Policy Documents:
The final Housing Campus Residency Requirement policy is located here. Also included are a comparison showing changes from the proposal and the prior version of the policy.
Summary:
This revised policy clarifies the rules pertaining to the first-year campus residency requirement, including the categories of students to whom the requirement applies and does not apply, and replaces the prior county-based exemption with a mileage-based exemption. The policy also establishes clearer deadlines for exemption requests and timelines for review of those requests.
Comments:
Many comments raised several concerns regarding the initial proposed requirement that students live on campus for two years rather than one year. As a result, the final policy retains the prior one-year requirement.
Other commenters expressed concerns regarding the 40-mile exemption radius, procedural obstacles for students seeking an exemption, and the financial penalty that may be imposed on students who are required to live on campus but choose not to.
Changes in Final Policy vs. Proposal:
In response to comments, administration chose to retain the prior one-year residency requirement rather than adopt a new two-year requirement.
The proposed 40-mile radius is retained in the final version because it provides for more consistent application of the exemption, eliminating variability in county boundaries, while still approximating the range of the prior county-based exemption zone.
The final policy retains the rule that students who choose to live off-campus despite being required to live on campus must pay the lowest NKU housing rate for the year. This requirement is critical to ensuring compliance with the policy. However, Housing staff work often with students in challenging circumstances to resolve these issues short of imposing these charges.
The final policy also retains a broad catch-all exemption for students who demonstrate extraordinary extenuating circumstances, which can include personal hardships.
