Kent: as others see usAnnual Report 2003-2004

Contents

01 Vice-Chancellor introduction02 ‘Great expectations on the Medway’04 ‘One of the crown jewels of Kent’06 Top Ten Best for Jobs 08 ‘An area of sector-wide good practice’10 People12 Donors

1

Universities can easily become

introspective. At one time, perhaps, they

felt secure enough not to worry about

how the outside world saw them. But

these days that is not this case. More than

ever in today’s climate it is important to

know how the world views us and to

understand what other people are saying

about us.

This report reflects the major events of

the University of Kent’s year, seen

through the eyes of others: the press,

politicians, industry, league tables, quality

assurance agencies. We regularly seek the

views of our students, but these ‘others’

are important opinion formers for higher

education and their endorsement is

valuable for our future plans.

The report also reflects four main strands

of our activity. Firstly our increased

presence in Medway and the continuing

progress of the Universities at Medway

project, which moved within the space of

the year from drawing board to actuality

as the building work began.

Secondly, our regional activities, which

encompass not only the county but our

Euroregion and the University of the

Transmanche.Thirdly our continued high

standard of learning and teaching, which

drew accolades from a number of

different sources; and finally the activities

of our students, above and beyond their

coursework. Other main areas of activity,

research and enterprise, are highlighted in

the accompanying Research and

Enterprise Report.

This report highlights the University’s

achievements and successes throughout

last year. More importantly, however, it

demonstrates how positively the media,

politicians and the University’s other

external stakeholders perceived them. I

believe this report is tracking what we

have been doing and gives insights into

where we want to go.We can have great

aspirations but need to see how these are

perceived by our critics and the wider

community.

Professor David MelvilleVice-Chancellor

introductionVice-Chancellor

January: Medway School of Pharmacy officiallyopened

The Medway School of Pharmacy is an

exciting new venture jointly established

by Kent and the University of Greenwich.

It opened its doors to students in

September, and was officially opened at

a ceremony in January by Dr Annette

Doherty, Senior Vice-President, Pfizer

Global Research & Development and

Director of the Sandwich Laboratories

UK.

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During the year developments have

continued in Medway.The new joint

campus at the former HMS Pembroke in

Chatham’s Historic Dockyard, shared with

the University of Greenwich and Mid-Kent

College, has continued to win plaudits

across the higher education world, and has

been hailed as ‘pioneering’ by the national

press.The plan is that there will be 6,000

students at Medway by 2007.

October: funding packagefinalised

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott

announced the go-ahead for the

Universities at Medway partnership to

present detailed proposals for a £15

million bid to further develop the joint

Medway campus.This was the final piece

in a total package of £50 million for the

Universities at Medway initiative.

‘Great expectations on the Medway’The Independent, 15th January 2004

1 Artist’s impression of the LearningResource Centre, Medway

2/3 School of Pharmacy officially opened4 Building work begins

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3

Pfizer Ltd is providing £500,000 of

sponsorship over five years, which includes

the new Pfizer Chair of Pharmacy. Dr

Doherty said ‘This is a fantastic

opportunity for Pfizer to support the

education and development of potential

pharmacists. By offering a specialised

learning facility, the School will help these

students make an invaluable contribution

to the public health of the nation and we

are delighted to be involved with the

project.’

January also saw the visit of Rosie

Winterton MP, Minister of State for

Health. Speaking after her visit, she said

‘I have been very impressed with what I

have seen and heard today.The Medway

School of Pharmacy will help tackle the

shortage of pharmacists nationally, and in

this region.’

March: Canterbury ChristChurch joins Medwayinitiative

Canterbury Christ Church University

College joined the Universities at Medway

collaboration, with proposals for investing

over £5 million in a state-of-the art

teaching and learning facility.

The building is adjacent to the Chatham

Maritime site and the new facilities will

lead to over 1,000 Christ Church students

being based at and taught at Medway.The

students will also use the joint Learning

Resources Centre.

May: planning permissiongranted

Medway Council gave the go-ahead for

building work to begin on the University’s

Pembroke site.This included refurbishment

of the Grade II listed Drill Hall, and our

new four-storey academic building.

July: building work begins

The vision started to become a reality

when construction work began on the

site of the new four-storey academic

building to be shared by the University

and Mid-Kent College. It will house

academic and administrative staff, lecture

theatres and seminar rooms equipped

with the latest technology, plus specialist

music studios, rehearsal rooms and sports

facilities.The building work should be

ready in time to welcome new students

to the site in September 2005.

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‘One of the crown jewels ofBaroness Williams of Crosby, 20th February 2004

4

Baroness Williams of Crosby, co-founder

of the Social Democratic Party and

former Professor of Politics at the

J F Kennedy School of Government at

Harvard, came to the University in

February. During her visit she opened the

new extension to the Registry building,

ending her speech by saying ‘The

University, along with the Cathedral, is

now one of the crown jewels of Kent’.

Baroness Williams then delivered the Lord

Mayor’s Lecture, part of the Open Lecture

series, on Living with a Giant: Britain’s

relationship with the USA. Shirley Williams

has close links with Kent, having family in

Broadstairs and having frequently visited

Deal as a child.

New name shows theworld we mean business

January saw a change of personnel, and

signalled a change of name, for Canterbury

Business School. Following the retirement

of Professor James Hughes the School

appointed Martyn Jones, from the

University of Aberystwyth, as Director. He

was joined by Professor Paul Phillips from

the University of Surrey as Deputy

Director and Professor John Mingers from

the University of Warwick as Director of

Research.

The change of name is from Canterbury

Business School to Kent Business School, in

a move that means no less commitment to

the city, but reflects the ambition to be a

force across the county and beyond.

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In an interview with local business press,

Martyn Jones said ‘It’s got to be a school

with a vision of operating on an

international stage but with its roots in

Kent. I am convinced that we have some

absolutely unique opportunities and it’s

my belief that within the school we have

the ability and staff to pursue these for

the benefit of the School, the University

and the community.’

University of theTransmanche

The University of the Transmanche, the

unique collaboration of Kent with four

French universities (the Université des

Sciences et Technologies de Lille, the

Université du Droit et de la Santé, Lille,

the Université Charles de Gaulle, Lille and

the Université du Littoral Côte d’Opale)

continued to build the partnership

launched at the Anglo-French summit in

February 2003.

Unique Transmanche masters degrees

were developed for recruitment in

September 2004, in politics, environmental

risk, international services, law, intercultural

relations and palliative care. Details of the

courses were finalised at a special cross-

Channel symposium in November,

followed by a high-level meeting to

endorse developments attended by the

university heads, the British Ambassador

to France and the Cultural Attaché from

the French Embassy in London.

Additionally in May students began a new

MSc in Information and Communication

Technologies, offered jointly via e-learning

by the Department of Electronics, the

Université du Littoral and the Katholieke

Hogeschool Brugge-Ostende (KHBO) in

Belgium.

Kent’

1/2 Kent Business School, Canterbury3 Baroness Williams with the Lord Mayor

and Lady Mayoress of Canterbury andStephen Kingsman of the Denne Group,who supported the Lord Mayor’s Lecture

4 Cross-Channel sports

3 42

Transmanche links were further

cemented by a concert in Malo les Bains,

near Dunkerque, given jointly by the

University of Kent Camerata and the

Chœur Departmentale du Pas de Calais

Lyriade 62, of the Université du Littoral.

University staff and students attended

seminars and meetings hosted by the

French universities, and Kent students

took part in French sports events, with

successful results.

All of these activities are supported

through the EU Interreg programme.

Top Ten Best for JobsSunday Times Good University Guide, October 2003

6

In December 2003 only 2.8% of Kent

students who graduated the preceding July

were without a job or further study

opportunity.This figure was enough to

move Kent into the Sunday Times Good

University Guide top ten best universities

for jobs.The Guide highlighted the

academic and vocational study

opportunities offered at both Canterbury

and Medway, and the University’s strong

links with Europe. It also noted Kent’s

social scene: ‘Kent attracts big-name bands

and DJs.The theatre, film and arts scene

on campus thrives.’

In recent years Kent has consistently had

an excellent record for student

employment. In an age of increasing

competition for jobs employers are

looking for extra skills and initiative.These

are some Kent students’ achievements

during the year.

Students become teachers

During the year a team of Kent student

volunteers worked with Montgomery

School, Canterbury, to coach struggling or

disaffected teenagers for their GCSEs.The

scheme allowed the boys to receive more

focused attention and also gave them the

opportunity to see University life when

they visited the Canterbury campus.The

team also reached the final of a national

university volunteers award. Student

volunteering is a major part of Kent life,

and the University and Kent Union run

the Kent Student Certificate for

Volunteering which formally acknowledges

students’ efforts.

Celebrating the ententecordiale

A group of Kent students were among

the 100 British students chosen to take

part in a question and answer session

with Prime Minister Tony Blair and French

President Jacques Chirac.The event was

part of the celebrations of the centenary

of the entente cordiale, and received

wide coverage on national television.

According to one student: ‘This was a

once in a lifetime opportunity. I couldn’t

believe I was actually there. It’s not very

often you get the chance to ask the

Prime Minister questions in person!’1 Entente cordiale question

and answer session2 Going for gold 3 Gerard Collett, Music

Bursary recipient

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Shakespeare’s socialnetworks

Paul Mutton, a PhD student in the

Computing Laboratory, has developed

a software called Shakespeare Social

Networks, which can produce

visualisations of the relationships

between the characters in the plays.

It produces drawings showing which

characters are connected and how

strong the connections are.The

software was featured in national

computer magazines and when details

first appeared Paul’s website received

250,000 hits per hour.

Going for gold in SouthAfrica

During the summer Kent students

joined with students from Canterbury

College and Canterbury Christ Church

University College to visit the tiny village

of KwaDlakuse in northern Zululand,

South Africa.They were there to

complete their Gold Duke of Edinburgh

Award which involved assisting with the

construction of a crèche, helping to look

after animals in a game reserve, and

visiting several schools.

Music Bursary studentsconcert

University of Kent Music runs a bursary

scheme that allows talented students to

continue their music tuition while at Kent.

In March Keynes College hosted the first

Music Bursary Scheme Celebration

Concert where a number of bursary

students performed.The occasion was

also an opportunity to thank generous

individuals who have contributed

significantly to music at the University

and to raise further bursary support.

2 3

8

Like other HE institutions across the

country, the University went through a

Quality Assurance Agency for Higher

Education institutional audit over the

winter.The resulting report expressed

confidence in the University and in

particular identified ‘the University’s Unit

for the Enhancement of Learning and

Teaching (UELT) as an area of sector-wide

good practice strengthening the

University’s ability to support both staff

and students’.

UELT has grown rapidly over recent years,

and now covers such areas as the Student

Learning Advisory Service, student

learning resources, student retention

programmes, curriculum development,

learning and teaching, and staff

development such as the Postgraduate

Certificate in Higher Education.

1 UELT2 Praise for propaganda

‘An area of sector-wide good practice’Report of an Institutional Audit of the University of Kent – July 2004

9

The MA in Propaganda and Persuasion in

History covers mainly 19th and 20th

century propaganda and attracts students

from all walks of life including the armed

forces. According to convenor Dr Mark

Connelly several graduates have gone on

to work in the spin departments of the

main political parties.

Top rating for SocialPolicy and Sociology

The School of Social Policy, Sociology and

Social Research (SSPSSR) was one of only

two social policy departments in the

country to receive a 5* rating in the 2001

Research Assessment Exercise, rising from

a 5 in the 1996 Exercise. Because of its

consistent research output and eminence

over more than ten years it was

designated top rating during the year, and

now benefits from premium rate funding.

Double success for KentLaw School

In the autumn Kent Law School (KLS)

became the first law school in the country

to take part in the new QAA

Developmental Engagement process.

The process looks at both undergraduate

and postgraduate programmes and the

results were excellent, expressing

confidence in standards, student

achievements and the quality of learning

opportunities.The panel also praised the

high quality of academic staff, the School’s

extensive and innovative use of IT to

support teaching and learning, and the

importance of students within KLS.

This report was swiftly followed by the

news that KLS had been awarded a

£1 million grant from the Arts and

Humanities Research Board to fund a

new Centre for Law, Gender and

Sexuality.The Centre will be based at Kent

and will run in partnership with the

Universities of Keele and Westminster.

Computing lecturer getstop teaching award

Sally Fincher, Lecturer in the Computing

Laboratory, was awarded the 2003

Undergraduate Teaching Award from the

Institute of Electronic and Electrical

Engineers Computer Society.This is the

world’s leading organisation of computing

professionals and Sally is the first woman

and only the second UK citizen to receive

the award since its founding in 1946.The

award recognised Sally’s contribution to

teaching and computer science education

research.

Praise for propaganda

In June the Guardian newspaper wrote:

‘Every now and then we come across an

MA we think that almost everyone would

be interested in – and an MA in

propaganda and persuasion in history

surely fits that bill.There are a couple of

postgraduate courses in this area, and one

of the best known is run by the

University of Kent’s History department.’

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People

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Honorary graduates

Anthony Beevor, Doctor of Letters

Edwin Boorman OBE, Doctor of Civil Law

Daniel Boucher, Doctor of Civil Law

Professor Sir Ron Cooke KBE, Doctor of

Civil Law

Fred Cuming, Doctor of Letters

Professor Dame Julia Higgins DBE, Doctor

of Science

Professor Jacqueline McGlade, Doctor of

Science

Susan Pember OBE, Doctor of Civil Law

General Sir David Ramsbotham GCB,

CBE, Doctor of Civil Law

Sir Bob Reid, Doctor of Civil Law

Lord Rogers of Riverside, Doctor of Civil

Law

Gerald Scarfe, Doctor of Letters

John Spence, Doctor of Civil Law

Dr The Lord Rowan Williams, Archbishop

of Canterbury, Doctor of Divinity

Awards and achievements

Details of the many prizes awarded for

student academic achievement are

published each year in the University’s July

Congregations programme.

Dr Richard Bodmer (Reader in

Conservation Ecology) – Presidential

Award for 2003, Chicago Zoological

Society

Professor Philip Brown (Pfizer Professor of

Medical Statistics) – Fellow of the

American Statistical Association

Electronics Systems Design Centre (as

member of the Department of Trade and

Industry’s Electronics Design programme)

– Project Team of the Year at European

Electronics Industry Awards

Professor Mike Fairhurst (Professor of

Computer Vision) – Fellow of the

International Association for Pattern

Recognition

Sally Fincher (Lecturer in Computing

Laboratory) – 2003 Undergraduate

Teaching Award from Institute of Electronic

and Electrical Engineers Computer Society

Christos Fragiadakis (final-year Computer

Science and Business Administration) –

won essay competition run by the

Association for Sandwich Education and

Training

Dr Abdullah Iqbal (Lecturer in Accounting

and Finance) – Best Paper Award at 7th

International Conference of the

International Society for

Intercommunication of New Ideas

Kent Hospitality – runners up for Best

Brochure at Venuemasters 2003 marketing

awards

Kent Hospitality chef ’s team – first prize in

Hygiene and Safety Practices section of the

University Catering Officers awards

Kent Hospitality Origins – runners up in

National Quality Award section of the

University Catering Officers awards

Dr A F Maniruzzaman (Senior Lecturer in

Kent Law School) – Fellow of the Royal

Society of Arts

1 2 3

1 Fred Cuming, 2 Professor Dame Julia Higgins DBE3 Professor Jacqueline McGlade4 Gerald Scarfe5 Dr The Lord Rowan Williams

11

Professor Jim Mansell (Professor of

Applied Psychology and Learning

Disability) – Commissioner on

Commission for Social Care Inspection

Dr Elizabeth Mansfield (Reader in

Mathematics) – Leverhulme Research

Fellowship

Professor David Melville (Vice-Chancellor)

– Chair of University Vocational Awards

Council, Chair of Higher Education

Statistics Agency

Vayu Naidu (Lecturer in School of Drama,

Film & Visual Arts) – Fellow of the Royal

Society of Arts

Dr Peter Roberts (Reader in Early

Modern British History) – A Bartlett

Giamatti Visiting Fellowship at the

Beinecke Library at Yale University

Dr Harm Schepel (Lecturer in European

Law) – first European University Institute

Alumni Prize for best thesis on European

issues

Dr Tendayi Viki (Lecturer in Forensic

Psychology) – British Psychological Society

Social Psychology Section Annual Award

for the Most Outstanding Thesis in Social

Psychology

Deaths

Gerald Barlow, Lecturer in Operations

Management/Management Science in

Canterbury Business School

John Bousfield, Lecturer in Religious

Studies in School of European Culture

and Languages

Pete Burgess,Technical Demonstrator in

Department of Psychology

Jessica Day, Accounts and Orders Clerk in

School of Physical Sciences

Dr Lorne Hulbert, Lecturer in

Department of Psychology

Dr Barbara Morris, Senior Lecturer in

Operations Management and Quality in

Canterbury Business School/Academic

Staff Developer in Unit for the

Enhancement of Learning and Teaching

New professors

New professors taking up their posts in

2003/2004.

Paul Allain, Professor of Theatre and

Performance

Peter Brown, Professor of Medieval English

Literature

Davina Cooper, Professor of Law and

Political Theory

Didi Herman, Professor of Law and Social

Change

Ian Marshall, Professor of Distributed

Systems

John Mingers, Professor of Operational

Research and Systems

Ann Netten, Professor of Social Welfare

Paul Phillips, Professor of Strategic

Management

Paul Sutcliffe, Professor of Mathematical

Physics

Yong Yan, Professor of Electronic

Instrumentation

4 5

Donors

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The University gratefully acknowledges the

support of its friends and donors; over

2,000 of them in recent years. For the

year 2003/2004 we would particularly like

to thank the following.

Donations of £1,000 or more received

in full:

Ronald Bevan

Alan and Jenny Bull

James Cantle

Maurice Cohen

Sarah Faux

Anonymous

Agilent California

Ede & Ravenscroft Ltd

Furley Page Solicitors

IBM UK Ltd

Medway Council

Pfizer Ltd

Saga Holidays

Sun Microsystems

Gifts initiated in the past financial year

that will exceed £1,000 over the next

three years.These donations were made

to the Music Bursary Scheme or the

Annual Fund.

Sir Geoffrey and Lady Chipperfield

Margaret Coutts

Oliver Deighan

Moira Edmondson

David Hiscock

Christopher Keljik

Heather Knight

Hilary Leslie

Janet and Keith Mander

Colin McLaren

Craig and Janet Reader

Richard M Reeves

Alison Rothera

John Vesely

13

The constitution of the University is set

out in its Royal Charter, Statutes and

Ordinances.

The Court meets once a year to receive

the University’s Annual Report and

Accounts and, as appropriate, to appoint a

Chancellor of the University.The Court’s

membership includes representatives

from many sectors of the local and

national community as well as staff,

student and graduate members.

The Council is the executive governing

body of the University and comprises

lay and staff members and students, with

a non-executive, lay majority.The Statutes

of the University define the powers and

responsibilities of the Council (and of

the Court and the Senate, see below).

By custom and under the advice of the

Higher Education Funding Council for

England, the Council has responsibility

for the ongoing strategic direction of the

University, approves major projects and

receives regular reports from Committees

and Executive Officers acting under

statutory or delegated powers.

The Senate is the academic authority of

the University and comprises academic

staff and student members. It directs and

regulates the teaching and research of

the University.

The business of the University is

conducted in accordance with the seven

principles identified by the Nolan

Committee on Standards in Public Life

(selflessness; integrity; objectivity;

accountability; openness; honesty;

leadership) and follows the further advice

about governance from the Committee,

the Higher Education Funding Council

for England and the Committee of

Chairmen of University Councils and

Boards.The Council maintains a Register

of Interests of its members and staff of

the University which may be inspected in

the Templeman Library.The Government’s

response to the Dearing Report on

Higher Education (February 1998)

endorsed a recommendation that the

Council should be reviewed at least once

every five years. During 2001/2002 a

review of the Council’s effectiveness was

undertaken and discussed at its strategy

meeting in February 2001.The review

was generally extremely positive; some

minor changes have been made with

the intention of further improving the

Council’s operational effectiveness.The

next review of the Council will be in

2005/2006. Enquiries about the

constitution and governance of the

University should be directed to the

Secretary and Registrar.

A Report of this length can only indicate verybriefly some of the principal achievements andactivities which took place during the year (1 August 2003 – 31 July 2004).

The University also produces other Reportsrelating to Research and Finance. If you would like copies of these, or any other informationrelating to the University, please contactCommunications & Development Office,The Registry, University of Kent, Canterbury,Kent CT2 7NZ.

Published by the University of Kent.Designed by the University Printing Unit.Printed by Broad Oak Colour.

The information contained in this Report wascorrect at the time of going to press.

The University reserves the right to modify orcancel any statement contained in it and acceptsno responsibility for the consequences of any such changes.

The University of Kent

The Registry, Canterbury

Kent CT2 7NZ

T: 01227 764000www.kent.ac.uk