Written by Mark Payne, LINK nky politics and government reporter
A contingent of leaders from Northern Kentucky University presented to the House Review Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education on Jan. 27. All universities are currently taking turns presenting, with the University of Louisville also presenting on the 27th and the University of Kentucky presenting last week.
President Dr. Ashish Vaidya, President, Carmen Hickerson, Assistant Vice President, Economic Engagement and Government Relations, Mary Paula Schuh, Senior Director, Planning, Design, and Construction, and Syed Zaidi, Assistant Vice President, Facilities Management, all presented to the subcommittee.
“Basically, what they ask is for us to give them some insight on how we would benefit from what they put into HB1 for higher education,” Hickerson said.
The subcommittee has been hearing from all major universities as it prepares to issue funds as part of the House budget, which includes an additional $50 million each year of the biennial budget on top of the current pool of $12.7 million, bringing the total to $62.7 million for the performance funding model per year for the next two years.
“NKU performs well in the performance funding model, and ever since they created it, they haven’t put a lot of money into it, so this is great,” Hickerson said.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, NKU continues to perform well, according to Hickerson, with fall 2021 enrollment at 15,994. NKU boasts 1,800 degrees/credentials, which is a 12 percent increase over the course of 10 years.
Before 2016, Kentucky’s legislators gave state funding to each public higher education institution as part of the higher ed budget. The funding worked by providing base funding, but it didn’t consider a university’s growth in enrollment or student outcomes. These performance measures help the state meet its educational attainment goals.
For the 2016-2018 budget, the Kentucky legislature built a Postsecondary Education Work Group, which comprises the Council on Postsecondary Education President, university leaders, and representatives from the legislature and the governor’s office. Together they created a funding model that gives state funding based on performance and student success metrics.
NKU won’t determine how much money it gets until after the budget is passed, but its performance bodes well.
“That will continue to enable us to make strategic investments in student success and align our programs and degree offerings with the workforce needs of our community,” Hickerson said.
NKU also presented its need for asset maintenance, as there’s been specific money that’s set aside in the House budget for the maintenance of university buildings.
“It’s been many years since we’ve received funds for asset preservation,” Hickerson said. In the past, NKU has been given “bonding authority” or agency bonds to help provide maintenance to buildings, but this particular budget gives money explicitly to help maintain these state buildings.
As part of the budget, there’s a $350 million per year pool set aside and split among universities in the state for asset preservation. For NKU’s presentation, they talked about the 1970’s era buildings that need critical repairs. The Fine Arts Center, Steely Library, and Nunn Hall will be the main focus. The maintenance list includes:
-Elimination of structural issues due to subsurface shale
-HVAC, electrical, and plumbing systems replacement
-Elevator and life safety upgrades
-Foundation leak repairs.
-Underground gas and sewer line replacements
-Concrete and asphalt repairs.
NKU also requested $79.9 million for the capital investment to expand the Hermann Science Center.
“We have huge increases in our undergraduate enrollment in the sciences,” Hickerson said, “and if anybody is going into the medical field, such as nursing or physical therapy or any of the medical fields, they have to take undergraduate prerequisites in chemistry and biology and all of those have labs.”
