HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. — Northern Kentucky University’s Board of Regents selected the seventh president in the university’s history Wednesday, Sept. 13.

What You Need To Know

  • Cady Short-Thompson takes over as NKU president amid the ongoing recovery of what board members have described as a “financial crisis”

  •  She is NKU’s first permanent female president

  •  NKU is recovering from a budget deficit of more than $24 million

  • Short–Thompson, who comes with decades of experience working in higher education, said a big part of her selection was her financial prowess

Cady Short-Thompson will take over amid the ongoing recovery of what board members have described as a “financial crisis” at NKU.

Interim President Bonita Brown has had to navigate what a regent called “turbulent and rough waters,” since taking over. Dr. Ashish Vaidya, the university’s former president, departed NKU in December.

Short-Thompson will take over for Brown after her unanimous selection by the Board of Regents, as NKU’s first permanent female president.

“It is significant, and it’s time,” Short-Thompson said. “I am committed to working with my team and with the great people of Northern Kentucky and Northern Kentucky University to usher in a new day, to look forward over the horizon, and usher in a much healthier and far brighter future than some of the days they’ve experienced recently.”

Those days have included a budget deficit of more than $24 million.

“In one budget cycle — and through a lot of hard work, blood, sweat and tears — the campus community has brought that deficit down to just over $9 million today,” said Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Matt Cecil. 

That dip in deficit was made possible through the cutting of 100 faculty positions and 25 staff positions, Cecil said, along with increased tuition despite declining enrollment.

Cecil said in order to have a balanced budget by fiscal year 2025, tuition will have to increase again. He said there will need to be expense reductions across departments, too. 

Short–Thompson, who comes with decades of experience working in higher education, said her financial expertise was a big part of her selection for the role. 

“I know finance. I’ve worked in higher education, and worked with budgets for many, many years. And so my intimate knowledge of how a university runs and the finances that are needed to be successful, all of those expectations and qualities are met in my leadership,” she said.

Short-Thompson will officially start as president Oct. 2. She said the biggest challenge she wants to tackle right away is to come up with a strategic enrollment management plan.

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