Changes to KentVision Technology Release Timeline

Following recent meetings of the KentVision (KV) Project Board, I wanted to share with you some of the decisions that we have made regarding the future direction of the project, as well as some other significant updates.

It is important for me to stress that the University remains committed to delivering the KV project and to realising its benefits. Since we went live in April 2021, a number of very significant features and improvements have been developed and delivered (e.g., new functionality for students to view and maintain assessment deadlines and features for the processing of mitigating circumstance requests, board of examiner and post-board amendments), but there remains a large backlog of features and functionality requests yet to be confirmed for delivery.

The KV Project Board, in close cooperation with university central governance groups, has made the decision to move the KV work from a separate project to an IS business-as-usual delivery model by the summer of 2023.

As a consequence, between now and summer of 2023, we must re-focus the project on delivering features, functionality and data improvements in the following areas:

Compliance (e.g., features relating to UKVI reporting)
Statutory obligations (e.g., features relating to HESA Data Futures ensuring we maintain our link to UCAS)

When the compliance and statutory features and functionality in the backlog are assessed, the risk to the institution of not delivering these is extremely large. We must deliver changes on these areas by summer 2023 as a result to changes to regulations and a delay will present real risk in meeting our compliance obligations.

We know there are challenges for teams who are experiencing workload pressures. To try and address these, from January 2023 we are establishing a dedicated KV Operational Support Team to provide technical support during intensive operational processes, that require manual workarounds, throughout the academic year (e.g., online module registration and academic roll-over activities). We will work with local managers to make sure the impact is understood, and the right support and mitigations are in place so teams can continue delivering high-quality services with existing systems and tools.

A significant amount of work had already been completed across the six KV Functional Area Groups which has enabled delivery of new features and a greater understanding of our activities and operations; along with insights as to how we may best organise these activities within KV and across Central and Divisional Teams. The project is now reviewing the original planned activities and we are developing plans with Senior Leadership and the KV Functional Group Chairs to move forward these key areas of work, reprioritising the plan.

The possible options we will consider for addressing the remaining features in the backlog include:

Further technical development work to KentVision
An alternative existing software solution (e.g., Office 365)
A process and or policy change.

The revised plan will prioritise areas where we will get maximum benefit for professional service, academic staff, and our students. I will update colleagues in January 2023 on how we intend to address the remaining features within the backlog.

KV has already delivered key features and functionality – this is down to the hard work and achievements of the many colleagues who have contributed to the project thus far. I thank them for that, and for their excellent work.

Our commitment to supporting our staff is unwavering, and as we are now moving towards the end of the KV project phase, we have to make changes to both our plan and our approach that take this into consideration. The KV Project Board is meeting frequently to monitor the impact of this decision and the mitigations being put in place, and we will provide regular updates to you moving forward.

Annual Finance Report 21/22

To help address the additional financial pressure this year including inflation and the increased cost of living, we all need to do all we can to help reduce any non-essential spend – the Finance team have written to budget holders with updated budgets to reflect this and we should all keep this in mind when planning projects in the months ahead. We have also put in place an ‘exceptional approval to hire’ process so there is tighter control around staff recruitment for the time being.

Our Financial Statements and Annual Review for 21/22 have now been published, showing an underlying operating result of an £11.7m deficit which is in line with the budget we set for the year – reflecting an important step on the path to achieving financial sustainability. As with many universities, this year’s accounts include a very significant additional pensions charge of £54.6m which is why you see a larger overall deficit – this is the result of the 2020 valuation of the USS pension scheme and is an accounting adjustment only, with no adverse impact on Kent’s underlying performance or cash levels.

Reflected in the reported 21/22 performance was the return to more regular conditions as the impact of Covid receded, with increased face-to-face activity, improved occupancy and more use of student accommodation and catering facilities leading to increased income. Total income grew by 3.7% to £260.4m compared to 2020/21, although tuition fees were lower with increased competition for students. This return to full activity and the removal of temporary measures to control costs, as well as additional investment into areas of growth potential, meant that costs increased by 11%, to £274.5m. This excess of spend over income, along with planned payments to lenders resuming in-year, has meant that our cash balances have reduced in the year, to £30.5m (equivalent to 45 days of spend). Whilst this still exceeds the University’s financial sustainability target, work continues to improve the underlying operating performance and cash generation.

Looking ahead, 2022/23 has brought additional challenges with lower student retention than expected impacting on income levels, and inflation and energy costs are also placing pressure on budgets. We have put in place measures to ensure that we can we achieve the budgeted result – a managed deficit of £6.0m. This involves short-term cost control measures which delay the timing of new investments and restrict non-essential spending. We’re currently working through the details of these measures and will be providing full updates to budget holders early in the New Year. Alongside this, and with a focus on the longer-term financial sustainability, initiatives are being worked up aimed at increasing and diversifying income and ensuring our operations are delivered as efficiently as possible.

Job opportunity: Join the IT and Library Support Team

We’re looking for part-time staff to join our team at the IT & Library Support Desk in the Templeman Library.

Location: Templeman Library, Canterbury Campus
Salary: £12.06 per hour

The role

Information Services is looking for people to join our team as Support Assistants, working flexible hours part-time to staff the IT & Library Support Desk in the Templeman Library. These vacancies will begin in January 2023 and continue until at least the end of the 2022/23 academic year. Training will be provided.

Responsibilities include:

assisting students, staff and visitors in finding and using library resources and public IT facilities
supporting students connecting their own devices to the University networks and services
supporting circulation functions within the Library and at partner institutions.

In an average week we aim to offer at least 6 hours of work, though this is not guaranteed. The Support Desk is open 7 days a week, up to 12 hours a day, with most shifts between 09:00-21:00 Monday to Friday and 12:00-18:00 Saturday and Sunday.

Initial pay will be at least £12.06 per hour. Upon gaining sufficient experience there is an opportunity to progress to a higher rate.

The person

The successful candidates will have a keen desire to help others and excellent communications skills, coupled with a good understanding of the library and IT facilities provided by the University of Kent.

They will be confident, friendly and willing to approach others to offer assistance and enforce regulations.
Advanced knowledge of both IT and library resources is desirable but not essential for this position.

We expect all Support Assistants to be available to work during Welcome Week (September), as this is our busiest time of year.

For full details of the role and the selection criteria please refer to the job description linked below.

The department

The IT and Library Support team is part of User Experience within the Information Services department at the University of Kent.

More information

Closing date for applications: 14 March 2023

If you’re a Kent student and need advice on job applications and interviews, contact the Careers and Employability Service.

Due to the volume of applications expected for these posts there may be a delay between the closing date and receiving a response from us. Please do not contact us for updates on the status of your application; we will contact every applicant with the outcome of their submission in due course.

Interviews are scheduled to be held in early January, however we will continue to accept applications until 14 March from people who are available to work later in the year.

Disability History Month – how we marked it at Kent in 2022

To decide how to celebrate and mark Disability History Month this year, members of Kent Union, staff and students from a variety of divisions, networks, and groups across the Medway and Canterbury campuses met frequently throughout the term to plan and collaborate. Sharing ideas and looking at how far we have come has been part of the process in continuing to think of new and inspiring ways not only to celebrate Disability History Month, but also to identify areas where there work is still needed to continue to grow and develop new inclusive ways to remove barriers.

Event highlights

Exhibition and film screening

Student Engagement and Communications Officer Natalia Crisanti and Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic Strategy, Planning, and Performance) Professor Georgina Randsley de Moura, introduced the screening of a number of short videos called ‘Our Stories’ (BSL interpreted) with students and staff, current and past, talking about their experiences of disability. The films emphasise considering and anticipating the seen and unseen needs of all, with people listening to one another carefully and understanding that each person is the authority on their own best conditions for thriving. With such a wealth of inspirational people at Kent it has been a great opportunity to take time to focus and reflect on our community and what disability means to us as a University. Janice Markey, Kent’s Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion notes that “the exhibition and screening [which took place on 6 December] are an inspiring impetus for us in our work to create an environment at Kent which is welcoming and inclusive for all”. For more on the screening and exhibition opening, read the blogpost summarising this event. You can also watch a video version of the timeline (narrated, with closed captions), or read a slightly abridged version on Kent’s Disability History Month webpage.

Chloe Timms author talk
Former student Chloe Timms returned to Kent to give a talk on her debut novel ‘The Seawomen’ (2022). Chloe discussed about how she became a published author alongside the challenges of being a disabled writer. To find out more about her professional journey, visit Chloe Timms’ blog.

Research and career opportunities

Also this month was an opportunity for one of our PhD students to showcase her research with a Virtual Reality Wheelchair Driving Experience, and the Careers and Employability Service hosted a number of online groups for students, including workshops on how to ask for adjustments in the workplace, and sessions on the Change 100 internship scheme, which offers paid summer work placements for students with disabilities.

Finger casting workshop

On the topic of health and wellbeing, a finger casting workshop was held whereby participants could let their artistic sides show through creating their own finger sculpture and foil embossed artwork. The idea was to encourage awareness and connection with the body through creativity.

Millie Knight – sports champion talk

Kent Union’s focus was on creating opportunities for students to come together and learn from each other. Their events included plant pot painting and a talk from former student, and four-time Paralympic skiing medallist and Karate world champion, Millie Knight. Thomas Freeston, Vice President of Welfare and Community was Kent Union’s lead on DHM, and reflected on the month as an “opportunity to celebrate the achievements of people living with a disability and also raise awareness”.

What’s next? Let’s shape tomorrow together…

Of course, opportunities for discussion and progress are not limited to Disability History Month. You can get involved in many different ways throughout the year. Perhaps through the Staff Disability Network and Student Accessibility Network. Please contact EqualityAndDiversity@kent.ac.uk if you would like to share any ideas or feedback about this year’s disability history month or disability provision in general.

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Did you know that Student Support and Wellbeing (SSW) advisers can help students set up the support they need at any time during their studies? Check out this guide on Seeking Support from SSW for more information.

Follow #DHMKent22 and #InclusiveKent on social media for the latest, and if you would like to contribute your experience and perspective to conversations, podcasts or articles on this theme, please email StudentServicesWeb@kent.ac.uk.

Written by Maddy Kendall, Joshua Stevens and Natalia Crisanti, Student Services, 13.12.22

Got a new phone, tablet or laptop? Do this to stay connected

Got a new phone or laptop recently, or hoping to get one this Christmas? Stay connected to all Kent systems by adding a second authentication method (such as a home phone number and/or mobile number) now to your account. It’s quick and easy to do.

Choose a method that won’t be affected if you change device or mobile phone number. For example, if you use an authenticator app on a device you’re replacing, this won’t transfer to a new device unless you’ve backed it up. Adding a secondary method such as your home phone number or mobile number (if you intend to keep the same number) will help avoid any loss of access.

This will be especially useful during the vacation when the University is closed and our staff won’t be around to help reset your account.

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is required for off campus access to email and other Kent IT systems and online services. It adds an extra layer of security to your IT Account. It provides a 99.9% reduction in compromised accounts and will also help to protect your own personal information.

User guide

MFA at Kent user guide

Help and support

If you have any questions, please contact IT and Library Support:

Nexus Self Service
helpdesk@kent.ac.uk
01227 824888
Use the website Chat to us button to launch online chat
Visit us: Block D, Ground Floor, Templeman Library

Extending a Kent welcome across the globe

As many of you will know, the University of Kent is currently applying to join the Universities of Sanctuary, a national movement that seeks to build welcoming communities for displaced and vulnerable people seeking sanctuary from persecution. As a university with a global outlook and reach, this requires us to look beyond our campuses and regions and embed these principles in our international engagements.

Currently, initiatives include our twinning initiative with Kherson State University in Ukraine as well as support for Cara (the Council for At-Risk Academics), in particular through its Syria Programme which supports Syrian academics living across the Middle East to continue their academic work in conditions of exile, conflict and displacement.

Last week the Centre for the Study of Higher Education (CSHE) hosted a delegation of Cara Syria Programme participants working as senior leaders at Sham University to sustain access to higher education in the non-regime northwest Syria. Since 2011, over three million people have been internally displaced into the area, including hundreds of thousands of university-age young people. Sham University was established in 2015 to meet the enormous need for higher education in the region, and its first cohort of students graduated in 2019. The university is staffed in part by Syrian academics living in exile in southern Turkey who cross the border each week to teach.

Through the CSHE, Tom Parkinson and colleagues are working with academics and senior administrators at Sham, all registered participants of the Cara Syria Programme, to enhance the quality of higher education in northwest Syria in ways that are both culturally appropriate and resilient to the many risks inherent to a conflict-affected context. This Cara-commissioned action research pilot is a collaboration between academics from Sham and counterparts from Kent, Sussex, London, Middlesex and Leeds universities. Work began in 2019, with Kent and Cara co-funded roundtables that explored ways of sustaining higher education in contexts of conflict, instability, and mass displacement.

The latest phase of the project centres on staff development and quality management and incorporates knowledge exchange visits to UK universities. On the morning of the Kent visit, the team delivered an invited plenary at the Society for Research in Higher Education (SRHE) conference entitled ‘Reframing Education in Emergency’. This was followed by a lunch meeting with members of the University’s Sanctuary Working Group, where we discussed how Kent might offer ongoing support. The afternoon centred around a leadership and peer-mentoring workshop in CSHE, followed by a discussion around issues of recognition and accreditation led by Dr Anthony Manning.

In the days following the visit, the research team participated in a two-day Cara Syria Programme roundtable hosted by the Sussex Centre for Migration Research at the University of Sussex, at which a UK university partner consortium led by Kent, Sussex and Leeds was initiated under the auspices of the Cara Syria Programme, to provide ongoing support to Sham faculty and staff. While the precise nature of that support will depend on the priorities identified by Sham colleagues, it will incorporate peer mentorship for academic and administrative staff, external examining, resource sharing and English language tuition.

For further information on the action research project, or to express an interest in being involved, contact Tom Parkinson [t.parkinson@kent.ac.uk]. For further information on Kent’s application for University of Sanctuary status, contact Russell Moul [r.t.moul@kent.ac.uk].

Kent Stars: Kudos for Korfball

This month’s Kent Stars are the Korfball Society. They went from having very few players during the pandemic, to coming second in the national BUCS competition! A fantastic achievement. Hear from team members Gemma and Josh:

Josh – Hi, my name is Josh Jardine and I’m currently doing a master’s by research in Sport and Exercise Science. My main interests are mostly anything sport related, I’m a big QPR supporter and enjoy going out with friends and family.

Gemma – I’m Gemma Bealey and a Law and Politics LLB Student. Among other interests I am a very keen korfball player. I started playing korfball at age 7 after I was introduced to it at primary school and have played ever since. This has included playing for Kent Junior age groups and now playing in the National Korfball League. I’m also a qualified coach and have been able to coach in my old club for many years as well as coaching one of the Kent Youth Teams.

Tell us about Korfball and Kent’s national success.

Gemma – Korfball is a mixed-sex game which originated in the Netherlands and has similarities to both netball and basketball. It is very fast paced and relies on a diverse team where all players can attack and defend. I joined UKC Korfball last year and was grateful to be able to join such a welcoming and social club. Due to not running for a year as a result of the pandemic, the club was much smaller than it is now, and nearly every member was new to Korfball.

Josh – Last year we competed in three tournaments: prelims, regionals, and nationals against other universities all over the country. After winning regionals we qualified for the national championships. At the nationals we managed to reach the final but unfortunately lost by two goals against UEA but being second in the country is nothing to be ashamed of!

What advice would you give to other students?

Josh – Advice would I give to other students would be to join a society. Societies provide a great way to meet like-minded people or people with the same interests and hobbies as you.

Gemma – I would advise any students to just get stuck into university as much as they can through joining societies. This gives a student an instant social circle and an easy opportunity to make more friends. It also offers students with a better work/life balance to take the pressure off their studies. Korfball is a very welcoming and inclusive game with players of all abilities and level of experience. As not many players have played before we offer the opportunity learn a new sport together as a team which isn’t always possible in other games. Being mixed also gives the game a rare dynamic which is very refreshing.

What are your plans for the next year?

Gemma – I will graduate from Kent this year and know that I will continue to play korfball following this. I have continued to play with clubs outside university while I have also been representing the University at BUCS tournaments and while I will miss being able to play BUCS, I’m glad I will still be able to play the game at a competitive level. I also hope to be able to continue my coaching once I have left university and I have always enjoyed this.

Josh – While completing this master’s degree, I have been lucky enough to have the opportunity to work for Gillingham Football Club while collecting data. So, my aim after this year is to hopefully get a job in a Sport Science department at a professional football club.

Learn more about the Kent Stars campaign.

£3 Meal Deal changes to location (13-16 December)

Recently, to help with the rising cost of living, we introduced a £3 meal deal in Rutherford Dining Hall (Canterbury) every day of the week.

Between 13-16 December, there will be some changes to where you can buy the £3 meal deal.

Weekday lunchtime

Sibson Café will run the festive £3 meal deal Tuesday to Friday, 11:30 – 14:30.

On the menu this week is bratwurst hotdogs with caramelised onions and fries, and plant-based hot dogs with caramelised onions and fries.

Weekday dinnertime

Rutherford Dining Hall will continue to run the £3 meal deal in the evenings, Tuesday to Friday, 17:00 – 20:00.

More support with cost of living

You can see all the financial support available to students on our Cost of Living Support webpages.

And please remember, if you are struggling financially, get in touch for support.

Invitation to launch of latest Kent Review (13 Dec)

Staff and students are invited to the launch of the fourth volume of Kent Review in Keynes Senior Common Room on Tuesday 13 December at 6pm.

Like its predecessors, this latest anthology will showcase some of the best work emerging from the University’s postgraduate writers in Creative Writing. The edition will also feature the winning entries to the new School of English undergraduate writing competition, and an editorial by Professor David Herd.

To celebrate the launch there will be a number of readings, as well as a drinks reception, and copies of the Review available to purchase. Everyone is welcome to help celebrate the launch.

Kent Review, Volume 4 is home to a remarkable selection of poetry, short stories, non-fiction and novel extracts. The collection demonstrates the skill and artistic ambition of the writers at the University, with pieces that are each surprising, disarming, transporting, fresh; and collectively indicative of the vibrant, diverse work emerging from the Centre for Creative Writing.

Kent climbs environmental and ethical performance league tables

Kent has moved up 12 places in the 2022 People and Planet University League – a comprehensive and independent league table of UK universities ranked by environmental and ethical performance.

Despite the significant challenges faced over the last few years both from the covid-19 pandemic and from economic pressures and resulting changes within the University we have seen some significant score increases in many areas of the league this year, resulting in Kent climbing to 29th place overall out of 153, up from 41st in 2021.

This rise was helped by significant improvements in Carbon Management Plans, Sustainable Food and Staff & Student Engagement. The University placed 13th in the UK for its carbon management plans reflecting the hard work of the Estates department and sustainability team during the last few years in setting ambitious targets and developing the plans to achieve them.

Kent scored 100% for both the Environmental Policy and Environmental Auditing & Management sections which recognises the university’s ongoing demonstration of its commitments through the operation of an externally certified Environmental Management System.

Based on a campaign to call university careers services to end promotion or information related to careers in the oil, gas and mining industries, the Ethical Careers and recruitment was a new addition to the table this year. Kent performed better that its peers here, coming 10^th overall.

Catherine Morris, Sustainability Manager at Kent says: ‘Our performance in this table reflects our continued commitment to sustainability. I am especially pleased to see that the hard work of all of our staff and students who contribute to our sustainability work is being recognised in the People and Planet league table.

While our improvement in the table is fantastic news, we are aware that there is still more that we would like to achieve. We will continue working hard across the University to address any areas where we could be doing more to ensure we fulfil the commitments set out in our Sustainability Strategy.’

Read more about sustainability at Kent: https://www.kent.ac.uk/sustainability