As a University community, we will be able to adapt well to what comes next – that’s among the positive responses we’ve had to our recent Future of Work staff survey.

The aim of the survey was to capture the best parts of what’s happened over the past year and find out how the University can support us in future. Staff working on campus and/or at home were asked to share their experiences of work since March 2020.

You told us that:

• You’re proud of how teams had pulled together to find viable and productive ways of operating during the pandemic
• If working on campus, you stressed the importance of being able to engage and collaborate with colleagues, as well as disconnecting from work on leaving campus
• If working at home, you appreciated having less distractions, and being able to devote more time to personal health and wellbeing and exercise
• You also gave a thumbs-up for Microsoft Teams changing how we work, highlighting stronger collaboration between Canterbury and Medway colleagues since connecting virtually
• And many of you voiced your appreciation for colleagues who have continued providing essential services, as well as praising technical support and communications.

You also mentioned some of the difficulties and challenges you’ve faced over the last year:

• Concerns about long-term digital engagement leading to poor mental health and isolation for some
• Missing seeing colleagues in person, catching up informally and sharing ideas and insights
• The effort involved in overcoming the challenges of engaging with students in an online setting
• Needing time to prepare resources after the sudden switch to online teaching
• Inadequate set-up for working at home longer-term
• Too much screen time and experiencing ‘Zoom fatigue’

What happens next

Your feedback (anonymised and non-attributable) is now informing discussions at EG and the JSNCC about how we work in the future and the infrastructure and support we will need.

Follow-up work is already underway across the University, with key stakeholders incorporating feedback from the survey into their planning for 2021/22. This includes education, student experience, technology, space planning, staff training and development, and further opportunities for collaborative working.

Find out more

Fuller feedback from the survey is available now on our HR webpages. You can also learn more about the survey, as well as our new Hybrid Working Scheme and plans for major changes in HR services at Kent, at our next Staff Webchat on Thursday 15 July 

We are delighted to announce this year’s winners of the University Research and Innovation Prize competition.

The annual prizes were designed to celebrate the achievements of academic and professional services staff across a range of areas – especially activities that have had a transformative effect, created new knowledge, benefited a particular community and/or supported others in the research and innovation ecosystem.

Working alongside KMTV, there will be a prize-giving event taking place online from 13.00 – 14.00 Thursday 15 July where 7 awards will be handed out to staff in recognition of their accomplishments at the University. This will be streamed from the Uni YouTube and Facebook accounts.

This year’s winners are as follows:

Starting Research Prize

For research staff who are less than 7 years from PhD completion and with a research track record that shows great promise. Permanent academic staff, fellows and researchers may apply.

Joint Winners: Jim Everett (HSS) and Rasa Mikelyte (LSSJ)
Honourable mentions: Ed Kirton-Darling (LSSJ), Flora Renz (LSSJ), and Emma Veale (NatSci)

Consolidator Research Prize

For research staff who are 7–12 years from PhD completion and with a track record showing outstanding research talent.

Winner: Jennifer Hiscock (NatSci)
Honourable mentions: Marina Ezcurra (NatSci) and Joy Zhang (LSSJ)

Advanced Research Prize

For research staff with more than 12 years from PhD completion and leaders in their field, demonstrating significant achievement in the last 10 years.

Winner: Sophia Labadi (Arts & Hums)
Honourable mention: Anastasios Tsaousis (NatSci)

Knowledge Exchange and Innovation Prize

 For research staff who have made a significant contribution to the innovation and enterprise activities at the University, through collaboration with industry and knowledge exchange.

Winner: Alessia Buscanio and Colin Robinson (NatSci)
Honourable mention: Robert Fish and Joseph Tzanopoulos (HSS)

Technician of the Year Prize

 For technical staff who have made a significant contribution to research and innovation activities at the University.

Winner: Philip Robinson (LSSJ)

Professional Services Support of the Year Prize

For professional services staff who have made a significant contribution to support research and innovation activities at the University.

Joint Winners: Jess Day (RIS) and Alexandra Leduc-Pagel (HSS)
Honourable mention: Jessica Cockell (KBS)

The 2021 Kent Research and Innovation Community Prize

 In addition to the above prizes, and in recognition of the exceptionally challenging year that staff have faced as a result of the pandemic, this special award was purposefully designed for any Kent staff member who has provided invaluable support to assist colleagues, students or the wider community in research and innovation activities over the past academic year.

Winner: Catherine Robinson (KBS)
Honourable mentions: Kathleen Quinlan (Education) and the Research Design Services team (LSSJ)

From Simone Davies, Director of MORA: 

As we head into Confirmation and Clearing I wanted to give you an update on how important this will be for us this year, the approach we will be taking and how you can help make Clearing 2021 a success. 

In terms of context we are going to be more reliant on gaining students through Clearing this year than we were last year, confirmation has a shorter window and Clearing itself has been brought forward. Therefore we need to have simple but highly efficient processes for both confirmation and the issuing of Clearing offers. We also need to be cognisant of the fact that we are still operating during a pandemic. 

For us to succeed and to be in a position to welcome students to the university we need a lot of help and support from everyone; particularly around Clearing offer making, staffing the Hotline and making calls to prospective students.  

Last year we moved confirmation online and that was really successful – so we will be doing the same this year. We’ve streamlined the process a bit more which means there won’t be a need for double checking actions. For this to work effectively our tariff needs to be a simple as possible. We will again be working on a points-based tariff, whilst maintaining any grades that are mandatory. As in previous years, we will contact Divisions about any student who falls outside the pre-agreed tariff.  

During Clearing offer making will be immediate and managed, in the main, centrally, with follow-up calls being made by academics within the Divisions. We need to take an ‘all hands on-deck’ approach to Clearing. We are going to be delivering this almost all virtually and are working on a wide number of contingencies to ensure smooth delivery.   

 Last year, UCAS introduced Clearing Plus, this worked very well for some subjects and we are keen to replicate that success – to do that we need adequate resource and knowledge at a subject level. Divisional Marketing Managers (MREMs) will be coordinating this across Divisions 

 If you’re able to help, particularly on Tuesday 10 and Wednesday 11 August, and you’re not already on a Clearing rota please get in touch with Laetitia Gullett via schoolsliaison@kent.ac.uk.

Full training will be given and, for anyone who hasn’t done it before, it is a really rewarding experience. You will have full support and supervisors are on hand to help at all times. 

Thank you for all your help and support with Clearing. 

Simone

Simone Davies | Director of MORA

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

This week’s (Monday 5 July – Friday 9 July) webinars are as follows:

Monday 5 July 2021 – ‘How Care first can support you’
Time: 12.00-12.30 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link

Tuesday 6 July 2021 – ‘How talking therapy works’
Time: 12.00-12.30 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link

Wednesday 7 July 2021 – ‘Introducing healthy eating this summer’
Time: 12.00-12.30 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link

Thursday 8 July 2021 – ‘COVID-19: Why it is still a good idea to socialise outside’
Time: 12.00-12.30 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link

Friday 9 July 2021 – ‘Top tips to boost your immunity’
Time: 12.00-12.30 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link

From Professor Richard Reece, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Chair of Covid-19 Silver Command

Following my email earlier in the week on the rise of student cases of Covid-19 on our Canterbury campus, I wanted to give you all a further update on what the latest picture is and what we can all do to continue to keep each other safe.

We have been liaising with the local Health Protection Team throughout the week to ensure we are doing all we can to maintain safety on campus. This includes helping students to travel home safely, many of whom have now done so, and supporting those who need to remain with us to self-isolate for a short period – thank you to all of you for everything you are doing to support this, across a wide range of departments and services.

Covid cases have been rising across the country, particularly among 18-24 year olds. With that in mind, colleagues should continue to work from home if they can to ensure we are doing our bit to minimise any further cases. Sticking to key safety guidance – including ‘Hands, Face, Space’ – remains hugely important for those working on campus or accessing campus facilities, and we continue to have measures in place to support social distancing across our campuses.

Testing is also a vital part of this if you are on campus at any time, with our asymptomatic testing centre remaining open for those that need it. Vaccination is also a key part of stopping the spread of Covid-19 and we encourage all of you to have the vaccine if offered – your manager will support you if you need to book either vaccination or testing during work time.

We will be reassessing all our safety measures on campus following the Government’s next review of their roadmap later this month. I will be in touch then, while we will also be able to update further on changes and how they affect you at our next Staff Webchat scheduled for Thursday 15 July, from 12.00-13.00. Sign-up details for this webchat will be available in next week’s staff newsletter.

Thank you once again to all of you for the tremendous effort across our campuses to keep infection rates low for the vast majority of the year, and for the way you have all pulled together to keep our students, and each other, safe.

With all best wishes,

Richard

Professor Richard Reece | Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Chair of Covid-19 Silver Command

Kick start environmental conversations with your family this Plastic Free July with Gulbenkian’s family film screenings of Moana and Ponyo.

In Moana, the daughter of a Polynesian Chief undertakes an oceanic odyssey to save her endangered isle from environmental devastation enlisting the aid of the legendary demigod Maui along the way. Moana and Maui’s quest to restore ecological balance and preserve traditional culture highlights how indigenous peoples are among those most impacted by global warming. Moana will be screened at Gulbenkian on Sunday 18 July at 15.00

Fantastic for younger children, Ponyo is a colourful story of a little boy who befriends a magical fish, who evolves into a young girl.  An environmentalist twist on the little mermaid tale from Studio Ghibli, touching on themes of pollution, global warming, personal responsibility and rising sea levels. Ponyo will be screened at Gulbenkian on Sunday 25 July at 15.00.

Tickets for family film screenings are £3.50 / Baby on laps(0-18months) +£1. For more information and tickets please visit www.thegulbenkian.co.uk or call 01227 769075.

Find out more about how you can join the global movement to reduce plastic pollution so we can have cleaner streets, oceans and communities on the Plastic Free July website.

The University is creating a new online space for staff information, as our new staff intranet, delivered through SharePoint Online. It will be the go-to place for staff information and news.  

Rather than one size fits all, you’ll be able to tailor the new intranet to what works best for you. Each Division and Department will have its own special space to share with its community, and staff will be able to choose much of the news they see depending on their interests. 

Using SharePoint Online as the basis of our new intranet will ensure compatibility with all our other Microsoft 365 tools, including Teams, OneDrive and other apps.  

What type of information will be on it? 

• University-wide news  
• University-wide resources  
• Departmental and divisional news, resources, events and information 
• Project information and document sharing  
• Specialist topic areas such as Copyright and Finance 

See how all the Staff Intranet will fit in with other Microsoft 365 tools 

It will replace the Staff Guide on the University website, and current SharePoint sites such as the departmental, divisional and project sites housed in SharePoint 2013. 

Why we’re changing things 

Our new staff intranet will offer the following benefits:  

• Simpler to find what you need – no need to search in numerous places online 
• Single source of accurate information 
• Easy to manage and update content through a simple interface  
• Keeps audience-specific content separate e.g. staff and student information 
• Let’s you tailor content that is relevant to you  

Timeframe for introduction

Divisions already have access to a SharePoint Online Communications hub site, and are putting in content useful for their own division.

July – October 2021 

• We’ll consult with your department / directorate to understand your needs and requirements for storing and sharing staff information. We’ll take this feedback into account when developing the service.
• We’ll pilot intranet sites with different business areas across the University. 
• Professional service directorates’ needs will be gathered over this period. 

November 2021 to 2022  

There will be a phased approach to the creation of intranet sites across academic divisions and professional service directorates. 

By September 2022 

Existing SharePoint 2013 sites will become ‘read only’. 

End 2022 

Work is expected to be completed by end 2022. SharePoint 2013 sites will need to close by then. 

Support 

We’ll offer training and guidance to support you in creating your new intranet presence and choosing the most appropriate place to store your content. There will be no automated transferring of information from SharePoint 2013 to the new intranet.  

You’ll need to plan in some time to review all your current staff-based content stored elsewhere eg SharePoint, Staff Guide, the Kent.ac.uk website. It will take time to review and scope your new intranet area. 

It is suggested that you identify a lead person for this work. We’ll be in touch to identify with you the best way to proceed.  

What should we call it? 

The new intranet is a first for the University and a unique opportunity to celebrate our staff community and everything that makes it special to work at Kent. 

We need a name for our new staff intranet and would welcome your suggestions. Head over to Yammer now and cast your vote on the options, or feel free to add your own!  

There will be a new SharePoint Online site published soon with all the information you will need about the staff intranet and how you will be supported in this change.  

For further information contact: Isobel Linthwaite, Collaboration Services Owner, through Teams or email.  

This week was another reminder of the disruptive impact of Covid-19 as we took the difficult decision to end much of our campus activity a week early. None of us wanted this and I know how hard many have worked to give our students the send-off they deserve. However, adapting quickly to fast-moving events has been critical all year and once the rise in cases became apparent, we had little choice but to switch to supporting students to return home safely. This takes a huge combined effort and I cannot express enough my appreciation for what all of you are doing to keep our community safe.

This marks a strange end to another unprecedented term. At Council on Friday we reflected on both the unpredictable environment we continue to operate in and, importantly, the progress we’ve managed to make in spite of it – including our recent Silver Athena SWAN Award, which reflects fantastic work to further equality and diversity across the University.

While I know it has been far from easy, we have also made significant steps to improve our financial position this year and I’m pleased that we will be able to take the brakes off some of our more immediate restraints from last year, such as the pay freeze. We do, though, continue to carry an underlying deficit and face challenges ahead, from planned pension changes to the Government’s much anticipated spending review. Keeping within our means will remain critical as we turn our focus more and more to growing our income, implementing the priorities set out in Kent 2025 and continue towards a more sustainable position and successful future.

Friday’s Council discussion also touched on our political environment, with the continued focus on the impact of universities and issues surrounding freedom of expression. Academic freedom and freedom of speech are fundamental to our work and we have a statutory duty to uphold them; similarly, equality, diversity and respect are our central values, backed by legal obligations under the Equalities Act. It is within this context that Council as our governing body approved adoption of the IHRA definition of antisemitism, following a formal Government request. They also approved usage of the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism to support with interpretation after feedback from staff, students, Senate and wider legal advice. This is an important step in ensuring our Jewish community feel safe on campus and we will be shortly sharing more information on implementation as part of our continued work to tackle discrimination and racism.

Finally, I know that recent weeks have included challenges for many as work continues to bed in KentVision. This has had a big impact on exam boards in particular, and I want to apologise for the extra pressure this has placed on staff and to thank all those involved for the way they have responded to a difficult situation. The KentVision team are working hard to address these initial issues and relieve any additional workload as quickly as possible. I also wanted to point to our upcoming Clearing efforts later in the summer, where we will need a university-wide approach to support our Marketing and Recruitment colleagues and teams in the academic Divisions to ensure a successful outcome; more details on how we can all help with this will be shared shortly.

In the meantime, my thanks once again for all that you have contributed over this last year. I wish you all the very best for the summer.

With my best wishes to you and your families,

Karen

Professor Karen Cox | Vice-Chancellor and President

Applications open today (Wednesday 30 June) for staff who wish to choose where they work for part of the week.

Under our new Hybrid Working Scheme – open to all professional services staff on UK employment contracts – if your job is suitable for remote working, you can request to work off-campus for up to two days per week, starting from 20 September 2021.

Staff who are contracted to work on four days per week or more will be able to apply to work remotely up to two days per week. Staff who work on fewer than four days can apply for one remote working day per week.

How to apply

The default application window for eligible staff is from 30 June – 30 July 2021. This may be varied locally, if necessary due to logistical constraints, and you will be notified if this is the case.

To apply, log into Staff Connect and go to ‘My Forms’ where you will find a link to the Hybrid Working Scheme application documents.  It is important that you read the Application Guide on the HR pages, and take into account any local parameters that have been shared with you by your line manager, before submitting your application.

Your application will be assessed by your line manager, in consultation with your departmental director and in line with agreed criteria. This will take account of what is operationally viable for you in your role, service requirements and overall needs of your team. Managers are being encouraged to facilitate hybrid working wherever operationally possible.

Why we’re doing it

The new scheme underlines the benefits of hybrid working for both the University and our staff. We believe that giving you more choice and control over where you work helps build mutual trust, employee motivation and wellbeing, and can result in enhanced performance.

The Hybrid Working Scheme has been developed in consultation with a JSNCC Working Group and cross-section of other key stakeholders across the University.

Find out more

Further information on the Hybrid Working Scheme, including FAQs, is available now on our HR webpages.

The University of Kent Research Excellence Team, in collaboration with KMTV, present ‘Next Generation Impact’; the first streamed impact series for all levels of academic and professional staff across our sector.

The series will tackle all aspects of the impact agenda, from engagement to working in partnership and funding impact activities.

The next session titled ‘Maximising impact: engaging the public with research’ will take place online on Thursday 1 July 12.00 – 13.00 and will contemplate the future of engagement with research in a post-Covid world. This open to all ll levels of academic and professional staff across the sector.

Who’s on the panel:

Catherine Richardson, Professor Early Modern Studies at the University of Kent and Director of the Institute of Cultural and Creative Industries (ICCI)

Alex Stevens, Professor in Criminal Justice at the University of Kent

Mark Connelly, Professor of Modern British History at the University of Kent and Director of Gateways to the First World War

Book your place  by visiting the Next Generation Impact website