Northwest organizes the workforce around faculty, professional/administrative staff, support staff, and student employees. The faculty is further divided into colleges based on academic disciplines. Over the past 25 years, the number of undergraduate colleges has been consolidated from ten into three, yielding substantial savings. This has allowed Northwest to allocate a greater percentage of its resources directly into instruction.  The academic side of the workforce is supported by staff and student employees. Northwest is unique in the extent to which it uses student employees. This practice also yields savings that contribute to our leading position in the percentage of budget allocated directly to instruction. This practice is also being benchmarked by the Higher Education Funding Council for England.

Our Culture of Quality is predicated on McGregor’s Theory Y concept. Consistent with one of our core values – “We collaborate and work together to accomplish our goals” – faculty, staff and student employees are empowered and encouraged to interact horizontally and vertically without direct influence from administrators. For example, Northwest’s approach to decision-making emphasizes cross-functional planning. All standing committees and problem-specific task forces are cross-functional. Examples include the Student Success Task Force, Strategic Initiative Teams, Council on Teacher Education Team, Teacher Education Student Services Advisory Group, Teacher Education Admissions Committee, Crisis Intervention Team, Academic Space Group, and the Faculty Senate/Faculty Senate Committee System.

This organizational structure facilitates the flow of information between faculty and staff leaders (e.g., Faculty Senate, Support Staff Council), supervisors (Leadership Forum participants), and administrators. Additionally, the University Dashboard, email, and myNorthwest portal provide performance data and real-time dissemination of workgroup results.

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Northwest is equidistant (approximately 100 miles) from Kansas City, Des Moines, and Omaha.  We recruit and compete nationally for faculty and senior professional staff, and we recruit and compete regionally/locally for support staff. Because of our geographic location, we can find it difficult to attract families when spouses/partners are both professionals in their fields. It also can be difficult to find adjuncts in some disciplines. A significant challenge is attracting a diverse faculty and staff. However, the City of Maryville is making improvements to its airport, downtown, and lake, which should make the community more attractive to some.

Northwest uses part-time employees in two ways. First, we use adjunct faculty both on the Maryville campus and in distance learning. For example, Northwest has Graduate Centers in St. Joseph, MO, and in Kansas City, MO, and we are cooperating with other institutions (e.g., Missouri Southern State University, the Kansas City, MO, Metropolitan Community Colleges, and North Central Missouri College) in joint offering of programs. Northwest uses a corps of adjunct faculty serving these various programs. These individuals meet requirements established and overseen by the Graduate Office and the Graduate Council. A Practitioner Faculty Institute is offered regularly for adjunct faculty by Outreach Education, a process providing both training on curriculum and on use of technologies, but also linking departmental faculty to adjuncts. Second and as mentioned above, Northwest is unique in the extent to which it uses student employees. As of October 2008, there were 1180 student employees on campus. (Numbers can vary monthly.) We have organized a career-pathing program for student employees, which we will explain later in this category.

With regard to compensation, Northwest uses national market data to determine faculty salaries by rank; we use regional market data combined with years-of-service when determining staff salaries. Students are paid on a graded scale depending on their experience and position in their own career-pathing plan.

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The primary determinant of workforce needs at Northwest is its student enrollment; we evaluate high school graduate averages in surrounding states as a means to predict potential student enrollment. Northwest analyzes a number of other demographic trends as a means to proactively anticipate and prepare for a successful future: percentage of faculty and staff eligible for retirement; historic turnover levels; and retirement eligibility of cabinet members, deans and directors. Recent increases in Freshmen enrollment is particularly notable given that many of our competitors are experiencing limited enrollments or declines in their enrollment. This attests to the successful use of these data by our Enrollment Management team. Further, the Northwest Board of Regents has approved a five-year enrollment growth plan (Rational Expectations Enrollment Plan; REEP). As a part of the growth plan, the Board also approved a draft hiring plan for faculty (34 additional FTEs) and staff (60 new FTEs).

Northwest has the potential for a significant number of staffing changes. Approximately 103 faculty/staff are eligible to retire. Additionally, there are 7 senior leaders (cabinet, deans, directors) eligible for retirement.  Finally, Northwest’s president, Dr. Dean Hubbard, has announced his retirement after 25 years of service.

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Students. The Career Pathing Program is an enhanced Student Employment Program. The Program came about as a result of a collection of research. Northwest conducted its first Student Employment Satisfaction Survey in 2003. The information collected from the survey along with research conducted by a Marketing Research Class Project initiated the development of the Career Pathing Program. Student employees have the opportunity to advance to a new level of pay and responsibility once they have completed specific criteria:

• A student employee must work both fall and spring in the same Pilot Program Department.
• A student employee must attend at least 3 out of the 8 trainings offered per trimester.
• A student employee must have a satisfactory performance evaluation completed by their supervisor.

The program promotes increased student employee responsibility, creates opportunities for pay advancement, encourages continual feedback for personal development and professional development, promotes long-term employment relationships with departments, and contributes to Northwest's Service Initiative and Culture.

Faculty. Faculty attendance at professional, discipline-related conferences is encouraged and supported, and Northwest provides funding through the department, College, and through Culture of Quality funds. Additionally, funds that support research and its presentation are awarded through the Northwest Faculty Research Committee. Over the past three years, we have expanded and strengthened our New Faculty Orientation Program. It is a year-long program that begins with an intensive two-day orientation prior to the beginning of the academic year. Supplementing this orientation are mentoring programs in each of the academic colleges. For example, the College of Education and Human Services provides mentor training and resources (ring binder) to support new faculty.

The Center for Information Technology in Education (CITE) plays an integral part in Northwest Missouri State University's effort to enhance student learning through the use of technology.  CITE operates in such a way as to capitalize on the talents of Northwest's faculty and provide them with an opportunity to advance their understanding of information technology's applications to learning, to develop relevant applications for their fields, and to spend time with their colleagues helping them apply information technology to their courses and programs.  The CITE office provides every Northwest faculty member with a Tablet PC for use in the classroom and as an aid in grading papers and marking up projects.  Training on the use of the Tablet PC is provided to faculty on an individual basis.  Additional professional development opportunities are provided by the CITE office through training sessions on specific topics throughout the academic year.  Finally, in-depth discussion of pedagogical issues related to online education and the use of technology in the classroom is provided during the training of faculty members who are awarded annual CITE Fellowships and through CITE-hosted webinars.

The Faculty Senate Welfare Committee sponsors Faculty Teaching Symposia each year. The College of Education and Human Services (CEHS) regularly conducts Best Practice seminars. Practitioner Faculty Institute (PFI) in cooperation with Northwest Outreach are held regularly each summer to mentor adjunct and term appointment faculty who teach in both Graduate Centers and on-campus. Begun in 2003, the specific goals of the PFI are to assist in defining the role of the adjunct, to assure alignment of instruction with the goals and mission of the University and to assure continuity and quality in curriculum and instruction provided. General concepts covered include mission, related conceptual frameworks, library access/usage, ITV instructional delivery and support and online instructional delivery.

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