Being kind to yourself and others is something we should all practise and a message that’s even more important during the current pandemic and lockdown.

World Kindness Day is celebrated annually on 13 November (Friday 13 November this year), and is marked by good deeds and pledging acts of kindness to make the world a better place. In the UK, Kindness Day UK was launched in 2010 and is organised by Kindness UK, a not-for-profit organisation.

If you wish to take part, you can pledge a good deed or share your acts of kindness on the Kindness UK website.

Here are some suggestions on how you can show kindness during lockdown (and remember being kind is not just for the day, but always):

1. Thank a colleague for their work by using the ‘Praise’ button on Microsoft Teams or sending a ‘thank you’ email to a staff member who deserves recognition.

2. Invite your friends list to ‘like’ the page of a local business to help it grow.

3. Write a LinkedIn recommendation for a co-worker or a connection.

4. Drop a note into an elderly neighbour to ask them if they need anything.

5. When working, be kind to yourself by taking well-deserved breaks away from the computer screen.

6. Organise a surprise virtual get-together for someone who’s going through a rough time.

7. Clear out your old clothes ready to take to a charity shop. If you don’t need it, give it!

8. Take time to check in with a friend you haven’t spoken to for a while.

9. Always say thank you – even for the small things that people do for you.

10. Take some time for yourself! Be sure to set some time aside in the week to do something you enjoy, even if it’s for 10 minutes!

 Share your ideas on how to show kindness to yourself and others with us at stories@kent.ac.uk

Do you know someone who is applying to university for 2021, or are you thinking of further study yourself?

We are holding two special events designed to give you, your friends and family the opportunity to discover what makes Kent a great place to study.

Undergraduate Open Event: Saturday 14 November 10.00 – 14.00

Postgraduate Open Event: Wednesday 18 November 12.00 – 15.00

At each event visitors can:

• Chat to current students and lecturers on a live Q&A
• Get all the information on fees, funding and finance including the Academic Excellence Scholarship for new students with A*AA or equivalent and Research Council awards for PhDs
• Listen to a presentation about courses and subjects
• Explore the Templeman and Drill Hall Libraries and discover how their staff and facilities will help you through your studies and research
• Find out about the full range of student support services available
• Take a tour around our accommodation, there’s something for everyone

Everyone is welcome to attend so please share this invitation with your friends, family and colleagues, wherever they are studying now or if they would like to return to study in the future.

There’s even an interactive experience of the Open Day for you to enjoy!

The University’s new Institute of Cultural and Creative Industries features in a number of sessions at a leading Creative Industry event this week.

The Creative Coalition Festival (9-11 Nov) run by the Creative Industries Federation, has gone online for 2020 and is now free to attend.

So, sign up for free today and join us at one (or all) of the events below:

Multiple Towns, Maximum Impact – Tues 10 Nov at 15.10

Can cultural and creative placemaking be collaborative across our towns and cities? A panel discussion including Creative Estuary Project Director, Emma Wilcox.

Kickstarting the Arts – Wed 11 Nov, 12.10

How will the cultural and creative industries and academia work together in a post-COVID future? Above and beyond the training of practitioners and their work as research institutions, what roles does academia have in the future of the arts? ICCI brings together academics, artists, activists and arts leaders to discuss what possibilities the future might hold. A discussion panel led by ICCI Director, Catherine Richardson.

Uni of Kent Alumni Showcase – Wed 11 Nov, 14.20

Introducing the work of 5 Kent alumni, now successfully working in the creative industries. Presented by ICCI.

Also look out for this session by our partners at Pioneering Places:

Cultural Placemaking: The Urban Renewers –  Tues 10 Nov at 16.00

How have creative and cultural institutions evolved from being the beating heart of a community to the engines of heritage and culture-led regeneration?

Find out more and book your free festival pass via the website.

Peter Taylor-Gooby, OBE, Professor of Social Policy at the University of Kent, will deliver the prestigious Sidney Ball Lecture in its Centenary year on Thursday 12 November from 16.00 – 17.30 online.

His theme will be:

COVID-19 and the UK Welfare State: where next for post-pandemic welfare provision?

Professor Taylor-Gooby will argue that in recent years state welfare in the UK has become increasingly divisive. Recent governments have directed a spending to pensions and health care for older people and imposed heavy cuts on the education, housing support and child care used by young people and families of working age. The gap between skilled workers and professionals and those on low-pay and on Universal Credit grows wider.

The early days of the first lockdown cut across these divisions, in a surge of generosity, goodwill and neighbourliness embracing low-paid insecure key workers, homeless people and those in need. The lecture will analyse use new material from Professor Taylor-Gooby’s research on food banks to chart shifts in public generosity and community resilience as the pandemic developed. It will examine whether we succeeded in grasping the opportunity to build greater social cohesion or squandered it.

The Sidney Ball Memorial Lectures were established after the First World War in memory of Sidney Ball who was a philosophy fellow at St John’s College, Oxford. Sidney Ball was both a political radical and ‘an energetic university reformer’ concerned that contemporary social and economic problems should be studied at Oxford.

The lecture will be available online and you can register via the Eventbrite website.

The Talent and Organisational Development team would like to inform staff of two upcoming sessions:

1. Mid-Career Workshop 

This short workshop covers a range of issues relevant to planning your financial affairs, both now and for the future. It will take place on Wednesday 25 November between 14.00 – 16.00. 

2. Pre-Retirement Workshop

A two day workshop aiming to give participants knowledgeable advice in regards to all aspects of planning for retirement, looking at areas such as finance, health and lifestyle. It will take place on Wednesday 25 and Thursday 26 November between 10.00 – 1300.

Both sessions are bookable via Staff Connect, where further information can also be found.

Please contact the team at Ldev@kent.ac.uk if you would like to understand more about the sessions.

Are you a teaching academic? Are you interested in Decolonising Your Reading Lists? Have you thought about the need to Diversify the Academy but not sure where to start? Then this is the event for you!

The University of Kent will Launch Diversity Mark Award via Zoom Live on Tuesday 24 November 2020 Tuesday 14.30 – 17.00.

The award-winning work of Diversity Mark involves a team of cross-departmental colleagues from the Library, Student Success, Academic colleagues, Kent Union and collaboration of Student Ambassadors working to encourage reflection on the demographic makeup of reading lists, and stimulate conversations on how you can diversify reading lists that represent a more universal collection of knowledge. Having run various pilots across the university we would now like to formally launch the award and invite colleagues from across the campus to hear about the work so far.

We are delighted to announce that we will be joined by guest speaker Fope Olaleye, former Black Student Officer for National Union of Students. Fope is an anti-oppression educator, who has worked extensively on centring diverse voices/experiences in HE curriculum. We are also extremely lucky to be hearing from Dr Karen Schucan Bird and Lesley Pitman from UCL about their research “How diverse is your reading list? Exploring issues of representation and decolonisation in the UK”

Attendees can register for free on Eventbrite, and the online event link will then be sent by email. If you are a member of staff with a keen interest in dismantling inequalities, then come along! Better yet, forward the invitation to a colleague who you know has not considered this yet.

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 9 November – Friday 13 November) webinars are as follows:

Monday 9 November 2020 –  ‘How Care first can support you’
Time: 12.00-12.30 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link.

Tuesday 10 November 2020 – ‘Finding positives during Lockdown’
Time: 12.00-12.30 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link

Wednesday 11 November 2020 –  ‘Changes for travelling to Europe from 1st January 2021’
Time: 12.00-12.30 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link

Thursday 12 November 2020 – ‘How counselling can have a positive impact on
your mental wellbeing’
Time: 12.00-12.30 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link

Friday 13 November 2020 – Cyberbulling’
Time: 12.00-12.30 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link

The news at the weekend that we were entering into a second period of lockdown meant most of us have spent the week preparing for how we are going to manage it both at work and at home. Many of you have, once again, gone the extra mile to enable the University to respond to the current situation. My greatest thanks go to you for this continuing effort.

I also wanted to thank all those who have worked hard to support the delivery of O4S during this time. We have now reached a major milestone in this significant change programme with new structures in place across the organisation and a new leadership team now in place.

I know, at times, this has been challenging and it has taken a huge amount of effort to get to this point. However, I am confident that the changes we have made are the right ones and the Divisions will play a major part of our future success.

Our focus will now turn to supporting Divisions and wider teams as they come together, ensuring that they have what they need to work well together. This will take time and I know there is still a lot more we need to do – both to manage this ongoing transition period and continue to simplify how we work together.

Staff in the professional services still have a considerable amount of work to do as teams come together, and I would ask that colleagues are mindful of this, particularly over the next few weeks.

Finally, I would like to pay tribute to those colleagues who have left us under KVSS, and I know there are others who are due to leave shortly. Thank you for everything you have done to support the University, it is hugely appreciated and you will be greatly missed.

My very best wishes go to you and your families,

Karen

Professor Karen Cox | Vice-Chancellor and President

From Professor Karen Cox, Vice-Chancellor and President.

With lockdown due to start tomorrow, I wanted to thank you for all your hard work, commitment and dedication to our university during what has been a very challenging year.

As you know, the Government has decided that universities are to remain open to protect the wellbeing and long-term futures of students. We have now received further guidance from the Department for Education which reiterates the importance of face-to-face teaching, including for the mental health and wellbeing of students, and expects this to continue where it can be done safely.

In discussion with our local Health Protection Team we will continue to operate in much the same way as we are currently doing, although we will have to make some changes, as set out below, to ensure we are compliant with the new Government restrictions. You are therefore expected to continue in your established work pattern unless you hear otherwise from your line manager.

Government guidance has now confirmed the need to close sports facilities and gyms on campus. However, we can continue with the provision of eat-in catering services for those students in catered accommodation and our campus catering outlets will be open on a take-away basis. Libraries and study spaces on campus will also remain open.

The guidelines also clarify that students should only socialise in household units; that they should not travel to and from their term-time address to home for the duration of the lockdown; and that commuting students are able to travel from home to university.

We are working to ensure students are aware of these requirements as well as confirming we will continue to deliver a mix of online and face-to-face teaching and support. On Friday, together with Kent Union, we are holding a WebChat to update students on the current situation.

We will continue to update the information for staff and students on the website and will be touch on a regular basis.

Once again, thank you for all you are doing for the university, our students and our staff, it is very much appreciated.

My very best wishes go to you and your families.

Yours sincerely

Karen

Professor Karen Cox | Vice-Chancellor and President

The E-Learning team is launching a new series of Digitally Enhanced Education Webinars on Friday 13 November from 10.00-12.00.

The first session, on ‘Pedagogy and Practice When Teaching Online’, will feature six speakers from across the University. They will share their teaching experiences and provide some concrete examples that colleagues could adopt or adapt for their own practice.

The E-Learning team is aiming to run two webinars each term with a range of exciting speakers.

If you would like to join the webinar series, please express your interest by enrolling on the Digitally Enhanced Education Webinars Moodle module.  You will find links to all sessions on this module page and you will always be kept up to date with the latest talks as soon as they are announced.