You are cordially invited to attend The TEF and Student Engagement Conference scheduled for Friday 8 November 2019 in Woolf Lecture Theatre on Canterbury campus.

The conference is open to all staff at the University. Further details and booking are available on our Teaching webpages.

The final programme and exact timings will be published as soon as possible. I do hope as many of you can attend as possible and encourage colleagues in your school/centres to sign up too. You would be able to dip in and out if you need to.

A special note of thanks to Louise Naylor and Debbie Hayward from UELT for supporting the arrangements too.

Melissa Mulhall
Assistant Director, Student Engagement and Experience

The University of Kent can recognise claims for Fellowship at the HEA (Fellow Descriptor 2 and Senior Fellow Descriptor 3).

HEA Fellowship is international recognition of a commitment to professionalism in teaching and learning in higher education and demonstrates that your practice is aligned with the UK Professional Standards Framework (UKPSF) Higher Education Academy – (HEA).

Gaining HEA Fellowship status provides you with national recognition of your expertise and commitment to professionalism in teaching and learning and demonstrates that your practice is aligned with the UK Professional Standards Framework (UKPSF) for leading, teaching and supporting learning in higher education.

Click here for the Moodle page.

Staff applying for HEA recognition do so at no cost to themselves. Independent application incurs a cost of £400 or £600.

From 1 February 2018, eligibility for HEA Fellowship was widened to include three groups of HE practitioners that teach and/or support learning on the following types of programmes in the UK:

•       Foundation Year programmes;

•       Pre-sessional English courses for international degree students designed to develop academic skills;

•       Professional CPD programmes that are designed to develop and extend existing graduate/postgraduate level skills, knowledge and understanding, e.g. GP training, etc.

If you and/or others in your team would like to know more on about developing a claim for UKPSF recognition, contact: recognition@kent.ac.uk

The Learning and Teaching Network are running a workshop titled ‘Developing your voice: confidence and projection’ on Wednesday 9 October 2019 in the UELT Seminar Room. Two sessions are available to choose from 11.00-12.30 and 13.30-15.00.

This workshop is led by Matt Hoss, a Kent Stand-up Comedian ((BBC Newcastle Comedy Writer, Co-Host of Miffs Podcast and Eric Barker Award Winner 2015), School of Arts.

The workshop brings the skills of the stage to the workplace.  We aim to allow you to overcome any nervousness of public speaking and become more engaging in the way that you may address a group of people. We will give you the means and confidence to be yourself when in front of any audience.  It will feature warm-ups, games and techniques which you can apply to any situation, including the lecture.

To book a place, please complete the online booking form.

Every UK University can nominate up to three individuals annually for a National Teaching Fellowship award, a process administered by Advance HE.

The aim of National Teaching Fellowship (NTF) awards is to recognise individual excellence in teaching and/or supporting higher education learning.  Additionally, in recognition of the increasing importance of programme teams in teaching and student learning support, Advance-HE created a Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (CATE). While both NTFS and CATE are very competitive (55 NTF and 6 CATE awards are made nationally), University staff have enjoyed success, most recently in the 2017 and 2018 rounds.

A briefing session will take place on Thursday 24 October 2019 from 13.00-14.00 in the UELT Seminar Room. The session will be presented by Fran Beaton, UELT, Academic Practice Team and is an opportunity to find out about the criteria, the application process, timescale and available support.

Please note that this session is open both to staff who may be considering an application at a later date and staff who plan to apply this year.

Please confirm your attendance at the briefing session by emailing cpdbookings@kent.ac.uk

Acting in accordance with the Higher Education Code of Governance and the Office for Students Audit requirements, the University Council has established a Register of Interests for members of Council and for all staff.  It is at the discretion of individual members of staff what, if any, interests they declare.  It should be noted, however, that declaration provides a protection for the University and individuals against any possible allegations of impropriety.

For the purposes of the Register, an interest is defined to be any financial or other personal interest an individual may have in any relationship or proposed relationship between the University and an external body.  This would include consultancy, employment, directorship or other activity within a commercial concern, shareholding or membership of statutory and public authorities.  Other education establishments and companies with which the University has an actual or potential business relationship should be included, as should any interest that a family member might have that could give the appearance of a conflict, even where no actual conflict exists.

All staff are invited to submit new or updated declarations for incorporation in the 2019/2020 Register.  Council Secretariat will be pleased to provide confidential advice to any member of staff on this matter.

Documents, including the Policy and a Declaration Form can be accessed on the Council Secretariat website.

The University’s Policy on Personal Benefit can be found here.

In the latest episode of the Nostalgia podcast series, Chris Deacy, Head of the Department of Religious Studies, interviews Victoria Mullen, a University of Kent Religious Studies alumnus.

Victoria talks about her journey from managing a Canterbury restaurant to doing a degree in Religious Studies and now working as a school lay chaplain in Nottingham. We learn about her early years in Galway, perceptions of sexism and ageing, going swimming every day as a child, Robson & Jerome, seeing Bucks Fizz on stage, Catholic education, why teaching is a vocation, the relationship between forgiveness and sin, and what Victoria’s younger self would think about what she is doing now.

The University of Kent Players are pleased to announce that auditions for the University of Kent Players February production of Dangerous Corner, by J B Priestley will take place on:

• Wednesday 2nd October 12 – 13.30

• Thursday 3rd October 17.30 – 19.30 (arrive from 17.00 for a 19.30 start)

Both rehearsals will be in Cornwallis East 329 (third floor).

Dangerous Corner overview: Robert Caplan and his wife are entertaining her brother and sister-in-law, Olwen Peel and Charles Stanton – all of whom are associated with Robert in a publishing business. Because Robert insists on uncovering the truth about his brother Martin’s “suicide”, many unpalatable revelations ensue.

As always, it would be great if you’re able to attend both audition dates, but this is not essential. The audition process itself is fairly informal, with a chance to meet everyone and ask questions before the audition begins.

The production dates are 27-29 February 2020 and all cast/crew will be expected to be available for the full show week starting 24 February.

In terms of rehearsals, these are likely to start from mid-late October and to take place around lunchtimes and late afternoons (e.g. 16.00-18.00) depending on cast availability up until Christmas. Post-work rehearsals will begin from January.

If you like any further details about the above or the script ahead of auditions, please do not hesitate to contact the players: players@kent.ac.uk