The Universities at Medway have been awarded a further significant donation to The Medway Student Support Bursary. This donation will provide bursaries to home (UK/EU) students from Canterbury Christ Church University, University of Greenwich and the University of Kent each year. This is an excellent opportunity to apply for additional funding and the selected recipients will receive a bursary of either £2,500 (Autumn applications) or £1,250 (Spring applications).
Applying for this bursary is easy. Check the eligibility criteria below, if you meet the requirements, all you need to do is complete the application form and return it along with the required evidence by the deadline. The Selection Criteria and Important Notes below will provide guidance on this.

The deadline to apply by is 12 noon on the 9 November 2018 (Autumn term applications) and 12 noon on 8 February 2019 (Spring Term applications)

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA OF THE MEDWAY STUDENT SUPPORT BURSARY
In order to be eligible to apply for The Medway Student Support Bursary you must:

•  be a home student (UK/EU)
• be currently registered full or part-time on an undergraduate degree programme based at the Medway Campus
• demonstrate a household income of £42,875 or less

SELECTION CRITERIA OF THE MEDWAY STUDENT SUPPORT BURSARY

• Your application will be considered on the basis of your fulfilment of the eligibility criteria and the 350-500 word statement sections demonstrating:
• why you are in need of financial support and what has changed in your financial circumstances since embarking on the programme
• what the award will be used for (See important note below)
• information about you and your aims and aspirations for the future
• You may want to include additional information relating to volunteering or ambassadorial work that you have done or are planning to do within the local community e.g. voluntary work, paid work, sports contributions, community activity organisations such as the Scouts etc.)

Important notes:

• awards will not fund general (exceptional travel may be considered) programme travelling expenses or new equipment such as laptops or phones
• awards are intended for the student‘s use only and not for family support
• The first payment will only be made upon submission of a thank you letter to the donors outlining how the Bursary will be used to support the Bursary recipient.
• The second payment will only be made upon submission of a report outlining how the Bursary has supported the Bursary recipient and how this support has impacted on their academic studies.
• successful recipients will be able to hold other awards whilst in receipt of the Medway Student Support Bursary such as the NSP and may reapply for a further bursary in subsequent years
• successful recipients will be required to sign a Bursary Agreement which sets out the conditions of the bursary award
• payment of the bursary will be suspended immediately, and any payments may be required to be returned, if an awardee:
  (i) ceases to hold an offer of a place at any of the Universities,
  (ii) ceases to be a registered student at any of the Universities,
  (iii) becomes a debtor to any of the three Universities,
  (iv) is found to have made a misrepresentation or misleading or fraudulent statement in connection with his/her application
• recipients are expected to remain in satisfactory academic standing
• students out on a placement year are not eligible for that year, but may apply once academic studies are resumed
• successful recipients will be required to write a report to the board detailing how the bursary has supported them and how this support has impacted on their academic studies. The deadline for submission of the report by the Medway Student Support Bursary recipients is 1 March 2019 (Autumn applications), and 24 May 2019 (Spring applications).
• All applications confirmed as meeting the eligibility criteria will be taken forward. The bursary recipient(s) will be chosen by the Medway Student Support Bursary Board which will meet in early December (Autumn applications) and early March (Spring applications) and all applicants will be advised of the outcome shortly afterwards.

Your completed application along with all required evidence can be scanned and emailed to us at medwaymastersoffice@kent.ac.uk or a paper application can be submitted to M2-25 (Medway Building 2nd Floor).

We look forward to receiving your application and remember, the deadline is 12 noon on the 9 November 2018 (Autumn applications) and 8 February 2019 (Spring applications).

Jane Glew, Medway College Master.

Dr Graeme A. Forbes, Lecturer for the Department of Philosophy, has recently helped launch The East Kent Philosophy Teachers’ Network website. This website includes a full programme of a recent conference at the Kings’ School, Canterbury.

The East Kent Philosophy Teachers’ Network was started this year out of a desire to foster a community of Philosophers in the East Kent area, a support network for teachers of Philosophy, and collaboration between the University of Kent and Schools in East Kent in engaging students with the subject.

Graeme writes ‘I’m really proud to launch the website of the East Kent Philosophy Teachers’ Network. Philosophy is an amazing subject that has been shown to boost children’s literacy and numeracy, has been linked to good citizenship since ancient Greece, and deals with questions of enduring and global interest. Historically, professional philosophers in universities have been cut off from teachers and children in schools, even when the buildings are a short walk from one another. The Network exists to make it easier for teachers, academic philosophers, and schoolchildren in East Kent to share the benefits that philosophy can bring. Launching the website makes the work of the Network more visible so it can develop and grow as more teachers join’.

To visit the website, please see the link here.

Dr Paul March-Russell, lecturer for the Department of Comparative Literature, has contributed a chapter to the edited collection Gender and Short Fiction: Women’s Tales in Contemporary Britain (Routledge Studies in Contemporary Literature, 2018).

In this new monograph, editors: Jorge Sacido-Romero and Laura Ma Lojo-Rodríguez, explain why artistically ambitious women writers continue turning to the short story, a genre that has not yet attained the degree of literary prestige and social recognition the novel has had in the modern period.

The book is the culmination of a four-year project based at the University of Santiago de Compostela, and comprises of researchers from across the UK and Europe, of which Paul was a founding member. Paul’s chapter is titled ‘In the Company of Wolves: Feminist Fairy Tales after Angela Carter’.

To buy the book on Amazon, please see the link here.

Dr Margherita Laera, Senior Lecturer in Drama and Theatre in the School of Arts, will be a guest speaker at the London venue Rich Mix as part of an event entitled ‘Europa – Myths of Europe’ on Wednesday 24 October 2018.

The event is part of a monthly free series of talks on Europe organised by the music, theatre and dance company Dash Arts.This session will ask what Europe is by looking at the mythologies associated with it. Starting from ancient, historical, and contemporary myths, the event will explore European identity and the role that theatre has played in forming it. Alongside an informal conversation, the evening will also feature exquisite music from Greek lyra and laouto duo Bonnendis.

The panel of speakers will also include author Timothy Garton Ash (Professor of European Studies, University of Oxford), dramaturg Katie Ebner-Landy, and Dash Arts artistic director Tim Supple.

The event is free to attend and begins at 7.30pm. For more details, please see the Rich Mix page.

The Alcohol and Substance Misuse Policy sets out the University’s position regarding drugs and alcohol in the workplace. You can read the Policy on our HR webpages.

The latest issue of the Leadership Bulletin, designed to give an overview of key developments at Kent, is now available.

The latest issue (17 October 2018) includes a summary by our Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Karen Cox on the financial challenges facing the University and plans to overcome them.

There are also updates on Executive Group meetings and the launch of this year’s TESSAs (Teaching Enhancement Small Support Awards).

The Bulletin is distributed fortnightly to all members of the Leadership Forum to cascade to staff in schools and professional service departments. If you haven’t received your copy yet, you can read the bulletin online.

Find out more about the Leadership Bulletin and see previous issues on the OVC webpages.

The Learning and Organisational Development (L&OD) team is pleased to announce its continued support and participation in the Advanced HE Women Only Programme, Aurora.

On behalf of the L&OD team and the University of Kent Aurora Champion Professor Yvonne Sherwood, a huge congratulations to this year’s 2018/19 cohort!

To mark the start of the programme, this year’s Aurorans and previous Alumni came together at the launch event on Wednesday 10 October. The event was opened by our Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Karen Cox, who delivered an inspiring talk about her own career journey and shared positive words of encouragement to this year’s participants.

In addition, two previous Aurora Alumni, Natalia Crisanti, Project Officer, Student Support and Dr Ana Leite, Research Associate, School of Psychology, shared their own stories of how the Aurora Programme had positively impacted their own personal and professional development journeys.

The event provided an opportunity for this years Aurorans and previous Kent Aurora Alumni to network, share their experiences and create some ongoing development opportunities as a wider group, as well as to reinforce and spread the word about the positive impact the programme can have.

For more information about the Aurora Programme please contact Jena Dady, Learning and Organisational Development Adviser, J.Dady@Kent.ac.uk

Dr Anne-Maria Brennan, Lecturer for the Centre for Professional Practice, has just returned from the 6th International Congress for the History of Medicine in Muslim Heritage which was held in the Medical Faculty of Fez, Morocco.

While there, she delivered a paper on the Enrichment of the Teaching of Biology, Anatomy and Physiology exploring how the cultural heritage of medicine can be used to enrich the biomedical and medical curricula in a way that inspires the imagination as well as the intellect.

She also chaired sessions on the influence of Islamic culture on the dawn of the Padua School of Medicine and life and work of Professor Naguib Pasha the father of modern obstetrics and gynaecology in Egypt.

The Centre for Professional Practice offers flexible, part-time work-based studies.  The Master’s in Professional Practice and short courses have been specifically designed to meet the needs of working professionals who wish to develop their academic ability while maintaining their professional role. To find out more, see the CPP webpages

Colleagues are invited to attend the Learning and Teaching Network session on ‘Enhancing the Academic Adviser system: Managing Progress Profiles; the Virtual Student Advisor (VSA) and appointments’.  The session takes place on Wednesday 31 October 2018, 13:15- 14:30, Cornwallis North West Seminar Room 6, Canterbury Campus.

Presented by Dr Louise Naylor, Director, UELT and James Grant, Systems Development Manager – Student Success (EDI) Project.

In this session, we will consider the outcomes from the reviews of the Academic Adviser system, feedback from the Faculties plus the HEA Collaborative Retention Project, aimed at Enhancing the Academic Adviser System that supports the personal and professional development of students.

This has included the development of Progress Profiles to monitor student performance & attendance, the Virtual Student Advisor and Appointment Management system pilots as part of the Student Success Project .

This is the first of a series of LTN events with case studies from KBS and SECL planned for later in the year.

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

This session will be recorded and will be available after online.