Summer wasn’t all swimming pools and hot dogs for Northern Kentucky University administrators and faculty – they were busy implementing projects ranging from naming a manager for the Bank of Kentucky Arena to organizing a parking shuttle. For the students who spent the summer under the sun, here’s a quick recap of what their university was up to.

Bank of Kentucky Arena gets GM

Les Crooks will be the manager of the NKU Bank of Kentucky Arena. Appointed by President and CEO of SMG Wes Westley, Crooks had been employed as the general manager of Eastern Kentucky Exposition Center in Pikeville. He also worked on the first concert held at the legendary Kentucky racetrack, Churchill Downs, in September 2006. Prior to joining SMG, Crooks had spent eight years working in minor professional sports and with NCAA institutions. He holds both a B.A. and M.B.A from the University of Dayton. The arena is scheduled to open fall 2008.

University Awards Partnership Grant

Three faculty members were awarded a $55,448 NKU Community Partnership Grant to partner with the Campbell County Criminal Justice Advisory Commission (CJAC) to create the Northern Kentucky Regional Mental Health Court. This grant helped begin a unified screening instrument based on a system of established criteria to be used by jailers, pretrial services, public defenders, probation and parole officers, judges and prosecutors to determine whether a defendant is a potential mental health court participant. The recipients of the grant were, professors from the NKU Department for Political Science and Criminal Justice, Dr. Amy Thistlethwaite and Dr. Julie Raines, and Dr. Gregory Hatchett from NKU’s Department of Counseling, Human Services and Social Work.

Shanely moves from VP to NKU faculty

After nine years, Vice President of Student Affairs Mark Shanely announced he is moving to an adjunct faculty position in the NKU College of Education and Human Services. In his new position, Shanely will lead the recently established College Student Development Administration program in the Community Counseling master’s program. He will manage marketing, course scheduling as well as administrative matters and teaching graduate courses in the program. Dr. Zebulun Davenport has agreed to serve as an interim vice president of student affairs. A national search to replace Shanely will be conducted in the fall.

Couple donates $1.5 million for chair

Lois and Richard Rosenthal committed $1.5 million for the Lois and Richard Rosenthal Chair in Theatre at NKU. Ken Jones, chair of NKU’s Department of Theatre and Dance since July 2004, has been named the first Rosenthal Chair. The donation, which is the largest single private gift to an academic department in NKU’s history, will establish a salary supplement for the chair holder, creative projects and programs and mission support for the department.

NKU grant to help build computer center

Professor Dr. Steven Smith was awarded a $32,513 University-Community Partnership Grant to join with the Redwood Rehabilitation Center in Ft. Mitchell. Together they will develop, launch and evaluate a computer learning center at Redwood, which helps children and adults with disabilities achieve independence. Board approves German major

The NKU Board of Regents approved a Bachelor of Arts in German program. Set to begin this semester, the program will be a part of NKU’s College of Arts and Sciences. Students will also have the opportunity for international study because of partnership between NKU and the University of Munich.

College of Business hires new dean

Dr. John Beehler has accepted the position of associate provost for economic initiatives and dean of the College of Business. Beehler served as dean of W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State University since 2000.