Meet our Academic Peer Mentors

The SECL Student Success Project is offering students the chance to meet with an Academic Peer Mentor over a FREE drink and cake.

The Academic Peer Mentoring (APM) scheme is a chance for undergraduate students to be mentored in their studies by experienced students, and this is a great chance to learn more about the scheme. If you’ve never heard of Academic Peer Mentors before and you’re not sure how they can help, then this is your chance to see how they can benefit you.

All you need to do is email SECL@kent.ac.uk with ‘Meet Me in the Gulb’ in the subject, tell us what course you are on and we’ll do the rest!

 

SECL Student Support drop-in sessions

Beginning on Wednesday 30th January, the SECL Student Support team will begin running weekly drop-in sessions in the Staff Room (on the first floor of Cornwallis North West, opposite SECL Reception), 14.00-15.30. There is no need to register – just turn up.

Refreshments will be provided and all students are welcome to drop by just to relax, play board games, read, or have a chat. If you have some time between afternoon lectures or seminars, please come along and join us!

Email seclstusup@kent.ac.uk for more information

 

Discover the Year in Computing

The Year in Computing gives Kent students from any subject area the opportunity to add a Year in Computing to their degree to help improve their skills and employability. To help interested students find out more, the School of Computing, have arranged a “kick start lunch”, with free pizza, on Tuesday 22 January,12.30-14.00, in Cornwallis SW101.

Many students are keen to learn the tech skills that will make them stand out to a graduate employer, or simply want to learn more about computing for their own interests. The Year in Computing is a free-standing, self-contained year, offered to students from other schools in the University and can be taken after stage two or three (that is, between your second and final year, or after your final year). This extra year can be taken after stage 2 or the final year of a students’ current degree programme.

The Year in Computing will especially be of interest to you if:

  • you are interested in studying computing AND your current degree,
  • you would like to get prepared for a career in tech,
  • you are interested in exploring the frontiers of your subject and computing,
  • you want to learn how to be creative with computing.

If you would like to attend, please book your place online.

Cutting back on alcohol could benefit your health

Building on the Wellbeing Zone theme for January 2019, here are links to some articles and publications expanding on the theme of alcohol consumption and how high levels of consumption adversely affect health and relationships.

The University of Kent Wellbeing Zone is a free tool to help you learn more about all aspects of wellbeing and you can use it to better manage your own health and wellbeing.

Logon today at www.kent.wellbeingzone.co.uk Or create an account by clicking ‘Register’ and using the following organisation Code : KENT1

Researching the Rainbow Conference 2019 – Tickets and Call for Papers

Tickets for the Researching the Rainbow Conference at the University of Kent on 15 and 16 February 2019 are now available,

The Conference will be held on Friday 15 February from 14.00-19.00 2 and on Saturday 16 February from 10.00-17.00 and is free to attend and open to all.

The call for Papers is also open until 20 January, so there is still time to register as a contributor. Papers are welcome from academics at any stage of their career, students or professionals.

Research posters from any discipline are also welcomed for display.  If you would like to give a talk (15 or 30 minutes) or display a poster, please email lgbtstaffnetwork@kent.ac.uk by 20 January.

The University can also offer 10 students or early career researchers (up to three years post PhD) up to £140 towards travel and accommodation.  Please email lgbtstaffnetwork@kent.ac.uk if you are interested.

This is the University of Kent LGBT+ Staff Network’s third annual Researching the Rainbow Conference and will be held on the University’s Canterbury campus.

The conference, which takes part during LGBT History Month, is to showcase the vast array of excellent research being done on or related to LGBT+ people and issues, and to encourage multi-disciplinary collaboration and networking.

Previous topics have included gay and lesbian representation in the media, transgender issues within mental health care and parenting law, British colonial laws on sodomy, homosexual WWII clandestine operatives, and queer exhibitions at the Institute of Contemporary Art.

Campus Shuttle

Campus Shuttle changes

Having listened to your suggestions from the recent Campus Shuttle survey, which over 450 staff and students completed, we have introduced some changes to the shuttle service this term.

In response to your feedback:

  • passengers can now board the Campus Shuttle at Liberty Quays for travel to Pembroke campus and the Dockyard (Western Avenue)
  • to allow for passenger boarding time without losing the hourly service, the shuttle now only stops once on the Canterbury campus, at Keynes bus stop
  • the service no longer stops at Darwin bus stop
  • the on-the-hour timetable continues with some changes to peak travel times to improve reliability
  • change of route: Keynes- Liberty Quays- Dockyard (Western Avenue)- Pembroke- Dockyard (Western Avenue)- Liberty Quays- Keynes
  • a new booking system allows you to book a seat on the day*
  • we have introduced two new, larger Campus Shuttle vehicles (53 and 34 seaters).

Medway student feedback was clear in wanting the new service from Liberty Quays to the Pembroke campus and the Historic Dockyard. To ensure we can keep an hourly service, the decision had to be made to remove one of the stops at Canterbury. The majority of you in the survey said you’d prefer to keep the Keynes bus stop, or had no clear preference.

Features of the new vehicles include Wi-Fi, USB charging points, more comfortable seats, a toilet and fold out tables on the larger vehicle. Both of the vehicles will be wrapped in a University of Kent design.

*We aim to have the new booking system available in the next couple of days. We will tweet from @CampusShuttle when booking becomes available.

If you have any feedback about the changes to the shuttle service, please email TransportTeam@kent.ac.uk

www.kent.ac.uk/campus-shuttle

A new season and new staff discounts at Gulbenkian

Over the next 5 months we will be exploring the things that bring us together as a community. As you might expect, politics is a theme that flows through the season which includes Eutopia, our festival to celebrate Europe in late March (Brexit time!).

Eutopia is one of 5 festivals we have planned for you, alongside celebrations of food, comedy, International Women’s Day and the Autism Arts Festival. As usual we have an international programme of wonderful dance & theatre, and please take a look at our expanded music programme, which now includes some amazing artists from the Jazz and World Music scenes.

There are a range of University of Kent Staff discounts available across the season. Download the University of Kent Staff offers here.

January Canterbury cycle hire dates

Fancy hiring a bike for the term to help you get around? We work with Chris and his team at ByCycle to provide an affordable cycle hire scheme for students.

Hire a recycled bicycle for only £40 per term (plus refundable £60 deposit). The price includes a heavy-duty lock, bell, kickstand and lights.

Hire dates and times:

  • Monday 14 January
  • Tuesday 15 January
  • Wednesday 16 January

 

Find ByCycle at the Cycle Hub by the Pavilion, Park Wood from 10.00-16.00 on the hire dates. For more information please see the cycle hire leaflet or our cycle hire webpage.

 

 

CSHE Seminar – So you have data: what next?

Colleagues are invited to attend the Centre for the Study of Higher Education seminar taking place on Thursday 17 January, from 13:00-14:00 in the UELT Seminar Room, Canterbury.

So you have data: what next? is presented by Lynn McAlpine, Professor Emerita of Higher Education Development, Department of Education, University of Oxford

A key issue for researchers is how to organize, analyze, display and report qualitative data in ways that are rigorous, meaningful and contribute to the field. Of course, there are many ways to do this. In this seminar, Professor McAlpine describes a process, premised in a narrative methodology, that she often uses in qualitative studies of early career researcher development.

To confirm your attendance at the seminar please complete the online booking form.

LTN session in Medway – Enhancing the Academic Adviser system: Case study from SSES

Colleagues are invited to attend the Learning & Teaching Network session taking place on Wednesday 16 January, from 13:15-14:30 in Rochester Building R2-09 at the Medway Campus.

Staff in the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences worked closely with the Student Success Project to design a new Academic Advising system for the School for 2018-19.  This session will explain how the system was designed to address issues of transition, orientation and belonging, as well as issues of retention and attainment in our BTEC dominated student cohort.  First term staff and student evaluations will be considered, and we will invite attendees to discuss and comment on the new system and its evaluation so far.

To confirm your attendance please complete the online booking form.