A Monthly Newsletter Publication of NKU Student Affairs
You may have heard from the Campus Financial & Strategic Update that Enrollment and Degree Management has been reassigned. The Student Affairs and Enrollment and Degree Management divisions, with the exception of Career Services, will now report to the Vice President for Student Affairs. These divisions have co-created elements of the NKU student experience for several years and were once a single division.
AVP Leah Stewart has been pivotal in providing strategy for this important work and we want to continue to leverage her strategic insights. To free her time and to enhance our ability to recruit and retain students, the University is investing in staffing in Financial Aid with a new Director as well as additional recruitment staff in Undergraduate Admissions.
Additionally, AVP Ryan Padgett has provided invaluable data that will inform adjustments to the revised recruitment and financial aid strategies launching for Fall 2023. These changes will cultivate a more responsive and collaborative vision for NKU’s enrollment strategies.
Additional modifications within both divisions ensuring operational efficiency will be announced in the coming weeks. One such change will be to reimagine the NKU One Stop Center. This revised design will create a student services center that is parallel to the University’s First-Year Student Success Hub.
The newly redesigned Norse One Stop Center will bring together the service components of Financial Assistance, Undergraduate Admissions, the Office of the Registrar, and Veteran certification. These offices will not just be co-located in the same area; the staff will be crossed-trained to assist any student who presents in the center. The goal is to create a proactive environment where staff assist in identifying potential issues, streamlining the intake of information needed across units, and removing tripwires in institutional systems.
We are excited to continue creating an institution that puts the student experience first and truly values access and completion.
Some of you may have noticed updates in the buildings over the past two years. While many students were attending remotely, the SU staff took advantage of this time to renovate a few spaces. The food court received a much-needed facelift with updated painting, new carpet installation, reupholstered booths and new chairs added to the space. We also took this opportunity to refresh a few of the meeting rooms in the Student Union, including repainting the multipurpose room (SU 102) and upgrading the carpet in SU 108.
For those that have not had a chance to check out the University Center, our staff worked with the Office of Planning, Design & Construction to design and upgrade the 3rd floor lobby area overlooking campus. New carpet was installed throughout the floor and new furniture was delivered to create a more inviting space for students to study and meet with small groups outside of the classroom.
Periodically, the Student Union partners with Professor Chris Smith in Visual Arts and his students to display NKU photography in the union. His class created banner photos displayed on the first and second floor of the Student Union building showcasing different spots around NKU’s scenic campus. This year, the photography class utilized historical photos from NKU’s Archives and imbedded the photo into a current picture of the same location. Make sure to check out the students’ hard work in the hallway between SU 102 and 104. It is a great visual of how NKU’s campus has grown and developed throughout its 54-year history.
Q.P.L.U.S. is designed for mentoring queer students; developing your voice, leadership, & communication skills; and fostering intercultural understanding, community building opportunities, and an inclusive environment. We are excited to introduce our first Q.P.L.U.S. Scholars:
Alyssa Adams
Silverant Balcaitis
Za'Charia Day-Carter
Carolyn Downing
Amanda Lewis
Michelle Hijduk
Claire Mendenhall
Mads Parks
Kaidence Smith
Anna Wagner
Learn more about these outstanding students by visiting the LGBTQA+ Student Initiatives website.
LGBTQA+ Student Initiatives envisions an identity-affirming and inclusive environment for all students on the gender and sexuality spectrum to feel welcome, seen, and supported.
LGBTQA+ Student Initiatives is hard at work for LGBTQ History Month, which kicked off on October 3, 2022 on the Student Union Plaza. Our student organizations, community partners, and QPLUS Scholars (Queer Persistence Leadership Unity Service Scholars) engaged with more than 200 students for free Pride stickers, pronoun buttons, and flags. Join us for more of our history month events, listed below. You can also follow us on social media on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Monday, October 3: LGBTQA+ History Month Kickoff
Student Union Plaza | 10:00a - 2:00p
Thursday, October 6: SpeakOUT Panel: LGBTQA+
Student Union 102 | 6:00p - 7:00p
Tuesday, October 11: National Coming Out Day
Student Union Plaza | 11:00a - 2:00p
Tuesday, October 11: Gayme Night
Student Union 102 | 5:00p - 8:00p
Wednesday, October 12: Flamin' Hot Discussion: LGBT History
Student Union 102 & Zoom | 12:00p - 1:00p
Thursday, October 13: LGBTQA+ Living Legend: Dr. Bryant-Lees
Steely Library Reading Room | 12:30p - 1:30p
Tuesday, October 25: Gayme Night
Student Union 102 | 5:00p - 8:00p
Thursday, October 27: We do this! Queer Activist, Past to Present
Student Union Ballroom | 5:00p - 8:00p
Visit the LGBTQ History Month webpage for more information and details.
In Fraternity and Sorority Life, we’ve kicked off Greek Month!
Greek Month is a series of events where members of the fraternity and sorority community can attend events and collect points. Greek month is a competition for every Greek chapter that gets members on campus and engaged during the month of October. The organizations span across four different councils and 23 different organizations. This competition includes Greek specific events, like Greek sing, or integrate campus events to earn points to determine the winning organization.
A major event this month was Big Pink Volleyball. The 9th annual Big Pink Volleyball Tournament was held on October 11, 2022 at 2:00pm in the Campus Recreation Center. Faculty, staff, and students gathered as teams and helped NKU support the Ft. Thomas St. Elizabeth Breast Cancer Center.
Our students in fraternity and sorority life will also be participating in events like Norse-o-ween, APB Halloween Movie Night, Pumpkin Bust, and even more! The winners of Greek Month will be announced at our very own Greek Olympics, a field day style event with chapter’s teams competing head-to-head against one another.
NKU’s Panhellenic hosted formal recruitment during the weekend of September 9th. They successfully gave bids to 100+ women from the 7 NPC sororities we have on campus.
IFC Bid Day was a major success this fall as more than 100 men were welcomed into the IFC community. Each and every one of these men will be leaders not only on campus but also in the community. Anyone still wishing to join an IFC Fraternity can contact the FSL office or any of the seven chapters here on campus.
Pictures below capture some of the excitement from Greek Month and bid days.
Johnny Bergman, the Director of Upward Bound, began his journey at Northern Kentucky University in July 2022! Although he has only been on campus for three months, he has loved being here! Johnny has been working in the field of higher education since he graduated from Thomas More College (now Thomas More University) in 2010. He has been a Kentucky College Coach at Pendleton County High School, a graduate assistant at Western Kentucky (Academic Advising and Honors College), and worked at KHEAA for eight years before coming to Northern Kentucky University! Although many people don’t like to say this about themselves, Johnny would classify himself as a FAFSA guru and loves to help people out with the FAFSA form.
Becoming a part of the TRIO Upward Bound family isn’t new to Johnny. For one, Johnny is a NKU Upward Bound Alumnus. He was a part of the Class of 2006 cohort. His favorite memories of Upward Bound were the friends he made from other schools, the Chicago senior trip, and the many college visits he went on while he was an Upward Bound student. Secondly, Johnny had a great relationship with the TRIO programs at Western Kentucky University. He often provided programming and presentations for them.
Although Johnny has worked in the field of higher education for the past twelve years, he also loves history. Johnny received his MA in History from Western Kentucky University in 2013. His concentration was in early American history and his specialty is the Salem Witch Trials. Currently, Johnny teaches history for both Thomas More University and Gateway Community and Technical College.
In his spare time, Johnny plays tennis and volleyball. He plays in a tennis league called GLTA that travels throughout the United States and the world. He recently made it to the singles final at the Indianapolis tournament but won the doubles final at the Heart of Texas (HOT) Tournament in Austin, Texas. He is currently trying to find a local volleyball league to play on in the area! Furthermore, he loves to kayak, hike, and see the world. He is also a little bit of a nerd but you will need to ask him about that yourselves. Come say hey to Johnny in his office. He is right across the street from Skyline Tavern in the Upward Bound House.
This event on Wednesday, October 19 at 5:30p in the Griffin Hall Digitorium will honor bell hooks, a Kentucky-born writer and activist, whose work focused on the intersections of race, gender, and social class. The event will include a screening of her video, bell hooks cultural criticism & transformation, followed by a panel discussion.
The panel will be moderated by Tonjie Reese, Founder of eleven24 and Diversity Prevention Consultant with Norse Violence Prevention. Panel members include:
Dr. Meg Hensley
Unit Director for Student Support Services
Dr. Brandelyn Tosolt
Associate Professor, College of Education
Dr. LaVette Burnette
Director, LGBTQA+ Student Initiatives
Dr. David Childs
Associate Professor, College of Education
For more information, please contact Norse Violence Prevention
Community Police Academy
The final Community Police Academy for the Fall 2022 semester will be held on November 17, 2022 from 6:00p - 8:00p at the NKU Police Department. This event will provide more information and training to participants about becoming a peace officer in Kentucky. We encourage you to attend!
The Taste of Hispanic Cuisine took place in the UC Ballroom on Wednesday, October 5 as part of Hispanic Heritage Month. The Student Union in partnership with Chartwells, World Languages and Literatures, the Center for Student Inclusiveness, and Latino Student Initiatives presented this event. The program provided over 200 attendees with samplings of authentic food representing a number of Hispanic regions. Chartwells did an amazing job creating the menu and preparing the food which included Arepa’s stuffed with shredded cheese, black beans and braised beef, Empanadas, Huevos Rellenos, Yuca Con Chicharro’n, Bean and Chicken Taquitos and Cocadas. NKU students and staff were able to teach the community about their native country and culture.
Free Guest Pass Day
Bring the family to check out our great facility for free on Saturday, November 5. No registration is necessary.
Fall Break Hours
Check out the Campus Rec website for our Fall Break hours.
Family Fun Day
Friday, November 11, 2022, from 5:00p - 9:00p, bring your family members to the Campus Rec Center for open rec play, family fitness classes, and free snacks. The Family ZUMBA fitness class is from 5:30p - 6:30p in Studio 2.
Student Employee of the Month
Maggie Feyko is a senior Studio Arts and P-12 Education double major, from Columbus, OH. She serves as one of the Desk Managers for University Housing overseeing our desks in the University Suites and New Residence Hall communities. In her free time, Maggie enjoys visiting her family in South Carolina and playing with her dog, Lilo!
Maggie was nominated because she is a leader who leads from the heart. She provides exceptional leadership by going above and beyond for her team of Desk Assistants, picking up extra tasks for the other teams and supporting the needs of her supervisor. In her time as a DM she has created marketing material which resulted in an influx of DA applicants. Her staff raves about how awesome she is and how she helps them succeed in different situations.
Congratulations to Alexandra Shugart for being crowned the first ever Miss NKU! Alexandra is a fourth year Human Resources Management and Business Administration, and Honors double major. She is heavily involved on campus, and people have jokingly called her Miss NKU for years now. When the opportunity to officially become Miss NKU came about, she applied as soon as she could! The platform she ran on was about the importance of mental health, suicide awareness, and wanting to change negative associations with therapy. Alexandra plans on using her new status to bring extra light to these topics. Alexandra was not only crowned Miss NKU, but also won the talent portion! She performed a standup comedy routine joking about her short boyfriend, love of cats, and all of her tattoos that her mom disapproves of. "NKU is my biggest passion, and has given me 4 of the greatest years of my life. So, Miss NKU? Of course, I do!" (end quote from her standup routine).
End of Newsletter
This newsletter was created by David Berland on behalf of NKU Student Affairs. Please direct questions, comments, or updates to berlandd1@nku.edu.
Northern Kentucky University
832 Lucas Administrative Center
Highland Heights, KY 41099
Phone: (859) 572-6447
Fax: (859) 572-1310
