THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2023
MARYVILLE, MISSOURI
NWMISSOURINEWS.COM
POSSIBLE
VOL. 111, NO. 20
@THEMISSOURIAN
PRESIDENT? MAKAYLA POLAK EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
The second of the four finalists in the presidential search to visit Northwest, David Jones, talks during the community session. Jones has been the vice president for student affairs and enrollment management at Minnesota State University - Mankato for over a decade.
MAKAYLA POLAK EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
One of the four finalists in the presidential search, Kent Porterfield, answers questions from audience members during the community session. Porterfield spent his first 40 years in Nodaway County and hopes to make his return back to Northwest.
Kent Porterfield looks to return to Northwest SIDNEY LOWRY Managing Editor | @sidney_lowry
Familiarity — it’s something that sets one of the Northwest presidential candidates apart from the others. Kent Porterfield, current vice provost of student affairs at Gonzaga University, spent the first 40 years of his life in Nodaway County, and after 17 years away, he is hoping to find himself back in Northwest Missouri. Porterfield was the first of four presidential candidates to visit campus during the month on Feb. 2 and participated in a student session, an open session as well as meetings throughout the day to talk with stakeholder groups and tour campus facilities. These buildings are not new, though, as Porterfield grew up in the small town of Hopkins, Missouri, just 22 miles from Maryville. In 1989, he only applied to Northwest because of the proximity and knowing he wanted to be a teacher. He then ended up staying there for the next 14 years after obtaining his bachelor’s and master’s degree. He always knew he wanted to be a teacher, but strayed from his original plan
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Once a Bearcat, always a Bearcat, I think that is really true. There’s something about the DNA of the institution that gets a hold of you.” -KENT PORTERFIELD
of being a history teacher and a coach. He spent the last 31 years in administration in higher education all because of previous mentors asking if he had ever considered it. “In a small community, the people I looked up to were teachers and coaches,” he said. “I wanted to be like that. … (After graduating) I had some doubts about whether I made the right choice. I was really uncertain so I talked to faculty, student affairs and mentors, and they asked me if I had ever considered a career in higher education.” That question sparked a career path for Porterfield that started on the Northwest campus. He began as the director of the J.W. Jones Student Union from 19901992, then moved on to the assistant dean of students and assistant vice president for Student Affairs for the next five years. For the following nine years, he worked as the vice president for student affairs. “I have deep roots,” Porterfield said. “... My life has been student success and working with students to help students find a passion and purpose and pathway.” After earning the position of vice president for student development at Saint Louis University and now at Gonzaga, he said he was exposed to different types of students, all with different backgrounds. When it comes to diversity, equity and inclusion, Porterfield said he has helped make scholar programs and cultural identity centers and programs to help underrepresented students acclimate to campus. “There’s a lot of work, I think, to making institutions that are predominantly white and their demographic makeup more welcoming to students,” Porterfield said. At Gonzaga, he has had senior leadership over the division with diversity, equity and inclusion; the Center for Community Engagement; the Lincoln LGBTQ+ Resource Center; the First Generation, Transfer, Veteran and Returning Adult Students Office; the Unity Multicultural Education Center and other offices. With over 25 years of experience in working with students every day, Porterfield’s expertise stems from student success.
SEE PORTERFIELD | A4
David Jones points to his background in teaching, student life SIDNEY LOWRY Managing Editor | @sidney_lowry
For the last 30 years, student success has guided one Northwest presidential candidate’s career path. David Jones, current vice president for student affairs and enrollment management at Minnesota State University - Mankato, has deep roots in student affairs and said his long journey throughout the office has given him a different perspective. Jones was the second of four presidential candidates to visit campus during the month on Feb. 7 and participated in multiple forums throughout the day and talked to stakeholder groups and toured campus facilities for the first time.
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You know, it’s a whole spectrum and so with 30 years of this kind of background experience … I think all of that kind of provides me great breadth and understanding of the various things that the University can do to really help students.” -DAVID JONES
Jones started his education at State University of New York College at Oswego with a bachelor’s in secondary education, originally setting out to be a social studies teacher. During his master’s program, the idea for his career path changed to want-
ing to be a high school guidance counselor. He then realized he didn’t enjoy that type of work, he then got a doctorate in education policy, planning and leadership and found a life in higher education. He started his career teaching social studies for Carlisle Community School, a public school district in Iowa, in 1993, but then quickly made the switch to working administratively in higher education. Beginning in residential life at the University of Nebraska - Kearney, he has since made his way to working for more than a decade in student affairs at Minnesota - Mankato. “I’m about as geeky as you will get in higher ed,” Jones said. “I’ve done every little step along the way to write for my graduate hall director to a professional hall director all the way through. So with that pathway, I’ve been experienced and exposed to a ton of stuff. … You know, it’s a whole spectrum and so with 30 years of this kind of background experience … I think all of that kind of provides me great breadth and understanding of the various things that the University can do to really help students.” Jones explained his office as a ‘problem solver’ where he has not only had to work with students to solve problems, but other offices throughout the institution. When it comes to underrepresented students, he said he has met with different organizations and groups for years to find out if the university is meeting their needs. In that, he said helping those groups meet their needs and feel comfortable is important. “We got to make sure that our attraction and interest in that person is genuine,” Jones said. “And it’s not just because we feel like ‘Oh, that’ll be good,’ and then you would hit this percent or whatever it might be. It’s more than that. But genuinely, I mean, we need to make sure we have the investment, the resources, the services in place to help anybody whether it’s a student or a new employee here at the University feel like they can be a part of the community.” Being a teacher for a year, and his wife, Jennifer, being a professor herself, Jones said teachers should be able to control their own curriculum.
SEE JONES | A4
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