All staff are invited to attend our Virtual Kent Global Showcase 2021 Event which is taking place on Wednesday 20 January from 10.00 – 12.00.

Vivienne Stern of UUKi will be opening the event and we will receive key updates from other colleagues and students from across the University.

As usual, this will be an excellent example to share good practice across the divisions and departments, as we prepare for our next steps in internationalisation in 2021

You can sign up to the event now and a joining link will then be emailed to you nearer the time.

The Kent Global team look forward to seeing you there!

Kent’s Virtual Open Days are a fantastic way to showcase what the University can offer. Come join the Virtual Undergraduate Open Day on Wednesday 6 January from 16.00 – 19.00.

This will be our fourth undergraduate virtual open day and the first for 2021. We’ve added a Parents and Supporters Zone to our events, to give those supporting prospective students more information about Kent, student finance and how we’re keeping our students and staff safe.

Our last undergraduate virtual event in November had an attendance of over 2300+ with visitors from 80 countries.

We’ve also launched our ‘on-demand’ virtual open events for both undergraduates and postgraduates. These have proved popular as visitors are able to review all our open day content (minus the live sessions and chats) in their own time.

To help maximise recruitment for 2021, it would be a great help if staff could help promote the Undergraduate Virtual event across their platforms, either on their school websites and on social channels. To attend the event, you will need to register for your place – using the link below.

Please do forward on to friends or family members who may be interested in an Undergraduate course at Kent. Please see further information about the event on the Virtual Open Day webpage.

Join us for a live Zoom webinar from 10.00 on Thursday 21 January – open to all!

Kent Law School is extending an open invitation to all for a live webinar on Thursday 21 January that seeks to critically explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on social justice at home and overseas.

The programme runs from 10.00 – 13.15 with panels on: COVID-19, Health and Social Justice; Courts, Justice and COVID-19; and COVID-19 and Precarity

Programme

10.00: Welcome from Professor Helen Carr (Kent Law School)

Panel 1: COVID-19, Health and Social Justice

• 10.10: Professor Sally Sheldon (Public health, social justice and COVID-19)
• 10.25: Dr Gowri Nanayakkara (COVID-19 and health inequalities)
• 10.40: Ms  Leanne Taylor (COVID-19 and the mental health tribunal)
• 10.55: Open forum via the Q&A function. Please join and ask our panellists questions, or share information and ideas
• 11.05: short break

Panel 2: Courts, Justice and COVID-19

• 11.10: Bernard Richmond QC, Honorary Professor University of Kent (virtual hearings – a practitioner perspective)
• 11.25: Professor Rosemary Hunter (Access to justice and virtual courts – domestic abuse)
• 11.40: Professor Shaun McVeigh (governing conduct and civil relations in COVID-19)
• 11.55: Open forum via the Q&A function. Please join and ask our panellists questions, or share information and ideas
• 12.05: short break

Panel 3: COVID-19, Informality and Precarity

• 12.10: Ms Sheona York – Migrant ‘Covid heroes’ and the hostile environment
• 12.25: Dr Luis Eslava (Informality in times of COVID-19 – a view from Colombia)
• 12.40: Professor Lydia Hayes (public health consequences of absence of occupational sick pay in the care sector)
• 12.55: Open forum via the Q&A function. Please join and ask our panellists questions, or share information and ideas
• 13.05: Closing remarks, Professor Helen Carr

Register now via Eventbrite

Our official Employee Assistance Programme provider, Care first offers a numbers of services and provide useful advice and support, including weekly webinars.

Over the festive period they will still be putting on webinars for you to attend.

To find out the webinar schedules over the next four weeks (the week commencing 21 December to the week commencing the 11 January) please see below:

W/c 21 December 2020 – Care first Week 21 Dec webinar schedule

W/c 28 December 2020 – Care first Week 28 Dec webinar schedule

W/c 4 January 2021 – Care first Week 4 Jan 2021 webinar schedule

W/c 11 January 2021 – Care first Week 11 Jan 2021 webinar schedule

Our official Employee Assistance Programme provider, Care first offers a numbers of services and provide useful advice and support, including weekly webinars.

This week’s (Monday 14 December – Friday 18 December) webinars are as follows:

Monday 14 December 2020 – ‘How Care first can support you’
Time: 12.00-12.30 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link.

Tuesday 15 December 2020 – ‘Tips to boost immunity this winter’
Time: 12.00-12.30 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link

Wednesday 16 December 2020 – ‘The emotional impact of lone working’
Time: 12.00-12.30 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link

Thursday 17 December 2020 – ‘Financial wellbeing & the pressures of buying at Christmas’
Time: 12.00-12.30 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link

Friday 18 December 2020 – ‘Protecting and Supporting Mental Health this winter’
Time: 12.00-12.30 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link

Last month (November 2020), the University of Kent  won the Digital Innovation category of the Guardian University Awards 2020, for their innovative and highly acclaimed One Hour Degree.

Launched in 2019, One Hour Degree is an online simulation game designed to provide the complete university experience for those contemplating taking the three-year academic route. Created by the University’s Student Success Team, it enables prospective students to take an immersive series of “quests” designed to give authentic insight into the university experience, all within one hour. Players are able to choose to participate via either Kent’s Canterbury or Medway campuses.

Project Leader Alison Webb, Systems Development Manager for Student Success discusses the computer game on KMTV and the idea that lead to the simulator being launched. 

For more details on the One Hour Degree please read the news article on the  Guardian University Award 2020 for Digital Innovation. 

KentVision is a major project underway at the University to bring together a number of different administrative processes and to simplify how we support the student journey.

A new Student Record System will replace the expiring Student Data System (SDS) and introduce simpler, more consistent ways to input, manage and process student data. This is one of a number of projects in 2021 focused on how we work together, intended to simplify processes and activity as new structures and teams take shape.

Launch Plans

The functional build of KentVision is complete, with the Student Record System performing as expected and an extended period of development and testing now underway. Data migration has proven more challenging and is now scheduled for February with preparation for the live environment taking place across March prior to KentVision launch in April 2021 following completion of the Spring Term. This revised launch date supports set-up and completion of Online Module Registration (OMR) as for previous years, and extends the time available for staff to familiarise themselves with the new system and to engage with the extensive range of training opportunities and user engagement sessions which are already underway. It also strengthens opportunities to incorporate user feedback within planned enhancements to KentVision later in the year.

Alongside current training, we will run a series of workshops early in the new year to talk through the new system and outline key changes with staff prior to launch in April. These sessions will include activities on getting started with the system, enrolment and registration, attendance recording, module assessment entries, and student support engagement. Workshops will take place remotely, with dedicated Microsoft Teams channels enabled to support users working across different areas of the University. Relevant groups of staff will be contacted directly in the coming weeks with further information regarding this support.

Training and Support

In addition to the dedicated sessions to be rolled out across the new year, online and face-to-face support will continue throughout 2021 as users get used to the system and we identify further ways to improve it. The KentVision project team will continue to be available throughout the run-up to launch, with their dedicated trainer Paul Sales leading on ensuring that people are equipped to make the most of the new simplified system.

A number of resources and video guides are now available on the KentVision staff webpages to help staff familiarise themselves with the new system at their own pace ahead of more in-depth support and guidance provided throughout the year.

Transitional Arrangements

The final stages of implementing KentVision may lead to known outage of specific systems at various points across the Spring Term. We will do everything we can to minimise this disruption, and are working closely with IS colleagues to ensure students and staff are provided with timely updates.

Find out more about KentVision

From Professor Richard Reece | Deputy Vice-Chancellor Education and Student Experience

As we approach the end of term, I want to provide some further information to you concerning the planned staggered return of our students after the Winter break. Thank you to those of you involved in developing these complex plans. I appreciate it has not been easy and your efforts are greatly appreciated.

We will be publishing students’ Spring term timetables next week from Monday 14 December. In their timetables, students will see when their first face-to-face teaching session is taking place. Each student will be provided with a recommended arrival window during which to return to Kent. By staggering students’ arrival in this way, we ensure we can offer all students and staff the opportunity to be tested for Covid-19 before face-to-face teaching begins.

The table below shows the arrival times we will be recommending to students based on their first face-to-face teaching session.

I appreciate that some students and staff will be on campus before 9 January 2021 and can confirm that asymptomatic testing will be available seven days a week from 4 January so do please make use of this service.

Postgraduate research students who need to return to access specialist facilities may of course return early and are encouraged to book asymptomatic tests ready for their return. Further information on how to book asymptomatic testing appointments for the new year will be available next week.

I would like to remind all staff that the arrival windows above are not compulsory, and we will support all students regardless of their travel plans and when they decide to return. We will be advising students to use their recommended travel window so we can ensure they can be tested before their face-to-face teaching begins in line with Government guidelines. We will also be advising students that they should be tested before they return to Kent if this is possible. I will be in touch again next week to provide more information about asymptomatic testing for the new year.

Thank you for working together to keep our University community safe.

The University has joined forces with St Edmund’s School to support a planning application for the development of a plot of land on Giles Lane by a third-party developer who will finance, build and run the proposed scheme to provide additional student accommodation. The sale of the small plot of land is part of our income generation activities.

The need for student accommodation in Canterbury is supported by Local Plan policies and the proposed scheme will alleviate the housing pressure in Canterbury by attracting students out of Housing in Multiple Occupancies. The scheme will also enhance the city’s offer to the business and tourism economies as it not only incorporates much-needed conference facilities, but it will also provide additional tourist accommodation during the vacation period.