Northern Kentucky University President Cady Short-Thompson will be awarded $124,931 as an incentive for her strong performance over the past year.
The Board of Regents approved the bonus during the Nov. 12 meeting.
Board of Regents Chair Nathan Smith discussed Short-Thompson’s performance review during the meeting, then the board voted unanimously to approve the incentive.
“We are pleased to share that President Short-Thompson has demonstrated exceptional dedication and impactful leadership throughout the past 18 months,” Smith said.
When it came to the president’s performance review, the board commended her strengthening of enrollment management, admissions and the introduction of the direct admit program. Compared to last year, NKU saw an increase of more than 400 students for the fall 2024 semester. Short-Thompson had a goal of increasing enrollment by 500, which was narrowly missed.
This approval will use 100% of the performance incentive funds available in the president’s contract.
“While everything here is not perfect, we are heading in the right direction, and we have not been that way for several years,” Smith said.
Short-Thompson is working under a four-year contract with an annual base salary of $400,000.
She became president of NKU in October 2023 after serving as the CEO and executive director of Breakthrough Cincinnati, a tuition-free college preparatory program for high-need middle and high school students.
The president worked in multiple capacities at NKU prior to this. In 1996, she began as a communications professor and then advanced to serve as the coordinator of public relations, graduate program director and department chair until 2010.