Academic  Engagement  at  the  University  of  Kent  

Introduc)on  

•  The  University  of  Kent  •  Background  

•  Canterbury  •  The  process  of  academic  engagement  

•  Medway  

•  Next  steps  •  Our  top  Cps  

The  University  of  Kent  

•  UK’s  European  University    

•  3  UK  locaCons  •  Canterbury  •  Medway  •  Tonbridge  

•  4  European  locaCons  •  Paris  •  Brussels  •  Athens  •  Rome  

Key  Facts  •  3  FaculCes  (Sciences,  Social  Sciences  &  HumaniCes)  

•  18  Academic  Schools  &  3  Centres  

•  Over  19,000  students  (Over  80%  undergraduate)  

•  Have  Moodle  as  our  VLE  

•  Use  Voyager  as  our  LMS  

•  Currently  implemenCng    Primo  

Background  –  Before  Talis  Aspire  

•  Reading  lists  didn’t  work  •  Not  all  received  in  good  Cme  •  Always  received  in  too  large  numbers  to  be  sustainable  •  Had  to  be  checked  by  hand  

•  InformaCon  Services  (IS)  wanted  to  make  Academic  and  teaching  staff  more  responsible  for  their  own  reading  lists    

•  This  was  made  the  IS  departmental  policy  when  we  implemented  ReadingLists@Kent  

Canterbury  

•  Phase  1  –  Setup  of  Reading  Lists  @  Kent  

•  Import  exisCng  data  &  input  reading  lists  •  Promote  system  and  raise  awareness  •  Develop  policies,  and  reassess  work  pa]erns  •  Integrate  with  Moodle  

•  Phase  2  –  Embedding  into  the  University  

•  User  tesCng  and  focus  groups  •  Support  and  outreach  to  increase  no  of  lists  updated  •  Inclusion  of  reading  lists  in  staff  and  student  inducCons    •  Increase  integraCon  with  systems  –  Moodle  and    

Module  Catalogue  especially  

Canterbury  Academic  Staff  –  Humani)es    

•  Dean  very  proacCve    •  Wanted  to  focus  on  the  library  to  improve    

student  experience  and  NSS  scores  

•  We  demonstrated  ReadingLists@Kent  at  a    meeCng  he  called  to  discuss  the  way  forward  

•  He  later  set  down  a  mandate  for  HumaniCes    staff  to  do  their  reading  lists  

Canterbury  Academic  Staff    –  Social  Sciences  •  School  of  PoliCcs  and  InternaConal  RelaCons  were    

first  to  commit  

•  Student  reps  praised  the  system  at  school  meeCng  •  Head  of  School  immediately  responded  by  following  the  

HumaniCes  into  a  mandate  for  its  use.    •  He  followed  up  by  promising  to  provide  administraCve  

support    

•  Dean  of  Social  Sciences  •  Students  once  again  praised  reading  list  system,  this  Cme  

at  Library  Reps  meeCng  •  Encouraged  by  the  PoliCcs  model  he  also  mandated  the  

use  of  reading  lists  with  admin  support  

Sta)s)cs  

0  

50  

100  

150  

200  

250  

300  

350  

11-­‐12  total   12-­‐13  total   13-­‐14  total  

No  of  lists  updated  by    end  of  Autumn  term  

Soc  Sci  

Hums  

Sci  

In  the  Autumn  term  of  the  academic  year  2013-­‐14  library  staff  processed  398  reading  list  reviews  submi]ed  by  academics  and  their  admin  assistants  

Expansion  into  Medway  

•  Unique  challenges:  •  The  Drill  Hall  serves  3  UniversiCes  • Uses  Capita’s  Alto  as  Library  Management  System  •  BUT  -­‐  electronic  material  same  as  Canterbury  

•  PercepCon  that  things  are  “different”  (worse?)  here  •  Academics  already  had  formed  opinions  through  conversaCon  

with  colleagues  from  Canterbury  –  not  always  a  good  thing!  

Medway  -­‐  a  new  tenancy  

•  PoinCng  to  Alto  for  physical  books  •  Otherwise  sejngs  the  same  as  “main”  tenancy  

•  Challenges  •  Shorter  Cmescale  •  Smaller  team  (essenCally  2  people)  •  Lack  of  academic  support  • No  extra  budget!  

•  Advantages  •  Able  to  draw  on  experCse  and  learn  from  experiences  • Deans  of  Faculty  already  on  board  

Medway  experience  

•  Launched  September  2013  

•  Reading  lists  entered  by  library  staff  –  training  offered  to  academics  

•  Resistance  from  some,  but  also  some  early  adopter  “champions”  

•  Lots  of  comparisons  –  “at  Canterbury,  they…”    

•  Some  notable  successes  –  parCcularly  Social  Sciences  

Next  steps  

•  Improve  take-­‐up  in    Sciences  Schools  and    Medway  

•  Interface  between    VLE  and  reading  lists  

•  Improvement  of    number  of  items  on  a    list  that  are  given  an    importance  level  

•  Work  is  in  progress  to  increase  awareness  and  put  relevant  purchasing  policies  in  place  

Classifica)on  of  items  on  reading  lists  

Background  

Core  Text  

Suggested  for  student  purchase  

Recommended  

No  classificaCon  

Lessons  Learned  /  Our  top  )ps  

•  Know  your  audience  •  Modify  your  strategy  to  the  faculty/department/  

academic/dean  you  are  talking  to  

•  Have  good  data  •  Take  advantage  of  the  NSS  •  Use  compeCCon  between  departments  to  your  

advantage  

But  key  among  everything  we  have  learned  is:    

       It  only  takes  one!  

Ques)ons?    

Get  in  touch:  •  Canterbury  Campus  •  Kirsty  Wallis  

K.R.Wallis@kent.ac.uk  @OsMonkey  

   

•  Medway  Campus  •  David  Bedford  

D.Bedford@kent.ac.uk  @dhlDavidB