Three NKY institutions are finding ways to grow and expand in 2023
As we move into the New Year, local colleges and universities are finding way to grow and expand. We checked in with three to see what they’re doing to help students.
Northern Kentucky University
Northern Kentucky University recently concluded its Further, Faster campaign, which was launched in 2019. More than $84.5 million was raised, with more than 18,000 donors contributing. The campaign beat its original goal by almost $10 million. With these funds, NKU has been able to fund 137 new endowments, 197 scholarships, 15 new faculty endowments and more.
That’s not the only good news for NKU. The school’s very own Joe Cobbs, a professor and department chair in the Haile College of Business, is being featured in a new documentary airing locally on Bally Sports Ohio and Star 64. According to the university’s website “the documentary, titled RIVALS, leans heavily on content featured in Cobbs’ class at NKU that explores the meaning of rivalry, its antecedents and its outcomes.” The documentary is based on research from the Know Rivalry Project, which was co-founded by Cobbs and David Tyler, an associate professor in the McCormack Department of Sport Management within the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Thomas More University
Thomas More University recently celebrated its centennial anniversary in 2021, following which it launched its Second Century Campaign. “[The Second Century campaign] focuses on student success, academic innovation and responsible stewardship,” says Lyna Kelley, director of Communications and PR at Thomas More University. Some of the funds from the campaign are going toward the university’s new academic center. The school recently broke ground for the facility. The 34,000-square foot facility will house advanced technology and improved classroom environments; a 375-seat auditorium; a technology and prototype lab; the Zembrodt Center for Leadership, Entrepreneurship & Innovation; the Center for Faith, Mission and Catholic Education; and the College of Business.
On Oct. 11, the university had its second annual Saints Serve Day of Service, which is a day during which more than 1,200 students, staff and faculty help different nonprofit organizations throughout the greater Cincinnati area. “This year we worked over 70 projects for 55 organizations,” says Kelley, which included the Brighton Center, BeConcerned and Habitat for Humanity. This resulted in more than 3,000 hours of service.
Gateway Community & Technical College
Gateway Community & Technical College has opened a new manufacturing and welding lab in Covington. “The idea is to bring more trade and technical education programs into the urban core of Northern Kentucky, if you will,” says Adrijana Kowatsch, the vice president of Development and External Relations at Gateway. “Typically, there aren’t as many career and technical training options for those students without major transportation.” The new lab will offer classes in advanced manufacturing, computerized manufacturing, industrial maintenance, welding and HVAC.
The Florence Rotary Club has also stepped up to help the region by establishing the Hand Up Fund in memory John and Connie Salyers. Kowatsch says that this endowment fund will help students in need of emergency assistance. “These things, they happen at all colleges, but at community colleges they are particularly frequent,” says Kowatsch. “Students might have a higher-than-expected utility bill, they might have some trouble meeting their rent or they might have an unexpected medical bill. Things like that, that would potentially cause them to start to miss classes.” This emergency fund will help students address those kinds of issues quickly so they can stay on track to graduate.
