We will be bold and connected at Northwest
John Jasinski
Our first-year students moved in last week and became familiar with our campus last weekend during Advantage activities. Classes began Monday with enrollment up slightly, and we eagerly begin the 2016-17 academic year!
We also welcomed our employees back to campus last week during our all-employee meeting. Ron Houston and Mike Faust joined us as we recognized Ron for his contributions toward refreshing our Houston Center for the Performing Arts and Mike who is being honored by the Suzanne and Walter Scott Foundation of Omaha with a $1 million gift commitment for an addition to the Alumni House. That addition will take place over the next year and will be named the Michael L. Faust Center for Alumni and Friends. Marilou Joyner joined us as a representative of our Board of Regents and we look forward to welcoming four new Board appointees in coming weeks.
We have momentum and we are driven by our strategic plan, “Focus.” The plan motivates us to be agile and keep moving forward on five major fronts.
First, we are focused on creating and maintaining a highly effective, comprehensive experience through our academic programming and strategic enrollment efforts.
Second, we are focused on retaining students and employing strategies to ensure they are making connections that span interdisciplinary, curricular and co-curricular experiences to enhance learning and college completion.
Third, we are focused on enhancing our university and community climate by creating a framework for diversity, equity and inclusion so that we may be a model for producing graduates who have a comprehensive understanding of our world and are marketable in the global economy.
Fourth, we are focused on establishing a high performance culture that values every employee throughout our institutional units – one that ensures employees are contributing, that they have the tools to do their jobs successfully and that offers fair market compensation.
Fifth, we are focused on organization viability through the roadmap that our Campus Master Plan now provides and through the work of our University Advancement team to ensure we are providing opportunities for enhancing academic excellence, providing scholarships and enhancing student and partnership experiences.
As our mission statement is a constant reminder, we also are focused on student success – every student, every day. Northwest is dedicated to unity. We act on the principles of respect and appreciation for humankind. We commit learning, practice and service to the advancement of peace and harmony for all members of our community, nation and world.
This fall, we have introduced a specific set of expectations to our students, titled “Being a Bearcat.” These expectations have been crafted through input from various stakeholders and refined over a period of time. Our student leaders are supportive and we are reinforcing them through curricular and co-curricular experiences. As a community, we hope you will help reinforce and model these expectations also.
Faculty and staff are personally committed to our students’ success, and we are asking students to commit to these expectations:
Bearcats learn. We go to class. We do our homework. We turn assignments in on time. We do not cheat or plagiarize. We do not shift the responsibility of our learning on to others.
Bearcats connect. We lean on each other and seek help when we need it. We get involved. We collaborate. We develop networks.
Bearcats care. We take care of ourselves, each other and our campus. We eat well and get appropriate rest. We celebrate and value differences; we are inclusive. We reach out to others in need. We keep our campus clean and safe. We greet and welcome friends and visitors alike.
Bearcats practice civility. We uphold unity and responsibility. We reach out to others. We keep ourselves and others safe. We do not use racial or other derogatory slurs. We do not tolerate sexual or dating violence. If we choose to drink, we know our limits. We do not use drugs. We do not engage in bullying of any kind.
Bearcats show pride. We represent our university to the fullest. We support one another and share in the University’s achievements. Our closets are filled with green attire. We sport paws on our vehicles. We post photos and videos of campus life and share exciting achievements on our social media feeds like no one else.
We will keep our goals in front of you and remember the reason we are here. We will be bold, connected and capitalize on the momentum we are experiencing with your help.
Dr. John Jasinski is the 10th president of Northwest Missouri State University. For news and events at Northwest visit www.nwmissouri.edu.
