NORTHWEST
MISSOURIAN
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2021
MARYVILLE, MISSOURI
NWMISSOURINEWS.COM
VOL. 110, NO. 6
@THEMISSOURIAN
NEWS BRIEF
Enrollment sees another overall spike Northwest’s total headcount this fall is 7,870 students, which is the highest enrollment in institution history, according to the University’s fall census count last week. This year, the University recorded an 8% increase from a year ago, which also marks the fourth consecutive fall that Northwest saw an increased headcount. While overall enrollment has seen an increase, undergraduate enrollment as a whole dipped. Northwest recorded 964 firsttime freshman, which is 284 fewer students than the headcount for the 2020-21 school year. That marks a 23% decrease in freshman this year. The increase in total students is due to increases in the following categories: international students, which increased 59 percent; graduate students, which increased 44%; online students, which increased 19%; and dual credit students, which increased 16%. Northwest has also been able to maintain a high retention rate — 76% — which is the amount of the previous academic year’s freshman class students who chose to return this fall. This marks the second-highest retention rate in the institution’s history, just behind the 2018 rate of 78%. Of this year’s freshmen class, 38% identify as first-generation college students. The University also has 305 first-time transfer students, up 4% from last fall. In a news release, Northwest President John Jasinski attested to the University’s ability to retain students during COVID-19.
ROSCOE FLINT | NW MISSOURIAN
Aramark employee Madhu Babu Arla reads over a new order slip during late night service. As of Sept. 21, there are 12 job postings for Aramark dating back three months.
APPLICATIONS DOWN SIDNEY LOWRY News Editor | @sidney_lowry
Jobs left T open in student worker turnover Wellness hires new assistant director
hough there has been a labor shortage nationwide, Northwest has been battling problems of its own when it comes to student employees and applications. Paula McLain, coordinator of student employment, said there may not be a shortage of student employees just yet, but there are less applications being seen in comparison to previous semesters. “This is kind of the prime time to be hiring,” McLain said. “I would say that there are not as many applications that we normally see per job.” Job opportunities haven’t been a problem, as McLain said that there was an overwhelming amount at the beginning of the semester. Usually it takes 24 to 48 hours to post a job, but there were so many that Human Resources needed another day or two to post them. McLain said that the difference in application
RIAN CASWELL News Reporter | @rian_caswell
Wellness Services welcomed Nikita Alimohammad as the new assistant director of Wellness Services’ Education and Prevention. In this role, she will promote the well-being and success of Northwest students through educational programs and prevention services. Alimohammad replaced the previous position holder, BK Taylor. During Taylor’s time at Northwest, he put a large emphasis on creating an environment where students felt comfortable talking about mental health. He put as many new programs into action as possible to improve student engagement. Alimohammad said she hopes to continue this emphasis in her new position. She also joined the Northwest Well-Being Steering Committee, which is a leadership team within Wellness Services that tries to create a campus environment that supports the community and their well-being. Alimohammad has a master’s degree from San Diego State University in public health health promotion and behavioral sciences, and she is also a certified health education specialist. She joins Northwest from her previous position as the mental health and suicide pre-
vention specialist at Washington State University. Assistant Vice President of Health and Well-Being Chris Dawe assisted in hiring Alimohammad and said he is excited about adding her to the team. “Nikita’s experience and knowledge in this field makes her a great match for this job and the Wellness Services team is confident that she is going to be a great asset to supporting the well-being of Northwest students,” Dawe said. Wellness Services aids in the six dimensions of wellness: physical, social, emotional, occupational, intellectual and spiritual. With a background in mental health promotion, Alimohammad said she hopes to add to the promotion of these areas with students. “I am most excited about increasing student engagement at Northwest and getting students feeling well,” Alimohammad said. “The dimensions of wellness can get overwhelming sometimes for students, so I am most looking forward to helping ease that process so that students are feeling well, healthy and successful.” Her new position started Sept. 20, where she began to provide her team with research, design, planning and implementation.
SEE WELLNESS | A4
submissions from this year compared to previous years is a mystery to her, but it’s not only a campus issue. Northwest offers community job postings on the student employment page, and McLain said there have been issues with community postings getting student applicants. “I had an off-campus person that reached out to me and said ‘I have had no applicants, none, and I think it is a job that I think would be of interest to an education major,’ and I was very surprised,” McLain said. “I’ve never had that happen.” McLain said the wage rate isn’t the problem when it comes to employment; the job posting that had no applications had a starting rate of 14 dollars an hour. The average wage at Northwest is around $8.60 an hour, but can be anywhere up to $9.50 an hour. Fulltime students must be paid at least the federal minimum wage according to the Department of Labor.
SEE EMPLOYMENT | A4
ADDALYNN BRADBURY | NW MISSOURIAN
To celebrate Hispanic History Month, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion invited Mercedes Ramirez Johnson to speak to students about her experience of surviving a plane crash and her experiences as a Hispanic woman Sept. 20.
DI Office hosts alumna speaker for Hispanic Heritage Month events QUENTIN MORRIS News Reporter | @TheMissourian
Northwest is showing its support of Hispanic Heritage Month through events held by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion. The Office of Diversity and Inclusion held two events. One was a movie night showing Disney’s “McFarland, USA” Sept. 16. For the second, the DI Office brought in Mercedes Ramirez Johnson to speak to students about her
experience of surviving a plane crash and her experiences as a Hispanic woman Sept. 20. “McFarland, USA” is a true story about a white high school football coach who loses his job and gets a new job in a poor, predominantly Hispanic high school. The coach eventually starts a cross country team after he sees that some of the students are exceptional long-distance runners. The movie highlights Hispanic culture and the
poor socioeconomic status of small farming towns. Gabriela Garcia-Adam was one of the attendees at the movie night. She is from a similar town as the one shown in the movie. She is of Hispanic heritage, as both of her parents immigrated from Mexico. She said the movie “I was a runner. It brought back a lot of memories,” Garcia-Adam said. “I come from a part of California where up until junior high, it was at least 80% Latino, and in high school, it was more like 95%.” According to the United States National Archives, the U.S. celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month to recognize the achievements and contributions of Hispanic-American champions who have inspired others.
SEE HERITAGE | A4
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