Board of Regents announces new residence hall and new pizzeria

On Sept. 11, NKU’s Board of Regents met for their first meeting of the semester. Enrollment and retention rates, plans for a new dorm and a new pizza restaurant coming to the Student Union were some of the topics discussed.

Enrollment and retention

During his presidential comments, President Ashish Vaidya shared the current enrollment rates. Total enrollment is projected to increase by 3.9% from last fall. Enrollment for minority students has increased by 6%.

Retention has increased by roughly 4.7%, and the continuation rate of all students has increased by about 1.1%. 

While enrollment has increased, undergraduate enrollment has decreased by 2.5% from last fall.

Facility improvements, plan for a new residence hall and how parking may be impacted

Eric Gentry, vice president of university advancement, and Mike Hales, interim vice president of administration and chief financial officer, shared some updates about construction on campus in their facilities management report. 

According to Hales, there have been repairs to the Kenton Garage and Commonwealth Hall. Hales also shared the plan for the construction of a new residence hall. Construction is planned to begin spring 2020, and is scheduled for completion by July 2021, according to meeting materials. 

Gentry said there are about 1,800-2,000 students living around the perimeter of the campus. Hales said new dorms can bring students to campus. 

“We have students all around campus. It’s not an issue of not having demand, it’s an issue of making sure we have the beds that’s going to bring the demand in,” Hales said.

The construction for the residence hall will take place in parking lot F. Hales said during construction, parking will be impacted.

“About 200 of them during construction will be taken out … about 200 will be impacted during the construction and at the end, about 150 will be taken out,” Hales said. 

Hales said between parking lot M and the remainder of parking, students should have enough spots available. 

Gentry said this is part of a two-phase plan. First, to improve the housing NKU already provides then expand.

“Once we open a new residence hall, we will continue to monitor and assess demand and then look forward to hopefully expanding capacity down the road,” Gentry said. 

Sbarro Pizza Coming to SU 

It's official: Sbarro is headed to campus! Announced in yesterday's board of regents meeting, the popular pizza chain will replace Build Pizza soon. Renovations will take place during winter break. Sbarro is estimated to be fully operational by the beginning of spring semester. pic.twitter.com/aANIFUmBS2

— The Northerner (@northernermedia) September 12, 2019

The pizzeria chain Sbarro will be coming to the SU this spring. The renovation for Sbarro will occur during the break between fall and spring semesters and the pizzeria is expected to be fully operational by the start of the spring semester.