The Joint Staff Negotiating and Consultation Committee (JSNCC), is the main forum for consultation between the University of Kent and its staff, on all matters of mutual interest.

The next meeting for the JSNCC is due to take place online (via Microsoft Teams) on Tuesday 12 May. The agenda and papers are now available for you to view on the JSNCC webpages.

The JSNCC pages provides details of the full membership of the JSNCC, meeting dates, its terms of reference, documentation for submission to the JSNCC and minutes of previous meetings. You’ll also find details on Staff and Trades Union Representatives on the there too.

Office 365 can help you develop the way you work online

Office 365 can replace Skype for Business, Dropbox, Zoom, Trello and more. It lets you work in an integrated way that is consistent with other teams at Kent.

Office 365 is the new University of Kent collaboration platform. Make it the first place you visit to collaborate with colleagues and students, or contacts at other organisations.

What Office 365 offers

• The full suite of Office applications available online on any device: log in here with your Kent IT Account to see them
• Extensive file storage for you and your team: individual OneDrive cloud storage (1 Terabyte) and collaborative storage within Teams sites (25 Terabytes)
• Live multi-user document editing are possible on files in both Teams and OneDrive
• Collaboration and productivity tools such as Teams, Planner, and To Do
• Teams offers web, video and audio chat which can include presenting or screen sharing
• Teams meetings can be set up from your Outlook calendar

Integration saves time

Unlike third-party applications such as Zoom and Dropbox, Office 365 applications are integrated:

• with each other
• with our Kent IT Accounts and user directories
• and with existing services such as email and shared mailboxes.

When you book a meeting in Teams it goes into your email Calendar. Or you can book a Teams meeting directly from your calendar.

You can see colleagues’ availability and chat instantly or arrange a virtual meeting. You can plan project work and integrate this with your personal online to-do list and your team’s or project group’s work plan.

Read why O365 tools offer much more than other video conferencing, storage, messaging or planning tools.

Secure and supported

Office 365 provides all of the security and account governance that comes with a University IT Account. Office 365 is regularly updated by Microsoft, with new features expected for Teams very soon (including the ability to ‘raise your hand’ in a large video chat, and see 9 participants at once on screen).

Save money on third-party licenses

Departments should use the functionality within Office 365 to avoid incurring costs for third-party software licences. Third-party tools may be less secure, and many of them (such as Zoom or Dropbox) offer similar features as Office 365, without the integration or collaboration benefits.

We aim to develop services to meet your needs: if you believe the functionality you need doesn’t exist in the tools provided, please contact us.

Development of the service

From September 2020 Office ProPlus will be installed on student and staff PCs (managed desktops). Teams will replace Skype for Business as our staff instant messaging service.

Our Office 365 portal will offer more applications over the coming 12 months including Stream, Sway, Forms and Bookings. These will offer you new ways to share video, create online media, create interactive forms, and manage interviews and events.

Support and guidance

• Visit the University Staff Guide to O365
• For further help with O365 tools, contact us

After the events and changes of the last few weeks, and now that we are all working in new and unexpected ways, we would like to invite your views about the University’s response to the current situation, how supported you are feeling and what additional measures we might take to help.

We have therefore prepared a short online survey, which should take between 5 and 10 minutes to complete.  We’ve used the headings (Collaborate, Organise, Prepare, Enable) of our new COPE Framework, which you should now be aware of, as well as  some other more general questions.   Your Staff and Trades Union Representatives have had the chance to see the survey in advance and feed in their thoughts about the issues you should be asked about.

The closing date for completion is 17.00 on Thursday 7 May. Do please take a few minutes to share your views and any suggestions you have to improve how we all work together during these challenging times.

Alison Ross-Green|Director of HR & Organisational Development

During this period, we find ourselves at home with plenty of spare time on our hands. So why not use this opportunity to catch up on TV shows, you’ve previously not had time to watch?

With plenty of bingeworthy boxsets and unmissable dramas featured on Netflix and BBC iPlayer, we’ve selected our Top 10 across a mix of genres – something to suit every taste!

1. Killing Eve – BBC iPlayer

This crime/thriller based on a game of cat and mouse between eccentric assassin Villanelle and MI5 officer Eve, will have you on the edge of your sofa!

2. The Crown – Netflix

With not one but three series to binge on, this historical drama takes you on a journey through the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.

3. His Dark Materials – BBC iPlayer

An adaptation of Phillip Pullman’s thrilling and epic novel, Dark Materials is an impressive fantasy for you to enjoy with the whole family.

4. Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness – Netflix

It’s the new show everyone’s talking about, this seven-episode documentary tells the true life of eccentric zoo owner Joe Exotic. Sprinkled with twists and turns, you’ll be amazed it’s fact not fiction!

5. This Country – BBC iPlayer

Something to tickle your funny bones, this Bafta winning comedy portrays life in a sleepy Cotswold village for cousins Kerry and Kurtan. Look out for an A-list secret celebrity in the final series.

6. Stranger Things – Netflix

Set in the 1980s, Stranger Things is a show for sci-fi lovers, featuring worldly monsters, supernatural powers, and heart-warming friendships. We can see why it’s won an award or two!

7. Line of Duty – BBC iPlayer

As series 6 is delayed in filming, there’s plenty of time to get caught up or remind yourself of the thrilling goings on with the team investigating police corruption.

8. Orange is the New Black – Netflix

Featuring seven seasons, Orange is the New Black is the perfect show to keep you occupied. Based in an American female prison, this drama will have you laughing and crying in equal measure!

9. Seven Worlds, One Planet – BBC iPlayer

With yet another jaw-dropping documentary under his belt, David Attenborough once again wows viewers with his latest series, as each episode explores the Earth’s continents and their inhabitants.

10. Friends – Netflix

 The final season may have aired in 2004, but this timeless comedy from across the pond will have you laughing over and over, no matter how many times you watch it!

Share your thoughts and ideas on our top 10 features with stories@kent.ac.uk

Hedgehog Awareness Week is organised by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS) and takes place every year. It aims to highlight the problems hedgehogs face and how you can help them.

The hedgehog is in trouble, with populations plummeting 50% since 2000. Increasing habitat loss means hedgehogs are moving out of their rural homes and into built areas. But here they face a whole host of challenges, including road traffic, litter, poisoning and lack of access to food and water. In 2019 the RSPCA saw Hedgehog admissions to their wildlife centres break all records with 2770 hedgehogs being admitted.  Reasons for this include variations in weather causing a reduction in food availability meaning hedgehogs struggling to make it through the winter.

We are lucky enough to have hedgehogs on our campus however, the roads that cut through campus are causing particular issues with hedgehogs being hit by vehicles, as well as litter causing issues for hedgehogs and other wildlife on campus.

In July 2019 the University launched its participation in the Hedgehog Friendly Campus project– created at the University of Sheffield to use the unique spaces that university campuses are, to raise awareness of the plight of UK hedgehogs and take action to safeguard their future.

The University has a hedgehog action group made up of student and staff volunteers from across the University working together to address these issues. This group has taken a number of actions to help support hedgehogs on campus including litter picking, awareness raising and providing toolbox talks for the Landscape and Grounds Team so that they know what to do if they find an injured hedgehog, how to check for them before strimming and what are the biggest risks to hedgehogs on campus.

The University was awarded a Bronze certificate for its efforts by the Hedgehog Friendly Campus Project earlier this year and since then the action group have been developing plans for further initiatives we can do, including surveying and signage.

Whilst we are all in lockdown there are number of things we can all do to help support local hedgehogs, especially those of us that have gardens. Simple actions like: creating a log pile, checking areas before strimming, and building a hedgehog home can make a huge difference to your local population of hedgehogs. This year the BHPS are asking people to talk to their neighbours (from a distance) about cutting a CD case sized hole in the bottom of fences to create a hedgehog highway between gardens.

You can find out more information about things you can do on the BHPS website and get involved with the University of Kent Hedgehog action group by emailing sustainability@kent.ac.uk. Throughout the week the Sustainability Team will be posting tips, actions and activities on their Instagram @unikent.sustainability.

The Virtual Music Project has yielded its first fruit – the complete first movement of Vivaldi’s Gloria (listen now on YouTube). The project, run by the Deputy Director of Music, Dan Harding, brings together students, staff and alumni from across the University community to continue rehearsing and making music together. Participants have included musicians from around the country and even across the world from Germany to Luxembourg and Japan!

The project affords musicians amongst the University community the opportunity to record their individual vocal or instrumental part and send them, contributing to a combined ‘virtual’ performance of Vivaldi’s vibrant Baroque masterpiece.

There’s still the opportunity to get involved in the project, as it moves into building the second movement of the piece, as well as a virtual Dance Orchestra performing tunes from the 1940s and 1950s, with other pieces coming as the project continues to unfold.

Read more about the project or find out how to get involved on the Virtual Music Project Facebook page.

Next Monday sees the first day of term and, for most students, it marks the start of exams. The last few weeks have been particularly intense for those involved in the development of an adapted approach to the delivery and assessment of exams and I would like to thank all of those who have been involved in what has been an outstanding – and complex – piece of work.

We recognise that the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to have an impact and it is likely that we will have to continue to adapt how we deliver our education, and the wider student experience. As I mentioned last week, Professor Richard Reece, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Education and Student Experience, is working with colleagues to prepare for the next academic year when we will be welcoming new and returning students to the University. We will continue to update you on this.

At a time when we are all having to deal with additional pressures, it was particularly heartening to learn that the One Hour Degree, created by the Student Success project, has been shortlisted in the Guardian University Awards 2020 in the Digital Innovation category. Congratulations to all those involved.

Work also continues across the University in support of the fight against COVID-19. I think we have all been touched by the response we have had from healthcare professionals, students, members of the community and others in response to the work of colleagues.

In the next few days, I will provide a fuller on some of the actions we have been taking over the last few weeks including how we are preparing for the new academic year, and an update on the financial impact of the current situation.

My very best wishes to you and your families.

Karen

Karen Cox | Vice-Chancellor and President

The Kent IT Consultancy (KITC) is part of the School of Computing and is a student staffed IT consultancy delivering services to local small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Its mission is to solve business problems with technology and to make our student consultants more employable.

This year the KITC had 26 undergraduate consultants who delivered between them 7000 hours of work across both Canterbury and Medway campuses. The team delivered a range of customer facing projects including 9 Digital Transformation projects, helping small businesses to make the best use of technology, Three App Prototype projects, four Website projects and 29 Cyber Security Health checks, helping businesses to benchmark themselves against the National Cyber Security Centre’s Small Business Guide.

In feedback clients were highly satisfied and indicated they were likely to recommend the services to others.

Catherine Barratt, Managing Director at Furnitubes International Ltd, for whom KITC created a standalone website that promotes a new product said: “The KITC team were fantastic. They understood the brief really well, were very well organised, checked in every week and delivered a fantastic site within a few weeks. Probably the best supplier experience I have had in a while!”

Julian Jennings, Managing Director at Legality Ltd, said “Legality experienced conflicting advice from various IT companies presenting difficulties in determining the best solution. The KITC team gave us a clear and unbiased assessment of what we required to best meet our needs. Giving us reassurance and confidence in choosing the right path going forward.

The KITC is in the process of adapting its offering in the face of in the face of the Covid-19 crisis. Local SMEs can continue to access its services over the summer with a new cohort of Master’s student consultants who can help businesses adapt to new ways of working.