Governor announces two appointments to Board of Regents

Gov. Mike Parson has announced the appointments of Stephen Coppinger and Shanda Durbin to the Northwest Missouri State University Board of Regents.

The appointments must be confirmed by the Missouri Senate before they are official.

If confirmed, Coppinger (I), of Kansas City, fills the seat of Dr. Marilou Joyner (D), of Kansas City, for a term ending Jan. 1, 2027, and Durbin, (I) of St. Joseph, fills the Board seat of George Speckman (I), of St. Joseph, for a term scheduled to end Jan. 1, 2023.

Joyner’s term expired Jan. 1 this year, and Speckman resigned from the Board in March 2020.

Coppinger is president of Impact Interiors, a full-service contract furniture dealership he founded in 2013 and previously was a consultant with Team Office, a Kansas City office furniture provider. In addition to earning a bachelor’s degree in business management at Northwest in 1998, he was a member of the Bearcats’ national champion football team in 1998 and was inducted into Northwest’s M-Club Hall of Fame in 2015. He also has a Master of Business Administration from Rockhurst University.

Durbin is the director of human resources at Herzog Contracting Corp. in St. Joseph, where she has been employed in various roles since 2010. She earned her bachelor’s degree in corporate recreation and wellness at Northwest in 2010 and is active with the Northwest Alumni Association.

Northwest’s nine-member Board of Regents is responsible for sound resource management of the University and determining general, educational and financial policies.

According to state statute, six of the Board’s members must live in the University’s 19-county district. They must include one member living in Nodaway County and two living outside the district but no more than two voting members residing in the same county. Not more than four voting members may belong to any one political party, and one member must be a non-voting student representative.

John Moore (I), of Raymore, serves as Board chair, and Roxanna Swaney (R), of Liberty, is vice chair. Lydia Hurst (R), of Tarkio; Jason Klindt (R), of Kansas City; Deborah Roach (D), of Grant City; and Mel Tjeerdsma (R), of Maryville; round out the Board. Connor Thompson, of Kansas City, serves as the non-voting student regent.