Calling all alumni, staff and students to our final pub night of the year – a chance to network and find out what happens after leaving the University of Kent.

A great opportunity to meet people studying at the University as well as those who have left and moved on to a range of different careers. November’s pub night will be a chance to meet our current Alumni Postgraduate Scholars who are supported by the University’s charity, the Kent Opportunity Fund.

Speak to the scholars about their research, what it’s like to study a PhD or ask them anything you would like to know! There will be one free drink per attendee and a light buffet will be served. To receive your free drink please register here.

We will be at the Miller’s Arms pub in Canterbury from 18.00 – 20.00 on Tuesday 27 November. We look forward to seeing you there!

If you have any questions or would like to register via person please call 01227 816055 or email N.Fleet@kent.ac.uk.

DICE  are continuing their monthly talks this evening given by Will Baldwin-Contello, Chief Advisor of Forests, WWF-UK. It is entitled ‘The Triple Challenge: Food, Climate and Forests’, and will discuss how we can restore nature, feed the world and avoid dangerous climate change – all very topical.

This evening’s talk will take place in Keynes Lecture Theatre 6 from 18.00-19.00 is open to everyone in the community.

The series is also available on Youtube. 

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All students currently registered at the University of Kent, alumni of the University, belong to a college; students at Medway are members of Medway College.

Currently Medway is the only one of the seven University of Kent Colleges not to have its own College logo, colours and flag.  The time has now come for the College members to decide on a logo and College colours.

The Medway College team has put together a number of designs and colour schemes and would like you to vote for your favourite combination. Ultimately, the combination with the most votes wins and will be announced before the Christmas holidays.

Vote here now. Deadline for submitting your vote is 12 noon on Wednesday 12 December 2018.

Join us for the Medway campus Christmas lights switch-on on Friday 7 December at 16.00 just outside No1 Bistro.

There will be free festive treats so please register by 30 November so we can book catering.

Please register your interest by emailing: MedwayMastersOffice@kent.ac.uk

We hope to see you there.

Dean for Medway and the Medway College Master

Kent’s Director of Commercial Services, Kevin Stuckey, was awarded ‘The Kinetic Legend’ at the Kinetic Solutions User Forum 2018, which took place at the University of Warwick on 18 October.

The three-day event welcomed over 250 university and industry professionals to explore a variety of thought provoking sessions from sector leaders covering topics on student accommodation, health, well-being and the impact of the commercial sector.

Kevin was praised by Kinetic Solutions Managing Director, Rob Turner for ‘famously giving the original founder of Kinetics 15-20 minutes to sell the product idea to him and has been a huge advocate ever since!’

Rob went on to applaud Kevin and noted how ‘well recognised and respected in the industry Kevin is, while running an incredibly successful student and commercial team at Kent’ before presenting him with the Kinetic Legend award.

Kevin Stuckey commented: ‘It is a real privilege to have been presented this award. Kinetic Solutions enable our highly dedicated teams across Student Accommodation, Conference Office, and other areas of Kent Hospitality, to provide all our students, staff and visitors with consistently high standards of service and experience.’

The accolade is another notable success for Commercial Services after winning the Best University Accommodation for Groups award for the eleventh year in a row at the Group Travel Organiser’s Awards in June, as well as just last week the Accommodation Office team being awarded the Outstanding University Housing Office at the Class of 2020 awards ceremony in Milan, Italy.

Kent Sport staff work hard to provide a professional service and to ensure you have an enjoyable experience within the sports facilities.

We’d like to recognise our staff for all that they do and need your help. We are excited to announce the brand new Kent Sport Reward and Recognition programme to highlight and reward our staff for their incredible work.

This is where you come in. When you experience great service from a member of staff, let us know who it was and what they did to help. Anyone can nominate a Kent Sport staff member and the reason is entirely up to you.

All you have to do is fill out a postcard at the Sports Centre or Pavilion receptions, making sure to include the staff member’s name and why you’re nominating them, and then drop the completed form in the blue box. Each term, the senior management team will review the nominations and decide who will receive a reward based on your nominations.

We can’t wait to see how our staff have helped you have a memorable experience. We will spotlight successful Kent Sport staff on our Recognition webpage and social media channels – so keep a look out.

Kent Sport is an exciting place to work and we strive for excellence in the service and facilities that we offer and making sure members enjoy being part of our community as much as we do. You can see all the benefits of working for Kent Sport and the University on our Work with us page. If you are interested in joining our team, find out more about staff benefits and membership benefits.

The next meeting of the Kent Enterprise and Impact Network (KEIN) will take place on Wednesday 28 November, from 12.30 – 14.00 in G2-03, Medway Campus

KEIN, a network jointly created by Kent Innovation & Enterprise (KIE) and Learning and Organisational Development (L&OD), brings together staff interested in collaboration. Academics, researchers, technicians and other members of staff can explore innovation and enterprise activities, maximising the impact of their work, and alternative sources of funding, in an informal setting.

In these sessions, we will we will hear from Dr Fernando Otero, School of Computing, sharing how a passion for data mining and knowledge discovery has led to a Knowledge Transfer Partnership with a social networking start-up company. The talk will be followed with a Q+A on enterprise. If you would like to attend this session please book with entadmin@kent.ac.uk.

The event will start with a networking lunch and all University staff are welcome to attend. To reserve your place at the session, including booking a free light lunch, please email entadmin@kent.ac.uk and specify any dietary or access requirements. You are welcome to turn up on the day without booking and feel free to bring your lunch with you.

The University has updated its Shared Parental Leave policy.

The uptake of shared parental leave is very low both at the University and nationally (about 2%). One reason for this may be financial in that shared parental pay entitlements are currently based on statutory pay, rather than contractual pay.

In response, our Vice-Chancellor, Karen Cox, has approved a change in policy to change shared parental pay to match contractual maternity/adoption pay. These amendments are reflected in the revised Shared Parental Leave policy and are with immediate effect.

Staff requests for tickets to the University Carol Service in Canterbury Cathedral are now invited. The evening will feature performances the University Chamber Choir and student Gospel Music singers. There will be an appeal for Porchlight, a charity supporting homeless people in East Kent.

Please email your requests to s.c.e.laird@kent.ac.uk between Weds 21 and Fri 30 Nov, and see  our webpage for detailed information.

Wheelchair access and Sign Language (BSL) interpretation will be available at the event, reflecting the values of Disability History Month (but please notify us of any requirements).