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Northwest Missouri State University’s Board of Regents has announced the names of four individuals identified by a search committee as finalists to become the University’s 11th president.
The candidates are Dr. Michael Godard, provost at Southeast Missouri State University; Dr. David P. Jones, vice president for student affairs and enrollment management at Minnesota State University, Mankato; Dr. Kent Porterfield, vice provost of student affairs at Gonzaga University; and Dr. Lance Tatum, senior vice chancellor for academic affairs and chief academic officer at Troy University.
“The search committee was delighted with the quality of the candidates who interviewed last week, and we are enthusiastic about introducing each finalist to the Northwest community as they make campus visits over the next few weeks,” said John Moore, who is the chair of Northwest’s Presidential Search Committee and serves as chair of the Board of Regents.
Each of the finalists will visit the Northwest campus in Maryville for interactions with stakeholder groups in addition to town hall-style meetings that are open to all students, employees, alumni, community members and other individuals who may be unable to participate in stakeholder-specific sessions. The public forums also will be available via zoom for people who cannot attend in person.
More information about the finalists, as well as public forums to ask questions of the candidates, is provided below. For up to two days after each visit, the Northwest community will have an opportunity to submit their input regarding the finalists by completing a brief, online survey at www.nwmissouri.edu/presidentsearch/.
The announcement of finalists launches the next phase of the University’s presidential search process, which began last summer and included a series of input sessions involving Northwest students, employees, alumni and community members.
Northwest is partnering with Anthem Executive, a Houston-based search firm, to recruit its next president. A Presidential Search Committee, consisting of 15 people representing varied Northwest stakeholder groups, reviewed applicants and identified the finalists after a series of interviews with candidates Jan. 18-19.
Dr. Michael Godard has served since July 2019 as provost at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, where he also is a professor of exercise science.
His primary responsibility is leading the administration and promotion of academic excellence in faculty and academic programs. He provides leadership in planning and implementing instructional programs and guiding development of initiatives within academic affairs. He has responsibilities associated with the learning environment, including all academic programs within Southeast’s five academic colleges, the honors program, graduate studies, TRIO programs, academic support services, the Kent Library regional campuses, the institute of cybersecurity and aviation operations.
In addition to teaching undergraduate and graduate level courses in exercise science throughout his career, his administrative experience includes roles as interim provost and chief learning officer and as vice provost for enrollment management and student success at University of Central Missouri, where he also served as chair of its Department of Nutrition and Kinesiology. He served as associate director of the honors college and was a research faculty associate at the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Research at Western Illinois University. He also was director of the Applied Physiology Laboratory at the University of Kansas and director of the Cardiology Stress Laboratories at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York.
Godard earned a Ph.D. at Ball State University in human bioenergetics. He has a Master of Arts degree in exercise physiology from Adelphi University and a Bachelor of Science degree in exercise science from Castleton University.
Dr. David P. Jones has served since 2012 as vice president for student affairs and enrollment management at Minnesota State University, Mankato, where his roles also have included associate vice president for student affairs and enrollment management and interim vice president for information and technology services.
He is responsible for developing the strategic enrollment plan and creating the vision, leadership, planning, direction and review of student affairs operations. He provides leadership for the programs and services of the Division of Student Affairs with supervision of admissions, residential life, the career development center, student health, counseling center, student union, student conduct, university security, campus recreation, and new student and family programs. He leads advancement activity for student affairs, coordinates the emergency response planning protocol and served as the administrative liaison to two collective bargaining units.
Prior to his work at Minnesota State University, Mankato, he was employed with the University of Alabama, where he was assistant vice president for student affairs and executive director of housing and residential communities. He also served as assistant director of housing and residential education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; as area director of residence halls and Greek housing at College of William and Mary in Virginia; and as a residence hall director at University of Nebraska at Kearney. He began his career as a social studies teacher in Carlisle, Iowa.
Jones earned a Ph.D. in educational policy, planning and leadership at College of William and Mary. He has a Master of Arts in Education degree in community counseling from University of Nebraska at Kearney and a Bachelor of Arts in Education degree in secondary education from State University of New York College at Oswego.
Dr. Kent Porterfield has served since 2020 as vice provost of student affairs at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington.
He provides senior leadership for the student affairs division comprising diversity, equity and inclusion; the Center for Community Engagement; the Lincoln LGBTQ+ Resource Center; the Payne Center for Leadership Development; the First Generation, Transfer, Veteran, and Returning Adult Students Office; and the Unity Multicultural Education Center; as well as sustainability, health and counseling services, health promotion and wellness, student conduct and conflict, campus security and public safety, student involvement, Gonzaga Outdoors, residential life, new student and family programs, and student media.
Prior to joining Gonzaga, he was vice president for student development at Saint Louis University. Before that, he was employed at Northwest for 16 years, advancing from director of the student union to assistant dean of students and assistant vice president for student affairs, and then to vice president for student affairs.
Porterfield earned an Ed.D. in educational leadership and policy analysis at the University of Missouri-Columbia. He has a Master of Science in Education degree in educational administration and a Bachelor of Science in Education degree in history and physical education, both from Northwest.
Dr. Lance Tatum has served since January 2019 as senior vice chancellor for academic affairs and chief academic officer at Troy University in Troy, Alabama, while holding the rank of professor in its Sorrell College of Business—School of Hospitality, Sport and Tourism Management.
He is responsible for all aspects of the university’s academic mission, including strategic planning, budgeting, supervising, and reviewing programs of instruction, research and continuing education. He oversees 32 academic departments housed in five academic colleges in addition to the supervision of leaders overseeing undergraduate and first-year studies, the graduate school, academic support, three non-traditional campuses, libraries, registrar, institutional research, planning and effectiveness, and sponsored programs, as well as the directors of the university’s Confucius Institute and International Arts Center.
Tatum also has served Troy University as vice chancellor for its campus in Montgomery, Alabama; vice chancellor for its Global Campus; dean of the College of Education; and chairperson of the Department of Kinesiology and Health Promotion as well as a Faculty Athletics Representative. Throughout his career, he has held faculty positions in sport and fitness management at Troy University and, prior to that, in physical education at Gordon College in Barnesville, Georgia.
Tatum earned a Ph.D. in sport management at Florida State University. He has a Master of Science in Education degree in foundations of education and a Bachelor of Science degree in physical education, both from Troy State University.
