HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. — Northern Kentucky University’s board has approved a resolution to exit the Kentucky Employees Retirement System (KERS). The board opted for the Soft Freeze option, which will mean a higher debt service but is “an investment in our people.”
President Ashish Vaidya and Board Chair Andra Ward issued the following statement to the NKU community:
Over the last three years, Kentucky Employees Retirement System’s (KERS) pension crisis has been the cause of much anxiety around campus, and frankly, across the Commonwealth. We heard the personal stories that Staff Congress shared and know this has been a cloud hanging over all of us. At NKU, we are a mission-driven and people-focused university, which means we derive our value from our people. During this unprecedented time, that has challenged us like no other, our people stayed true to what we stand for.
Therefore, we are pleased that the Board of Regents approved a resolution to exit the university from KERS but allow our Tier 1 and Tier 2 employees to stay in the system.
While the Soft Freeze option will result in higher debt service, the Board recognized that the implications of this decision go well beyond the financial. This recommendation is as much as an investment into our people as it is a path to ridding ourselves of the shackles of an underfunded system. And it is a belief that attracting, supporting, and retaining the most capable and motivated individuals will drive and sustain the change needed to thrive in an increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world.
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