A Monthly Newsletter Publication of NKU Student Affairs and Enrollment Management
It’s hard to believe we are already wrapping up the Fall ’22 semester, but the events on our calendar tell us we are almost ready for winter break. This week the Center for Student Inclusiveness is honoring our graduating students with Lavender Graduation and Sherehe, and Parents Attending College is hosting Holidays Around the World.
Even though we are all looking forward to the semester break, several of our departments are already in the middle of preparing for the spring semester. Shortly after we return, African American Student Initiatives and the Center for Student Engagement will honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with our MLK Day of Service, and the Homecoming Committee has been planning an amazing Homecoming Weekend. Make sure you check out our calendar for all the upcoming events.
The Student Affairs Calendar is published each semester and contains information about signature programs and events sponsored by Student Affairs offices. For Spring 2023, learn more about the MLK Day of Service, Winterfest, Homecoming, Black History Month, Women's History Month, Diversity Month, Take Back the Night, SHEREHE, and Graduation. The calendar is also a great resource to see how to reach different offices across campus.
The following page highlights several of our Enrollment Management offices as they gear up for a busy and exciting spring.
TRIO Student Support Services (SSS) is funded by the US Department of Education to provide academic, career/major, financial aid, and graduate school coaching, along with social/cultural activities for 225 NKU students. To be accepted into the program, students must be first-generation or Pell eligible, or have a federally recognized disability. The TRIO SSS staff are finalizing their activities and events calendar for spring 2023 and will offer opportunities for current TRIO SSS scholars to learn something new, try something new, and meet someone new. They are excited to offer TRIO SSS scholars the opportunity to participate in a two-day virtual graduate school preparation workshop hosted by the University of Wisconsin and a one-day virtual leadership workshop hosted by Kentucky TRIO programs. Liz Vagedes, TRIO SSS Coordinator, is fostering leadership development in the TRIO SSS Ambassadors as they plan programs, activities, and outings that will keep the students engaged and excited to learn, including a “Welcome Back to Campus Social” with NKU trivia and a Lunch & Learn about financial planning and what it means to move off campus. An off campus visit to the Newport Aquarium will explore the different professions it takes to run an organization of that size. The TRIO SSS staff have also been working closely with Admissions and Student Financial Assistance to identify TRIO eligible incoming students for Fall 2023 and will kick-off their recruitment efforts in January by reaching out to admitted students and encouraging them to apply for the program.
University Connect and Persist (UCAP) is updating their social media presence beginning January 1st with a new Instagram page: @ucap_nku. Additionally, Coordinator Caitlin Drouillard Ahlrichs will be working closely with student employees Jailynn and Jaslynn Banks to ensure that we have static and dynamic interactions on both Twitter and Instagram. Static posts for the two sites have been created, and more dynamic posts such as interactive reels and longer videos showcasing UCAP offerings, student interviews, and additional campus resources will be coming soon. Be sure to check them out.
The Office of Student Financial Assistance is conducting a search for a director to lead. They are also busy preparing to send out freshman merit scholarship awards and are ready to provide excellent customer service to all students who have financial aid inquiries.
The Office of Admissions is concentrating on bringing in a strong freshman class by hosting several spring yield events including various Celebrate NK-You days and several open houses. Check out the complete list of events, which will be updated throughout the semester.
The NKU One Stop located on the 3rd floor of the Lucas Administration building is getting a makeover and will serve as a central location to assist with all students’ Enrollment Management needs. The knowledgeable staff members are cross-trained and ready to assist with questions relating to the Registrar’s Office, Admissions, Financial Aid, Veterans Resource Center, and much more. If you have a question, stop by. They’re eager to help.
Students registering for spring classes will have three options available for tuition arrangements, which must be selected by January 9, 2023.
Dates and details about the spring 2023 installment (payment) plan can be found in the table below:
| January 9 | 25% of tuition and fees due + $90 enrollment fee |
| February 9 | 25% of tuition and fees due |
| March 9 | 25% of tuition and fees due |
| April 9 | Remaining 25% of tuition and fees due |
NKU Admissions is hosting Spring Open Registration on Friday, January 6, 2023 from 9:00a to 3:00p. This event will be hosted in the Student Union. Students will have the opportunity to meet with admissions professionals, address any questions, and complete financial aid documents. Students can also learn about the many different career pathways NKU offers and register for classes.
"We recognize that each student has a unique educational journey filled with opportunities," said Derrick Robertson, Senior Director of Undergraduate Admissions. "The NKU promise is to be committed to the success of every learner and to be partners in every step taken on their pathway to the graduation stage. This event presents us with the opportunity to take the first of many next steps together: navigating admissions and financial aid processes, registering for classes, connecting with advisors, exploring career paths, and much more. Your ambitions are our motivation!"
Travis has been with NKU since 2010 and will be moving from his role as Coordinator in the Office of Student Financial Assistance to the new Manager position in the NKU One Stop. You may recognize him as one of the instructors of UNV 101, which he has taught for 7 years. When asked about this class, Travis responded, "I love teaching UNV 101! It's a great way to get a better understanding of each entering class and how they are experiencing NKU!"
Travis was born in Southeastern Kentucky and obtained his Bachelor's Degree in English from Morehead State University and his Master's Degree in Library and Information Studies from the University of Alabama. He has also served as a member of the Kentucky Army National Guard.
In his free time, Travis enjoys reading, television, roleplaying games, cheering for Alabama football, and tricking his wife and three daughters into watching horror movies with him.
Student Support Services in Student Affairs will now be known as Student Wellbeing and Support. Student Wellbeing and Support is a collection of offices in Student Affairs focused on supporting students throughout their time at NKU with a variety of services for different needs. Offices in the Student Wellbeing and Support area include:
Student Accessibility Services
CCAMPIS
(Childcare Access Means Parents in School)
Empower Learn Create
(formerly Early Learning Center)
TRIO Student Support Services (SSS), formerly under Enrollment Management, also supports student success at NKU for students who are first-generation, are Pell eligible, or have a federally recognized disability. To learn more about TRIO SSS, please visit their webpage.
The holidays can be a time of year filled with joy and cheer, but it can also bring a significant amount of stress. While some stress can be essential to our well-being, too much stress can have a negative impact on our physical and mental health. If you're looking for help to manage your stress through the holiday craziness, here are 6 tips to help you "sleigh" this season:
1) Stick to your healthy habits
Maintaining healthy habits can be one of the best defenses against holiday stress. Although it may feel difficult with the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, try to get enough sleep, balance healthier foods with holiday party treats, and stay physically active. Keeping elements of your daily routine can help you to feel more at ease and prevent you from feeling like the holidays are taking over your life.
2) Say no
It's ok to say no to a few (or all) of your holiday plans. The holidays can have a way of making us feel spread way too thin, and sometimes we may find ourselves saying "Yes" to too many commitments because we don't want to be a Grinch. Setting boundaries - whether it's around how much time you are spending with others, how much money you are spending on presents, or even tasks you are agreeing to complete - can be extremely beneficial to alleviating holiday stress. If you are feeling overwhelmed, decide what's most important to you and allow yourself to say no to other demands.
3) Be realistic
Be realistic with how much you can handle this holiday season. Remind yourself that you are only one person, and you can only do so much. Become comfortable with the idea that you do not have to do everything, and that everything does not have to be perfect. Relax and enjoy the joy of the season and the company surrounding you.
4) Share feelings
Although the holiday season seems like an influx of social interaction, feelings of loneliness can spike between October and January. Take this time to reach out to people you care about and who care about you, or look for new ways to get socially involved in your community (such as volunteering). Holidays can also be a first big celebration without a loved one who recently passed, which can be extremely difficult. Accept your feelings and, if comfortable, open up about them to others, as it might make you feel better to share. Perhaps you can find a way to honor your loved one, or even switch up an old tradition if it helps to ease the loss.
5) Respect differences
Family and social gatherings can bring many different viewpoints than your own. If conversations highlighting these differences arise, try to focus on your similarities and replace tension with something more productive.
6) Take a break
Although this is a season of giving to others, don't forget about your own needs! Try to find time for self-care, whether that is listening to your favorite music to help relax, taking a nap, reading a book, or watching a funny movie. Perhaps consider taking a winter walk. Not only is walking an easy source of exercise that can decrease anxiety and improve sleep, but sunlight can boost serotonin and help combat seasonal affective disorder. Taking time for yourself can relax your whole body and relieve physical tension and stress.
More than two years of isolation, quarantine, and turbulent societal issues have primed most of our brains for anxiety, fear, and defensiveness. And as we have been returning to an in-person world, even the places and people we were once very familiar with can feel strange, alien, and stressful. For our students who are in a brand-new place and searching to find where they belong, their self-consciousness and anxiety are often telling them things like “I can’t get this wrong!”, “People are judging me.”, “Why don’t I have it together?”, which is pushing them more into their heads and out of being present in their lives. Being afraid of rejection is something that might not prevent someone from putting themselves out there and being social, but it does inhibit one’s ability to become more intimate and build community. With my clients and people in my own life, I hear often about how everyone desperately wants to reconnect, and feel driven to avoid the very scenarios that would allow that to happen.
I decided to launch a group that would address Social Anxiety, and I called it “Courage to Connect.” And as my intern and I screened potential participants, I was primarily looking for people who seemed ready to take a leap of faith. Our group participants would have to be open to meeting new people, trying exercises that would make them feel in the spotlight at times, and getting uncomfortable. And I was uncomfortable too. My own Social Anxiety was ignited by the fact that I hadn’t lead a group in over a year, I was covering material I’d never used before, and I was also teaching an intern about how to be a group therapist all at the same time. Although there were some quiet days in group, where silence lasted a little longer than I would have liked, the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. If I could go back in time to the start of the group, here’s what I would tell myself to manage how I felt:
All of these are lessons based off of the group materials we used this semester. I learned a lot from taking on this project, and I also left feeling very inspired by our students. I will undoubtedly make some changes to how the group will run next semester, but I’m also going to keep in mind how this first group of students progressed with time and practice. The world may not work the same way that it used to, but the tools for navigating it remain the same. Expect to feel emotions and your inner resistance, assure yourself of your purpose, go easy on yourself, and remember that most of us are struggling in the exact same way.
The Office of Parents Attending College and Adult Learner Programs and Services recently collaborated to mail out 140 family boxes to NKU student parents during National Adult Learners Week. Students were invited to register in order to have a box mailed to their home. Each box contained matching t-shirts for not only the student parent, but for their children as well. Each box also contained swag items donated from various offices and information about multiple resources on campus. The boxes served as a way to welcome our student parents, show them that NKU is the place for them, and connect them to resources. The photos to the right feature some of our student parents with the family boxes, as shared on social media.
Each month, PAC and CCAMPIS (Child Care Access Means Parents in School) host a family-friendly event for student parents and their children. The events are designed to help build social capital and a sense of belonging for student parents. When attending our parent café, student parents not only get to partake in a free family outing, but also receive free dinner and are able to learn about a student
parent resource on campus or in our community. Our November Parent Café was hosted at Morning Star Pottery with 33 people in attendance. Students enjoyed free dinner and ornament painting. The staff from ALPS attended to connect with student parents and share information about the services their office provides.
Upcoming Parent Café Events
President: Jared Gilreath
Vice President (Internal Operations): Charlie Sora
Vice President (External Operations): Aidan Poole
Vice President (Programming): Blake Wagner
Vice President (Recruitment and Retention): Wade Estes
Standards and Risk Mitigation Chair: Max Nordheim
Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.
Amari Johnson
E'Mya Boards
Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.
Dylan McMasters
Isaiah Phillips
John Thomas
Miles Stokes
Alpha Psi Lambda National, Inc.
Sefora Lopez Santos
Congratulations Kaitlyn Meyer
We are so proud of Dispatcher Kaitlyn Meyer, who graduated from the Kentucky 4-week Department of Criminal Justice Training Dispatch Academy on November 18. She is now a Certified Police Dispatcher. Congratulations Kaitlyn!!!
Welcome Officer Alex Turner
We are pleased to welcome Officer Alex Turner as a new member of the NKU Police Department. Alex is a 28-year law enforcement veteran. He is excited to be a part of the NKU family and very eager to engage and support the entire NKU community.
Congratulations Will Love
Congratulations to Lt. Will Love on his recent graduation from the Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command. This rigorous 10-week program is designed for up-and-coming police leaders and is recognized in the US and beyond as a top-tier leadership training!
Winter Break Hours
Campus Rec will have adjusted hours during the break. Please visit our website for more updated hours.
15% off all Annual Memberships
Build a Better You in 2023! Get 15% off all annual memberships for 2023! Use promo code NEWYEAR#2023 when renewing your membership online. New membership must be purchased in person at the Membership Services desk. The promotion runs from 12/21/2022 to 1/21/2023. See our website for more details.
10% off all Personal Training Packages
Achieve your fitness goals with Campus Rec! Get 10% off all personal training packages. A free Campus Rec hat is included with your purchase! Sign up at Membership Services or online between Jan 2-Feb 3.
Norse Violence Prevention, LGBTQA+ Student Initiatives, and Health Services partnered with the College of Health & Human Services to host a day of events for World AIDS Day on December 1, 2022. The event included a resource fair, vigil, and HIV testing site. The resource fair included sexual health educational information and resources from the following agencies/offices:
LGBTQA+ Student Initiatives
Norse Violence Prevention
Friends of Dorothy
College of Social Work
Caracole, Inc.
UK Health, Target 4
LGBTQA+ Student Initiatives hosted a candlelight vigil, which provided space to honor loved ones lost to the AIDS pandemic. There were 27 contributions from students, staff, and faculty with names of those lost.
NKU Health Services, UK Health TARGET4, and the NKY Health Department had a very successful HIV testing site with 84 participants tested and 56 naloxone kits distributed. The QPLUS Mentors from LGBTQA+ Student Initiatives distributed more than 300 HIV/AIDS awareness red pins during the resource fair, vigil, and testing event.
UCAP is volunteering at events and supporting students through attending various activities. UCAP looks forward to engaging with the campus community and heightening students' awareness of wrap-around support offered by UCAP and various resources at NKU.
UCAP has been, or will be, represented at the following events and activities:
NLS Retreat (Nov 4-6)
Housing Financial Resources Day (Nov 9)
Friendsgiving sponsored by FUEL (Nov 21)
Diversity and Inclusion Closer Look Celebration (Dec 2)
Northern Exposure (Dec 8)
Feast for Finals (Dec 8)
Black and Gold Day (Dec 10)
Lavender Graduation (Dec 13)
SHEREHE (Dec 16)
Open Registration (Jan 6)
Student Employee of the Month
The Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management continues to uphold NKU’s value of fostering a community of belonging by embracing equity, diversity, and inclusiveness. We have launched an online process to update your preferred name, pronoun, and/or gender marker and instituted the online process as a general practice. The use of a preferred name should always be treated with the utmost respect.
The University allows a first/middle/self-selected name to be used by eligible students to indicate their preferred name to the university community regardless of legal name status. Legal last names cannot be changed with this form. Please note a request submitted not in good faith may be a violation of the NKU Community Standards and may be reported to the Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management for appropriate action. If you have additional questions, please contact LGBTQA+ Student Initiatives at lgbtqa+@nku.edu.
Click here to complete the Preferred Name, Pronoun and Gender request
The preferred name will only be reflected in the myNKU portal, class rosters, AllCard and email. You can also access this link on the NKU Registrar’s website, located under Student Resources, Personal Information.
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
