N O RT H W E S T
THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2022
MISSOURIAN MARYVILLE, MISSOURI
NWMISSOURINEWS.COM
VOL. 110, NO. 27
@THEMISSOURIAN
ELECTION 2022 COVERAGE ON A2
JASINSKI OUT
County to form mental health board KENNEDY KALVODA News Reporter | @KKalvoda1
Problems with mental health such as anxiety, depression and drug abuse have skyrocketed in the U.S. since the start of the pandemic in 2020. Five counties in northwest Missouri plan to aid these problems in their communities by joining together to create a mental health co-op. Nodaway County, Gentry County, Atchison County, Holt County and Worth County will be creating the Northwest Missouri Cooperative Mental Health Board of Trustees. This will consist of a board from each county to facilitate, coordinate and fund a sustaining mental health program. This was brought forward by the 4th Judicial Circuit Leadership Team on Mental Health and Criminal Justice, led by Associate Circuit Judge for Nodaway County Robert Rice. This leadership team was created in late 2020 in order to help address gaps in mental health resources across the region of northwest Missouri. Members of the leadership team come from various career fields, including health, law enforcement and judicial organizations. The reasoning behind this proposal is that many people in the region were not able to get the care they needed in their own communities. Some people have to travel to St. Joseph and Kansas City to get treatment. “Our goal is to obtain additional mental health resources to handle the public health crisis that we’re facing with mental health issues in northwest Missouri,” Rice said. Each county that participates will be able to nominate board members to participate, with seven from Nodaway County, one from Worth County, and two each from Atchison, Gentry and Holt counties. These numbers are based on the population of each of the counties, with the counties with higher populations having more representatives and the ones with lower populations having less. Of the five counties, four had signed on to an initial agreement that would have created the board, but the Atchison County Commission didn’t initially agree with the plan after expressing concern over the representation on the board and the potential financial obligation involved. It was officially approved when Atchison County was brought back in on March 22. The county came back into the fold after the number of board members from the county was increased from one member to two members in order to address the county’s concerns about board representation.
ADDALYNN BRADBURY PHOTO EDITOR
Northwest President John Jasinski stands at the fall 2021 commencement ceremony. Jasinski, who has served as president since 2009, was notified earlier this month that the Board of Regents would not be renewing his contract.
Reason for Regents’ decision to not renew NW President’s contract still unknown NATHAN ENGLISH Managing Editor | @nathan_3nglish
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ADDALYNN BRADBURY PHOTO EDITOR
Regent John Moore, a member of the Board of Regents, discusses raising student employee wages, which was approved after a 5-2 vote March 17.
orthwest will have a new person at the helm for the first time in 13 years. President John Jasinski announced April 1 via an “All That Jazz” email that he and Northwest will be parting ways after the University’s Board of Regents decided not to renew his contract. Jasinski will vacate the position June 30, when his contract expires. No record of a vote on the issue by the Northwest Board of Regents has been made available at this time. Two years ago, Jasinski had one year left on his contract. Regents voted to void the final year and replace it with a two-year contract. Regent Chair John Moore said Jasinski was told at the time that it would be his last extension. The Northwest president declined to comment outside of his previous statement. Jasinski’s departure is not due to performance issues, the president said in his email, which the Regent chair later confirmed. “Since we let John know this two years ago, we have worked with him to try and accomplish his career desires,” Moore said. “In that process, it’s been a good discussion — good, healthy conversations have taken place.” Jasinski was a finalist for Minnesota State University-Mankato’s presidential position last year before withdrawing his name for consideration. “It is appropriate for me to explore new horizons at this time, as I am quite optimistic about where Northwest is at in its life cycle,” Jasinski said in a February 2021 press release after it was announced he was a candidate for the position. No reason was given for Jasinski’s withdrawal from
SEE JASINSKI | A4
$73 million raised in donations during Jasinski’s tenure as president. Around $55 million came from the Forever Green campaign
SEE HEALTH | A4
Northwest Missouri’s oldest and largest independently-owned and operated bank. Maryville Savannah Mound City St. Joseph 660-562-3232 660-442-3131 816-324-3158 816-364-5678 AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1914.
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