This is a final reminder that SharePoint 2013 will be set to ‘read only’ and cannot be edited after 7 October. Please ensure all content that you need is moved from SharePoint 2013 by this date.  

You will still be able to access SharePoint 2013 sites and download the content but will not be able to make changes to documents, permissions or other content. 

SharePoint 2013 will be permanently retired after 31 December 2022. 

What does this include? 

• All SharePoint 2013 sites, which includes anything beginning with a URL sharepoint.kent.ac.uk. 

• SharePoint 2013 ‘mysites’, which begin with the URL mysite.sharepoint.kent.ac.uk/ and can be accessed by clicking ‘OneDrive’ in the top right corner of SharePoint 2013. 

For further help: 

There is lots of useful advice on the KentNet Support site. 

If you are not aware of the process to move content or where content should be moved to please send your enquiry to Izzy Linthwaite, Digital Collaborative Services Lead, Information Services. 

At Gulbenkian we are committed to offering a diverse programme year-round, working with companies and artists who represent all parts of our community.

In October we have a number of events that celebrate the talents and creativity of Black artists listed below. For further details and how to book visit the Gulbenkian website.

On Stage:

Homeward: Soul Food by Lyrici Arts – Mon 10 Oct, 19.30

Medway based Lyrici Arts at the table for a soulful storytelling feast that will draw you into a journey that is both intimate and epic in scope. Four compelling tales from four remarkable Black heritage artists, take audiences around the world and across time on a passage of self-discovery. This is a Creative Estuary co-commission and supported by Gulbenkian Arts Centre.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo – Tue 18 Oct, 20.00

They shot to global stardom after featuring on Paul Simon’s Graceland album and have been touring the world ever since, winning five GRAMMY Awards on the way. Nelson Mandela called them “South Africa’s cultural ambassadors”, and they tour now to celebrate Black History Month.

On Screen:

Queen of Glory – Thu 13 Oct, 19.00

Queen of Glory is the story of Sarah Obeng, the brilliant child of Ghanaian immigrants, who is quitting her Ivy League PhD program to follow her married lover to Ohio.

New for this year, Gulbenkian have introduced a Kent Staff Membership.

For only £10 you get:

• 4 free cinema tickets
• 20% off all films for 12 months
• plus 40% of selected theatre for 12 months
• and 10% off in the Gulbenkian Café………for 12 months
• AND your discount can be applied for up to 6 tickets per event!

This month just for example, you can save on seeing Florence Pugh and Harry Styles on the big screen in Don’t Worry Darling, or save on tickets to see theatre legend Shôn Dale-Jones (literally) in the flesh on our stage in Still Floating.

Visit the Gulbenkian site to buy you £10 membership.

Monday 10 October is World Mental Health Day! It’s an opportunity to reflect upon your mental health and find new ways to support your wellbeing. Find out what’s planned at our Medway campus:

Pets as Therapy, 10 October

Do you love dogs? The Pets as Therapy dogs will be in the Drill Hall Library between 12.00-14.00.  Take a break from work and go and have a cuddle!

Wellbeing Fair, 10 October

Come along to Pilkington building 11.00-15.00 to meet with different support teams from the Universities at Medway as well as local mental health charities. Pick up some freebies and find out what support is on offer.

Create a wellbeing collage, 11 October

Join Medway Chaplain Lynne and other staff to create a wellbeing collage on Tuesday 11 October 10.00-14.00 in the Drill Hall Library.

Wellbeing book display

You can also check out the wellbeing book display in the Drill Hall Library. Have a browse and see if there are some books which might help you find some calm.

Wellbeing photo competition – what makes you smile?

To celebrate the World Mental Health Day, this photo challenge is an opportunity for you to share an image or moment that made you smile. Enter this free photography competition to win great prizes including Amazon vouchers. Open to all Medway campus students and staff.

NHS vaccination teams will be on site at the Medway campus on 10 and 11 October,10.00-15.00, on in the Deep End (Student Hub) to offer Covid-19 vaccinations.

Who can get vaccinated?

• Students and staff who have not have received their full UK course of vaccinations (for most people, this will be a first and second dose and one booster dose);
• Students and staff who are eligible to receive a seasonal booster dose in autumn 2022. This includes anyone over 50 and those in certain vulnerable groups;
• International students can get vaccinated in the UK if they fall into any of these categories.

Find out more information about Covid-19 vaccination. See student FAQs for Covid-19 vaccination.

The E-Learning Team are pleased to announce that the next event in our series of ‘Digitally Enhanced Education webinars’ will take place on Wednesday the 19 October from 14:00 – 16:30 (BST), with the theme ‘How Best to Engage our Students in 2022/23’

Agenda:

• 14:00 – 14:05 – Dr Phil Anthony (University of Kent): Introduction
• 14:05 – 14:20 – Sue Beckingham (Sheffield Hallam University): Getting to know your students through storytelling
• 14:20 – 14:35 – Dr Blanka Hilton (University of Kent) & Dr Stephen Hilton (UCL) : Virtual Reality (VR) Remote Education and Training: A Limitless Platform to Engage with Students
• 14:35 – 14:50 – Rob Lindsay (University of Liverpool): Zoom gloom and Teams screams: Engaging students in alternative online spaces
• 14:50 – 15:05 – Susan Cox (University of York): Keeping discussion topics fresh
• 15:05 – 15:15 – Break
• 15:15 – 15:30 – Robert Green OBE (University of Kent): Promoting active engagement – Some ideas
• 15:30 – 15:45 – Dr Alex Borman (University of Lincoln): Learning through play
• 15:45 – 16:00 – Dr Abdullahi Arabo (UWE Bristol): Authenticity and inclusivity as tool for Student Engagement
• 16:00 – 16:15 – Professor Robyn Smith (Wilmington University): How to Engage Your Asynchronous Online Students
• 16:15 – 16:30 – Dr Patrick Gillett (Southern Cross University): Using VoiceThread to achieve student AND instructor engagement

If you would like to present at a future event, please submit a short synopsis and Phil Anthony will be in touch.

Key updates:

Student Recruitment

Simone Davies attended the meeting to provide an encouraging update on the position for student recruitment, with undergraduate recruitment ahead of this year’s target by 23.5, helped by international recruitment. Post Graduate Taught recruitment is under-performing although this is somewhat offset by the recruitment of international PGT students. JSNCC recognised that there had been an incredible effort by colleagues across the university to support student recruitment and they particularly appreciated the work put in by the Marketing, Outreach, Recruitment and Admissions colleagues.

Redundancy Avoidance Agreement

Last year there was a local dispute raised by UCU over the perceived threat of compulsory redundancies and, as part of the joint statement that settled the dispute, the University agreed to develop a redundancy avoidance agreement that would be applied before invoking the organisational change procedure. The intent would be achieving required outcomes (cost saving, for example) with the aim of avoiding the need for compulsory redundancies. Over the summer, a working group of JSNCC members was convened to agree the principles and develop an agreement. This work has now concluded and the agreement is out for signature with all parties.

Voluntary Severance Scheme

The JSNCC discussed the results of the severance scheme that the University offered to staff in Grade 10 or above (later widened to include staff in Grade 9) in the summer, noting that the scheme had generated savings of over £1 million per year and saw 17 colleagues leaving from a number of divisions and departments across the university.

Workload and Wellbeing

This remains an area of great concern to the JSNCC and there was a vigorous discussion about a variety of factors affecting staff across the University. This included process changes, staff turnover, exit interviews, staff morale and burnout. The university will shortly be publishing the results of the workload and wellbeing survey completed earlier this year. As part of this strand, the JSNCC heard about work being undertaken to address the cost of living crisis faced by the country and some of the creative ways that the University could support staff facing difficulties. You can expect to hear more about this in the weeks ahead.

Celebrate the festive season in style with us this year.

We’re excited to announce that Christmas Parties on the Canterbury campus are now open and taking bookings.

We have packages to suit all tastes, from an organised Christmas Party Night on Thursday 15 December in Darwin Suite, with an indulgent 3-course meal and entertainment, or exclusive use of Darwin Suite for your own private festive event with seasonal menus, drinks and entertainment packages.

For something truly different, why not bring some festive wonder to your Christmas party and work with our events team to plan your bespoke event.

Our Conference and Events Team are on hand to take the stress out of the organisation for you.

So, whatever your plans, support Kent this season by keeping your spend on campus and count on us for fun-filled celebrations and a night to remember!

Find out more on the Conference and Events website.

Send your enquiries via this enquiry/contact form.

October can only mean one thing… we’re celebrating Black History Month at Kent. This year, the national theme is ‘Time for Change: Action, Not Words’ and this has never felt more pertinent. At Kent, we are committed to ensuring that all our students and staff, including our Black students and staff, have the best experience possible whilst they are with us.   

Celebrating Black History 

Black History Month is an opportunity for us as an organisation to celebrate and recognise the myriad of ways in which Black people have contributed to the arts, science, culture, history and technology of Britain and the wider world. It allows us to shine a spotlight on those achievements, and also provides a platform for staff and students to discuss and reflect on their own experiences. Our activities here are organised by a team of people that include the BAME Staff and Student Networks and representatives.   

Get involved – Black History Month events 

Events to look out for include art exhibitions, a book club, online theatre screenings, an open mic night, a coffee morning, 10,000 Black Interns project, Inspirational Speaker Ezechi Britton MBE, film screenings, a Black Owned Business Market and lots of online resources for you to enjoy and to deepen your own learning.  

Plus, don’t miss our BHM staff webinars – Introduction to Anti-Racism and Next steps to Allyship. 

Check out Kent Union’s Black History Month website for all events and resources. 

Continuing the celebrations #Black365 

We don’t just limit this celebration to one month a year. That is why we have #Black365; a series of events and activities that take place throughout the year that continue the legacy of Black History Month.  

Challenging racism also takes a university-wide approach and we know there is always more we can put in place to both be better and do better. We recently launched our Antiracism Strategy which outlined our commitment to taking action against all forms of racism at the University, and beyond. 

We also launched our work on the Race Equality Charter, the national framework which universities use to identify and self-reflect on institutional and cultural barriers that stand in the way of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic staff and students to help us grow and improve as an institution.  

We really hope you explore and enjoy all the different events and activities that have been organised by staff and students for staff and students. We are always seeking to improve though, so if you have any ideas for the future, or feedback, please do get in contact with us on StudentEDI@kent.ac.uk  

Happy Black History Month 22!  

#BHMKent22  

Our official Employee Assistance Programme provider, Care first offers a numbers of services and provide useful advice and support.

Here’s the schedule for two weeks:

Week commencing 10 October 2022

Monday 10 October – ‘Mental health awareness – In association with World mental health day’– Awareness and information on Mental health, how to recognise and support
those experiencing mental illness and changes to their mental health.
Time: 12.00-12.30 – click on this link to sign up

Wednesday 12 October – ‘How Care first can support you’– A webinar for awareness and how to access the EAP service provided by Care first.
Time: 12.00-12.30 – click on this link to sign up

Friday 14 October – ‘Your counselling‘ call to Care first’ – This webinar provides an overview of what you can expect when making a call to the counselling help line.
Time: 12.00-12.30 – click on this link to sign up

Week commencing 17 October 2022

Monday 17 October – ‘Menopause awareness’ – This session looks at the impact of Menopause on a woman’s mental and physical health. Offering ideas for ways that may help you cope when
going through this stage of your life, Supported by a menopause specialist.
Time: 12.00-12.30 – click on this link to sign up

Wednesday 19 October – ‘How Care first can support you’ – A webinar for awareness and how to access the EAP service provided by Care first.
Time: 12.00-12.30 – click on this link to sign up

Friday 21 October – ‘Practical information and advice through Care first’ – The webinar provides detail about our Information Specialists and their role as part of your EAP service.
Time: 12.00-12.30 – click on this link to sign up