What you missed at SGA: President’s visit and passing resolutions

President Bonita Brown made a brief appearance at the Student Government Association meeting this week to answer questions about the university’s future.

“I understand there are some rumors that are circulating, lots of uneasiness in the air, but we are trying to do what’s best for the students,” Brown said. “Everything we do, we need to make sure that the students are the least impacted as they can be. It’s not always easy, but we’re trying to do that,” Brown said.

According to the president, tuition and housing rates for the fall are very likely to increase. The state of Kentucky controls how much increase can be applied to tuition, with the maximum rate for public universities being 5%. Tuition increases have been kept at 1-2% over the past few years, and Brown stressed that state funding for NKU has been decreasing. She is unsure what the exact increase rate will be for the coming semester.

Brown said that she has been laser focused on increasing scholarship dollars and would be looking into the feasibility of raising wages for student workers.

With the continued departure and non-renewal of faculty, class sizes are expected to increase across all colleges. About 15 to 20 additional students are expected per class and the number of classes or sections offered could shrink. In this scenario, the deans are supposed to ensure that course content would not be duplicated, Brown said.

Her top priorities for the immediate future are to find ways to improve enrollment and generate revenue for the university without raising rates significantly.

To conclude, she invited students to join her on a walk around campus, starting from the bookstore, at 1 p.m. this Wednesday.

The Student Senate unanimously passed resolutions to add labels to light switches, create an outdoor recreation space on the site of the former Woodcrest Apartments and update nutritional information on the Dine on Campus mobile app. The meeting also saw the introduction of a resolution asking NKU to set a “Family Weekend” in September, which expands upon the Family Day.