John and Denise Jasinski stand with their dog, Ruby, outside the historic Thomas Gaunt House on the Northwest campus as it was decorated for the fall. (Northwest Missouri State University photos)
July 27, 2022
With “a heavy, yet lightened Bearcat heart,” Dr. John Jasinski announced his departure this spring from Northwest after 13 years as its president and a total of 28 years of dedicated service to the University.
After starting his career in 1986 at Northwest as a faculty member in what was then the Department of Mass Communication, Dr. J – as he is widely known – became a department chair and then an associate provost. He left Northwest in 2001 but found his way back in 2009 when he was named Northwest’s 10th president after the retirement of Dr. Dean L. Hubbard.
Denise Jasinski ’90, John’s wife of 38 years, meanwhile worked for eight years as a tutor and academic coordinator with Northwest’s Upward Bound program and actively volunteered in the Maryville community before becoming the University’s first lady.
Now, the Jasinskis leave the University having helmed it through an era of unparalleled success, despite the challenges of dwindling state funding, changing demographics and societal views that threaten traditional higher education, and a global pandemic.
This summer, the Jasinskis are transitioning to new roles in Springfield, Missouri, where John is becoming interim provost at Missouri State University. Additionally, John is joining the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) as a senior consultant.
Whether giving high-fives at a convocation welcoming new students (above) or handing out donuts as students traveled across the campus to classes (below), Dr. J focused on helping students feel welcomed and valued at Northwest.
The first day of classes
During his inauguration remarks in October 2009, John spoke of his drive to celebrate Northwest’s successes while also looking to the future – and not just surviving but thriving.
“That’s been kind of a theme all along,” John said. “I said if we perform – it doesn’t matter what our peers and competitors are doing – if we just take care of ourselves and perform, we’re going to be OK. And I think we’ve proven that.”
President Jasinski and Northwest began a partnership in 2012 with the city of Maryville, represented by then-Mayor Glenn Jonagan ’87 and City Manager Greg McDanel ’02, to transform Fourth Street into an inviting link from downtown to the campus entrance.
Without question, Northwest has performed – and thrived – during the Jasinski presidency.
With an eye on fiscal responsibility, the University generated $87.7 million in cost containment and efficiencies while increasing alternative revenues and completing more than $106.7 million in renovations, infrastructure improvements and new construction on the campus through innovative thinking and partnerships. Today, Northwest is the most efficient among state universities for state appropriations per degree and certificate granted, according to a 2021 report released by the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development.
Northwest has experienced enrollment growth, including record marks during the last two years and surpassed more than 8,000 students for the first time in the institution’s history at the conclusion of the fall 2021 semester. Northwest is the only public institution in the state with enrollment growth during the last five years.
The University has achieved record retention rates – reaching a high of 78 percent in 2018 – and a graduation rate in the 95th percentile of peers. It stands among the top 23 percent of the most affordable colleges and universities in the nation. It’s also rated the best university in Missouri when it comes to graduates securing jobs within six months of completing a degree.
Northwest has earned the national Excellence and Innovation Award from AASCU during five of the last seven years in the categories of sustainability and sustainable development, international education, teacher education, student success and college completion, and, most recently last fall, campus pandemic response. During the pandemic, Northwest maintained operations with minimal disruption and kept a focus not just on student success but on employment, refusing to invoke layoffs, furloughs or reductions.
Moreover, the University saw the successful conclusion of its Forever Green comprehensive campaign last year with more than $55 million raised against a $45 million goal. The seven-year fundraising campaign produced the $21 million Carl and Cheryl Hughes Fieldhouse and the $11.4 million Agricultural Learning Center. Beyond that, of the $130 million raised by Northwest since its founding in 1905, more than $73 million has come to the University since Jasinski’s presidency began in 2009.
President Jasinski congratulated Bearcat quarterback Brady Bolles after the football program won its 2015 NCAA Division II national championship.
Then, there are the more than 60 national championships claimed by Northwest in academics and athletics during Jasinski’s term.
“It’s what you’re supposed to do as an organization,” John said. “We have challenges and opportunities. We have blind spots. But at the end of the day you’re supposed to mature and improve.”
The Jasinskis also are quick to point out that Northwest’s success during the last decade-plus is a result of teamwork.
“It’s really about a group of people, a community of people, who have allowed the University and the community to grow and flourish,” John said. “Our mission was to better the University and the community. Mission accomplished. I’m so proud of that.”
President Jasinski often stepped off the stage during Northwest commencement ceremonies to ask questions of graduating students and invite them to share stories about their experiences at the University.
From the start of the presidency, the Jasinskis focused on building relationships and instilling an environment at Northwest that is welcoming to all. For Denise, that started with overseeing the restoration and updates to the Thomas Gaunt House – the 152-year-old president’s residence on the campus grounds in Maryville. One of the finishing touches ahead of John’s inauguration in the fall of 2009 was a concrete staircase and sidewalk leading directly from Fourth Street to the porch and door facing the thoroughfare fronting the Northwest campus.
Throughout the Jasinskis’ tenure at the University, they invited University groups and community members inside the home.
“People would say to us, ‘You just opened up your house to everybody,’” Denise said, sitting at the dining table with John during an April afternoon. “This house, the history of this place, is so cool. I’m glad and humbled and honored that I was able to have a small fingerprint in this house and bringing it back to life.”
When Denise introduced herself at meetings and community functions, she liked to say, “I’m Denise Jasinski, and I’m a full-time volunteer for Northwest Missouri State University.” But beyond the Northwest campus, she served as volunteer executive director of the Maryville Downtown Improvement Organization, helping with the development of an organizational structure, fundraising and project coordination for a downtown park. She also helped restore an iconic fountain that was relocated to the park after it had stood for decades on the east side of the Administration Building.
Denise also volunteered with North Star Advocacy Center, a resource for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, and at St. Gregory Barbarigo Parish in Maryville.
“I have a lot of energy to give,” she said. “There are always places that can use that extra support. So volunteerism has been something that’s probably my biggest legacy. I appreciate that I’ve had the opportunity throughout my life to fill that volunteer role.”
Almost daily, President Jasinski walked across the Northwest campus to his office in the Administration Building from the Thomas Gaunt House, the 152-year-old home that has served as the residence for all 10 of the University’s presidents and their families.
In addition to their attendance at numerous University activities, it was not uncommon to spot the Jasinskis walking their dogs, Ruby and Daisy, on the campus and engaging in conversation with others. John regularly chatted with students during his walks between the Gaunt House and his office in the Administration Building. He sometimes distributed donuts to students as they crossed the campus between classes or pizza during evenings at the B.D. Owens Library. Students regularly sought him for selfies at convocations, graduations and other campus events.
For John – who grew up in Flint, Michigan, as the youngest of four children – and Denise, who was the third of 12 kids in her family, their commitment to showing care for others is an extension of the way they were raised. They took pride in serving as caretakers of Northwest.
“We both come from backgrounds where family is very important and family has never been just blood,” Denise said. Reminiscing about the couple’s transition from their native Michigan to Maryville when John began his faculty career, she added, “There has been something that has continued to keep us drawn and planted right here. There are other people who kind of take you in as family, and that’s huge. I think we experienced that firsthand, so we wanted to make sure we advanced that to other people, students, even if they’re not planning to make their lifetime here.”
That sentiment was quickly evident to Dr. Katy Strickland, an associate professor of music and the director of athletic bands at Northwest, when she met John and Denise during the summer of 2013. Strickland was settling into her office at the Olive DeLuce Fine Arts Building and preparing to begin her first fall with the Bearcat Marching Band. The Jasinskis were walking Ruby on the campus when they decided to stop inside the building and introduce themselves to the new band director.
Strickland was surprised by the gesture and had no idea who the couple was when they appeared at her door, but the encounter was typical of the Jasinskis’ eager-to-welcome demeanors, and Strickland appreciated it.
“It was just so warm and friendly; it wasn’t artificial,” she said. “He, honestly, was just wanting to come in and say hi and meet the new person and be welcoming, and then off he went with his dog. And it was just kind of an opening to what ended up to be a really, truly great professional relationship with somebody who was an unbelievable supporter of the arts.”
Similarly, Dr. Rick Toomey, an associate professor of chemistry, and Dr. Deb Johnson Toomey ’94, ’96, an associate professor of marketing, said their recollections of John will always be centered on the graciousness he showed to others.
“From our first meeting until now, John has always made us feel like we were important, that he valued our perspectives and that we mattered as both faculty and people,” Rick said. “John was concerned with our well-being, greeting us with a smile, a handshake or a hug, treating us as peers and colleagues. He was always aware of our efforts and excited to celebrate our accomplishments, be it in a crowd or one-on-one.”
The caring relationships he and Denise formed with the Bearcat family are one of the things John says he is most proud of when he reflects on his time at Northwest.
“Without that, I don’t know that you can accomplish anything,” he said. “Life is about relationships, and if the world would just take time to get to know each other, we might be in a little bit better spot than we are today.”
Each of Northwest’s nine previous presidents has left their marks on the University in unique ways. For John Jasinski – when alumni, employees, future students and others look back at his presidency decades from now – they’ll see a 13-year span of consistent, high performance.
