{"id":1292,"date":"2025-12-10T14:56:59","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T14:56:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/student-news\/?p=1292"},"modified":"2025-12-10T14:56:59","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T14:56:59","slug":"tea-with-the-vc-your-questions-answered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/student-news\/2025\/12\/10\/tea-with-the-vc-your-questions-answered\/","title":{"rendered":"Tea with the VC: Your questions answered"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Last week, Kent students gathered for our latest <strong>Tea with the Vice-Chancellor<\/strong> session \u2013 an open forum where Kent students put their burning questions directly to the VC. Don\u2019t worry if you couldn\u2019t make it \u2013 watch\/read the video\/blog summary with Himadri (KSU President) and George (University of Kent VC and President) below. Tea with the VC will also be returning in the New Year!<\/p>\n<div class=\"kent-video-wrapper\"><span class='embed-youtube' style='text-align:center; display: block;'><iframe class='youtube-player' type='text\/html' width='1140' height='672' src='https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/kIu4cappWdk?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;fs=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;wmode=transparent' frameborder='0' allowfullscreen='true'><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>From big-picture changes to everyday student concerns, here\u2019s what was discussed:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>The Greenwich collaboration \u2013 What does it mean for students?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>The headline topic was the proposed <a href=\"https:\/\/student.kent.ac.uk\/collaboration-with-the-university-of-greenwich\">merger between the University of Kent and University of Greenwich<\/a>. The VC clarified that this is the creation of a <strong>first-of-its-kind multi-university group<\/strong>. The University of Kent and the University of Greenwich plan to form the <strong>London and South East University Group<\/strong> (name subject to regulatory approval).<\/p>\n<p>Students will still apply to, study at, and graduate from their chosen university, but the partnership aims to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Build resilience for the future<\/li>\n<li>Share best practice<\/li>\n<li>Enhance resources for student experience and research<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For now, nothing will change for students. In time, we expect them to benefit from additional opportunities that will come from being part of the new group.<\/p>\n<p>Find out more about the <a href=\"https:\/\/student.kent.ac.uk\/collaboration-with-the-university-of-greenwich\">collaboration with the University of Greenwich.<\/a><\/p>\n<ol start=\"2\">\n<li><strong> Cost of Living <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Acknowledging the ongoing financial pressures students face, the VC outlined a range of initiatives:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The work of the Cost of Living task force, in partnership with Kent Students\u2019 Union, to discuss pressures faced by students and how the University can respond and support students.<\/li>\n<li>Affordable <a href=\"https:\/\/student.kent.ac.uk\/news\/267\/new-meal-deals-at-canterbury\"><strong>meal deals<\/strong><\/a> and social spaces with <a href=\"https:\/\/student.kent.ac.uk\/life\/campus-lounges\">microwaves and hot water taps.<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/student.kent.ac.uk\/support\/financial-hardship\"><strong>Hardship fund<\/strong><\/a> and revised Kent Financial Support Package.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/student.kent.ac.uk\/studies\/borrow-from-the-templeman-library\/student-laptop-loans\"><strong>Laptop loans<\/strong><\/a> and structural <a href=\"https:\/\/student.kent.ac.uk\/kent-2030#new-from-september\">changes to the academic calendar<\/a> to support working students.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Kent is committed to <strong>ongoing support<\/strong>, recognising that these challenges aren\u2019t going away. <a href=\"https:\/\/student.kent.ac.uk\/cost-of-living-support\">See our Cost-of-Living webpages for more.<\/a><\/p>\n<ol start=\"3\">\n<li><strong> Employability and placements<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Graduate employability is a priority area for both our students and the University. Steps Kent is taking to improve your career opportunities and develop your skills include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Embedding <strong>skills and industry links<\/strong> into the curriculum.<\/li>\n<li>Expanding <a href=\"https:\/\/student.kent.ac.uk\/careers\/year-in-industry\/finding-a-placement\"><strong>placement opportunities<\/strong><\/a><strong>.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Relocating the <a href=\"https:\/\/student.kent.ac.uk\/careers\"><strong>Careers and Employability Service<\/strong><\/a> to a central campus location.<\/li>\n<li>Support available up to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kent.ac.uk\/alumni\"><strong>three years after graduation<\/strong><\/a><strong>.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ol start=\"4\">\n<li><strong> Medway Campus <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Medway students raised concerns about feeling overlooked and the VC understands these concerns but highlighted exciting developments at Medway and opportunities for students:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Long-term plans include an <strong>accelerated business degree<\/strong> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kent.ac.uk\/institute-cultural-creative-industries\/dockingstation\"><strong>Docking Station<\/strong><\/a>, a digital innovation hub opening in 2026.<\/li>\n<li>Medway has its own <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehubmedway.co.uk\/\">Students\u2019 Union building on campus \u2013 the Hub<\/a>. The Hub is home to all three universities\u2019 unions, providing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehubmedway.co.uk\/advice\/\">support<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehubmedway.co.uk\/whatson\/\">events<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehubmedway.co.uk\/groups\/\">societies<\/a> all students can get involved in. You can also find <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehubmedway.co.uk\/thedeepend\/\">The Deep End<\/a>, a bar and caf\u00e9, in The Hub.<\/li>\n<li>Medway students have access to the facilities at both the Canterbury and Medway campuses, with the free <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kent.ac.uk\/transport\/commute-smarter\/campus-shuttle\">Campus Shuttle connecting both sites.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What\u2019s next?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>More sessions are planned for <strong>Term 2 <\/strong>so <a href=\"https:\/\/student.kent.ac.uk\/\">keep an eye on My Kent<\/a> for more details in the New Year. Got questions or ideas? Email: <a href=\"mailto:hello@ksu.co.uk\"><strong>hello@ksu.co.uk<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last week, Kent students gathered for our latest Tea with the Vice-Chancellor session \u2013 an open forum where Kent students put their burning questions directly &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/student-news\/2025\/12\/10\/tea-with-the-vc-your-questions-answered\/\">Read&nbsp;more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24530,"featured_media":1305,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[312383,202865],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/student-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1292"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/student-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/student-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/student-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24530"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/student-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1292"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/student-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1292\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1306,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/student-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1292\/revisions\/1306"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/student-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/student-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/student-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/student-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}