Dear NKU students:

Welcome to the beginning of the 2005-2006 academic year, and a special welcome to you new students. It is my hope that you will come to embrace Northern Kentucky University as part of your family, as many of us have – students, faculty and staff alike. For the fourth consecutive year, more than 14,000 students are enrolled this fall. You have arrived at the most exciting time in NKU history. The university is in a grand transformation on a number of levels, including the areas of academic programs and campus enhancements. Academically, we have preserved our small class sizes, hired more full-time faculty, increased the number of undergraduate students involved in research and scholarly activities and increased the number of undergraduate and graduate programs. As for campus enhancements, NKU received approval for nearly $100 million of construction in this last legislative session. Later this fall, we expect to break ground for a spectacular new $34 million student union. (As a side note for coffee lovers: The new student union will double the number of Starbucks kiosks on campus – from one to two!) Other enhancements include renovating Founders Hall (the Old Science building), and completing a Lake Vista project that will comprise a waterfall and a bridge with an adjacent amphitheatre. We will also begin construction on The Bank of Kentucky Center, a 9,000-seat regional events center scheduled to be completed in 2007. Northern Kentucky University was founded, not as an end in itself, but to enable you – our students – and our region to create your own future, not to simply enter a future that’s been created for you.