The Northern Kentucky University Board of Regents is expected to consider a resolution to appoint Bonita Brown, vice president and chief strategy officer at NKU, as the university’s interim president at their meeting on Wednesday.
The resolution, announced in an agenda sent out Tuesday afternoon, comes after the abrupt departure of former NKU President Ashish Vaidya, which was announced in November. The board has yet to appoint an interim president in his absence.
Bonita Brown was named Northern Kentucky University’s vice president and chief strategy officer on May 28, 2019, and officially started on Aug. 1, 2019.
Former president Ashish Vaidya said at the time that he was pleased to welcome Brown as the university’s inaugural vice president and chief strategy officer.
“It became clear during the search process that she had the experience and skills to manage complex change initiatives in a collaborative way, engage others in challenging convention and encouraging innovation, with a strong commitment to and success with achieving diversity, equity, and inclusion goals,” Vaidya said at the time. “Our strategic framework must evolve as regional needs change. In this new paradigm, we need a CSO to ensure NKU is constantly innovating, adapting, and executing in an iterative process as we stay responsive to the needs of the region and beyond.”
At the last NKU Board of Regents meeting held on Jan. 9, the board voted that the university’s interim president will not be able to serve as permanent president. So if Brown is appointed interim president, she will be ineligible to be considered for the permanent position.