team will interview the murder’s suspects, examine the evidence and try to avoid the sneaky red herrings. Put your sleuthing skills to the test and work together to catch the killer.

Tickets are £42 and include a table for up to 6 people (£7 per person when the table is filled)

Food and drink are not included in the ticket but there will be a menu available and a bar at the event.

About the University of Kent Players

Founded in 2013 we are a theatre group made up of staff and friends of the University of Kent from all walks of life with a shared love for theatre. We are thrilled to be back in 2022 with an original production.

Follow us on social media:

Instagram: @unikentplayers

Facebook: University of Kent Players

Twitter: @UniKentPlayers

The T&OD team are happy to share the details for their upcoming Belong and Grow week, which will be coinciding with Learning at Work week, running 16 -20 May.

The main aim is to encourage you to take time during the week for your personal development and wellbeing, and we have created a programme of events that we hope you will find interesting and inspiring.

Full details of everything we have going on during the week can be found on their SharePoint site, which they will keep up to date with any changes to the programme.

You will find a blend of in person and virtual sessions, which cover a range of topics such as Tai Chi, creative writing, staff networks and CV writing skills. It will also include the return of the popular Coffee with a Mystery Colleague scheme, where staff have the opportunity to be matched with someone across the University who they may not normally get the chance to network with.

We hope to see lots of you join us for the week, and if you have any questions, please get in touch with the team at ldev@kent.ac.uk

Over the course of an hour, WHIST takes you on an interactive journey, merging physical theatre with Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) technologies and an art installation, for a truly immersive experience.

Gulbenkian co-commissioned WHIST in 2017 and it premiered in the Colyer-Fergusson Hall in April that year before going on to tour the world. Now AΦE return to Gulbenkian Arts Centre as Associate Artists and WHIST returns with them as an international hit.

Inspired by the work of Sigmund Freud and Japanese artist Shuji Terayama, WHIST invites you on a journey into the unconscious mind, through the dreams, fears and desires of a fictional family. WHIST blurs the boundaries between consciousness and the unconscious, reality and fiction, the physical and the virtual.

When:

Wed 4 May –  Sun 8 May, times vary.

How much:

Tickets are normally £10 each – but Kent students and staff will receive a discount of £7 per ticket.

How to book:

To book your ticket for this virtual experience visit the Gulbenkian website.

From Catherine Morris | Sustainability Manager

Happy Earth Day 2022!

This year’s Earth Day theme is “Invest in Our Planet”. This day looks to engage everyone, from individuals to businesses and governments to recognise our collective responsibility and help accelerate the transition to an equitable, prosperous, sustainable economy for all. The campaign is focussed on reframing the conversation, accelerating action, and bringing us together to understand that this is within our reach if we work together.

For the University of Kent, this year’s Earth Day also marks 6 months since the launch of our Strategy for Climate Action and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),so I have been reflecting on what we have achieved since the launch event last year.

Often when you are engrossed working on something, it isn’t until you take a step back and assess that you can see how far you have come. This webpage talks more about some of the major achievements of the last 6 months but I would also like to take some time to celebrate the little actions.

For every exciting news-worthy project we are taking hundreds of small, incremental actions and nudges that collectively have a huge impact. Whether that’s replacing a high carbon footprint dish with a lower one on a food outlet menu, turning down an office’s heating by 1°C, installing a new recycling bin, or recruiting another staff sustainability champion, we are taking action every single day.

Wherever in the University you live, work or study, these little visible and invisible changes will be contributing to reducing our impacts and helping you to do the same. Collective responsibility and working together is at the heart of our sustainability agenda and I have been so encouraged over the last 6 months to see how staff, students and the local community are coming together to take action and build a new sustainable future.

We have some fantastic projects, events and initiatives planned for the next 6 months which we will be sharing as we go, so please watch this space.

If you would like any more information or would like to get in touch than please visit www.kent.ac.uk/sustainability or email sustainability@kent.ac.uk

This one-day conference will provide an opportunity for all research and innovation staff, across the University of Kent, to share their expertise and experiences.

Time and place

The conference will take place on Tuesday 5 July on Canterbury campus. Book your place via  EventBrite Research & Innovation Support Network Conference from Tuesday 3 May 2022.

Why now?

We’ve all experienced unprecedented challenges over the last two years, with many of us adjusting to new teams or ways of working, but there is also a lot to celebrate and be proud of.

We want to provide an opportunity to share these experiences, learn about the practical approaches being taken to support research and innovation, share ideas and resources, spark debate, understand if there are opportunities to collaborate and better support each other, and strengthen existing and develop new networks.

Submit a proposal 

We want to feature voices from research and innovation professionals across the university. Submissions are encouraged from colleagues at all career stages – from individuals who have never presented or run a session at a conference or event before, to more experienced voices from our community.

Below is a list of suggested topics, but we also welcome proposals outside of this scope:

• Balancing roles and competing priorities
• Current issues, challenges and problems addressing them
• Inclusive research and innovation
• Implementing external policies and innovation in a complex research environment
• New tools and technologies: what, why and how of adoption and implementation
• Research and innovation in a global environment
• Reward, recognition, and career progression.

To submit a proposal please complete this Form.

The closing date for proposals is Friday 20 May at 12 noon.

Contact us

Email the organising committee with your comments or questions.

Professor Sally Kendall, ARC KSS Research Capacity Lead, is pleased to announce the programme for this year’s Research Week which reflects equality, diversity and inclusion in all its forms. The week also highlights how it is important for applied research, researchers across all professions and disciplines and engaging with the public.

The week includes a line-up of learning and development events, research insight talks and presentations aimed primarily at early career researchers, PhD students and independent researchers. It has been designed to help bring people together across academia, health and social care.

All events are free, with virtual events taking place 20-22 June and an in person all day symposium on 23 June at the University of Sussex.

The programme includes a range of presenters from ARC themes, as well as some external presenters who will be sharing their work and expertise on topics such as inclusive research, visual communication and personal exploration/reflection.

• Here’s an overview of the week
• Take a look at the Research Week programme
• Register for the Research Week events