Support at Kent

Now the Welcome Week madness is over, it’s probably a good time to start exploring Kent and the support services on offer. Watch our support, health and wellbeing video.

You can also read our short pdf guide to support at Kent.

Support with your studies

Studying for a degree is very different to studying at school. You have a lot more control over your learning and greater independence.

You will also be asked to do things you’ve never had to do before (eg referencing in a certain way, dissertations, vivas…) this is where the Student Learning and Advisory Service (SLAS for short) steps in.

SLAS can help you with everything from perfecting your essay writing to learning how to reference properly. You can learn in your own time using our online guides or attend one of SLAS’ many workshops.

Don’t forget your school is also there to help you with your studies and offer a range of study support.

Have you registered with Student Support and Wellbeing?

If you have a disability you should contact Student Support. They can provide not only academic support but can help with funding applications.

If you’re going through a difficult time or just don’t feel happy – staff in our Wellbeing Team are always available to listen.

They also run a series of well-being workshops to help you get the best out of University life.

Advice Centre

From money worries to getting on with your housemates, Kent Union’s Advice Centre is available to help. All advice is free to Kent students – so make the most of it!

Medical advice

Kent has its own NHS general practice on campus. There’s also an independent pharmacy next door, so you don’t have to go far when you’re feeling under the weather.

If you need any medical advice, treatment of a minor illness/injury or contraceptive advice, you can visit the ‘drop-in’ nursing service in Keynes College.

Master’s Office

When you arrived at Kent you automatically joined a college. Your Master’s Office is there to give advice and can be used as a first port of call for any questions you may have.

Resident Support Officers

Each college accommodation has Resident Support Officers who work closely with College Masters to provide a safe and harmonious environment on campus as well as support on practical assistance if students have concerns about a flat mate, noise on campus or if there are problems with cleanliness in accommodation.

Chaplaincy

University Chaplains run a wide range of religious and social events (including a very festive carol service in the Cathedral). They are also a good contact for advice and support.

International students

As well as all the other support services available to students, international students can visit International Team in the Registry Building. They can help with any international related queries and run a series of cultural events.

Kent Union

The Vice-President (Welfare) officer at Kent Union campaigns on well-being related matters so if students have any queries or issues they would like to discuss they can contact Omolade directly: O.Adedapo@kent.ac.uk

Public consultation on Campus Masterplan

A public consultation on our Campus Masterplan takes place in October. We’ll share our vision for the future evolution of the campus to best meet the needs of the University and of the wider city and region.

The Framework Masterplan proposals detail the framework within which we will make decisions on the future development of our estate in the short-term (2018 to 2021) and medium-term (2021 to 2031), covering the period defined within Canterbury City Council’s District Local Plan.

This latest version of the Masterplan takes into account the feedback that staff, students, local amenity groups and residents provided during the initial stages of consultation in 2016 and 2017.

We learned a lot from that feedback and we now invite you to share your views on the Framework Masterplan by attending our consultation events. They take place as follows:

Saturday 6 October 2018, 10.00-16.00 at Westgate Hall, Canterbury
Thursday 11 October 2018, 14.00-20.00 at Tyler Hill Memorial Hall
Friday 12 October 2018, 14.00-20.00 at Blean Village Hall
Thursday 18 October 2018, 10.00-16.00 Darwin Conference Suite, Canterbury campus

Our response to the views you express during this stage of the consultation will be published in a Consultation Statement later this year. This will feed into the final stages of development of the Framework Masterplan document, which will be presented to Canterbury City Council at the end of the year.

More information about the Masterplan and copies of previous consultation statements are available on our Masterplan web pages.

Love singing ? Join our Rock Choir!

Have you ever wanted to sing in a choir, but don’t read music? Do you sing in the shower, or karaoke in the car on the way to work?

If so, then come and try the new Rock Choir – pop, rock and chart singing open to all University of Kent staff and students, and no audition needed!

Just turn up to Colyer-Fergusson Hall every Monday from 12.45-13.45, starting on Monday 8 October.

For more information, contact Susan Wanless, Director of University Music.

Calling all new Staff- new to the Higher Education Sector

Are you a new member of staff new to the HE sector?

Come along to our three hour workshop on the 5th October. Book a space here.

Studio 3 gallery hosts exhibition on revolution

The School of Arts is hosting a new exhibition, Beyond the Barricade, in the Studio 3 Gallery in the Jarman Building from 28 September 2018.

Based on the spirit of the French Revolution, the exhibition brings artists from various nations together to look at different dimensions of revolutions. By documenting past upheavals and recent events, the exhibition aims to present artistic creation as a form of social and political action.

Beyond the Barricade has been supported by the nationally funded project, the Age of Revolution, in partnership with Waterloo 200. The exhibition will run until 30 November 2018.

The Studio 3 Gallery is the School’s dedicated exhibition space which plays host to major exhibitions and annual shows that are open to the public.

CMAT forms Music Academic Partnership with UK Music

The University of Kent’s Centre for Music and Audio Technology has formed a Music Academic Partnership (MAP) with UK Music.

MAP is a ground-breaking collaboration between a select number of educational institutions and UK Music, a campaigning and lobbying group which represents every part of the recorded and live music industry from artists, musicians, songwriters, composers, record labels, publishers, producers and music licensing groups.

Academic members, who must be invited to become a part of MAP, benefit from this membership with a number of initiatives that include exclusive networking, collaborative research, a parliamentary programme, rehearsal spaces, and a range of student opportunities, including the BBC Introducing Pilot, MAP Music Technology Prize and access to exclusive Production Days and industry showcases.

This partnership is the latest example of CMAT’s excellent links to the music industry and commitment to the employability of its students. CMAT works with leading music bodies across the industry, including the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors (BASCA), the Music Managers Forum and the Council for Music Makers.

Leadership Bulletin

The University has launched a new Leadership Bulletin designed to give an overview of key developments. The Bulletin is distributed 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 .

The latest issue contains a message on the strategy refresh from the Vice-Chancellor. Senate has now agreed the draft of ‘Kent 2025’ should be submitted to Council on 5 October for discussion and approval. Senate also took note of the emerging sub-strategies on Education, Research and Innovation and Engagement and our Civic Mission. Copies of all these papers are available on the Strategy Refresh pages.

In addition, the Bulletin also includes an update on Executive Group meetings including a discussion by the Extended Executive Group on our recruitment position which is significantly lower than anticipated. Work is currently underway to assess the subsequent impact on the University’s budget. Once the situation becomes clearer, we will let staff know and also update the Finance 2018/19 budget FAQs which have been developed to help explain our current budget position.

If you have any enquiries about the new publication, please contact Megan Wells, Policy Officer in the Office of the Vice-Chancellor – M.M.Wells@kent.ac.uk.

Medway Jobshop and Volunteering Fair

GK Unions is proud to announce the debut Jobshop and Volunteering Fair, which takes place on Thursday 4 October at the Student Hub, Medway campus.

The fair gives you the chance to come and speak to a variety of organisations offering paid work and volunteering opportunities, from one-off projects on campus to long-term projects with community organisations and much more!

It is organised by GK Unions, Jobshop and Volunteering. You can find out which community groups and employers will be attending at the event Facebook page.

Mathilde Poizat-Amar delivers Think Kent lecture on travel writing

Dr Mathilde Poizat-Amar, Lecturer in French in the Department of Modern Languages, has given an online lecture entitled ‘Why is Travel Literature so Interesting?’ for the University’s Think Kent series, which is now available on YouTube.

In a globalised and increasingly connected world where we can collect information about unknown places without having to open a book, travel literature could easily pass for an endangered species in the literary landscape. Yet, despite the concurrence of Internet and the ever-growing importance of major literary genres (such as the novel or the autobiography), travel literature stands the test of time – both in terms of popularity and critical importance.

Mathilde’s talk takes the case of modern and contemporary French Travel Literature to present a few reasons why travel literature is so resilient to change, and why studying travel literature matters more than ever. You can watch the full talk on YouTube.

The Think Kent lectures are a series of TED talk-style lectures produced with the intention of raising awareness of the research and teaching expertise of Kent academics and the international impact of their work.

EDA academic to showcase media installation in major German art festival

Dr Rocio von Jungenfeld from the School of Engineering and Digital Arts (EDA) will exhibit her ‘zones of flow (iii)’ exhibition at the BEYOND Festival taking place in Karlsruhe, Germany from 3 – 7 October.

The “zones of flow (iii)” artwork is a photo-sensitive audio-visual installation that investigates the fluid connections between people, sea and land. It uses a video projection depicting water surfaces mapped onto a 2.5m paper-boat covered in light-dependent-resistors (LDR) which send signals to light-emitting-diodes (LED) inside smaller paper-boats. These small paper-boats are scattered across the floor serving as metaphorical water surface.

zone of flow (iii) exhibition

Dr von Jungenfeld has previously exhibited the work in the Studio 3 Gallery in the School of Arts and worked with local schools to use the project as a means to teach young people about basic electronics and their use in the arts. This project has been produced in collaboration with the EDA’s Technical Support Team and research students.

In the coming year, she plans to take the project to more schools in Kent and public exhibitions across the UK to help celebrate the UK’s coastal heritage and relationship with the sea, and how it influences our perception of time and space.