Northwest Missouri State University President Dr. John Jasinski has been elected chair of the Council on Public Higher Education in Missouri (COPHE) and reappointed as a member of the Board of Overseers of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

Jasinski’s peers elected him to a one-year term to succeed University of Missouri System President Dr. Mun Choi. COPHE is a nonprofit association comprised of the presidents and chancellors of Missouri’s 13 public four-year universities. The organization’s mission is to support and advance the missions of Missouri’s public four-year universities while increasing understanding and appreciation of public higher education by state leaders and the public at-large. Jasinski previously served a two-year term as COPHE chair from 2013 to 2015.

As a member of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award’s Board of Overseers, Jasinski joins 11 other distinguished leaders representing all sectors of the U.S. economy and organizations eligible for the Baldrige Award. Appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, board members evaluate the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program, provide policy guidance and assess how the Baldrige Award serves the national interest. Jasinski began serving on the Board of Overseers in 2016, and the Baldrige Award is the nation’s highest honor for organizational innovation and performance excellence.

Jasinski previously served as chair of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award’s Panel of Judges as well as member of the panel and Baldrige examiner. During the 1990s, he served on the staff of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program, as part of an education sabbatical, and played a key role in developing the first edition of the Education Criteria for Performance Excellence.

“It is humbling to serve with such an august set of leaders and an honor and privilege to represent Northwest Missouri State University and the sector of higher education in these leadership roles,” Jasinski said. “Collective work and impact, collaboration and focusing on the future are critical to moving our country and state forward.”

Since 2009, Jasinski has served as the 10th president of Northwest. Under his leadership, the institution enjoys peer-leading metrics across measures such as freshman success rate, retention rate, student satisfaction, student engagement and athletic success rate.

Jasinski’s other professional affiliations include serving as a member of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) Board of Directors. He serves on AASCU’s Council of State Representatives, Professional Development Committee and Nominating Committee. He is a participant this week in the TIAA-CREF-sponsored 2019 AASCU Fall Presidential Symposium, “Harnessing the Power of Higher Education: AASCU Institutions as Engines for Economic Growth.”