Jason Klindt looks at his appointment to the Northwest Missouri State University Board of Regents as a “small way to give back to an institution that has given so much.”
The senior manager of customer intelligence at KCP&L, Klindt was appointed to the Board of Regents in December, confirmed but the Missouri Senate in January and will serve until Jan. 1, 2023. He earned a bachelor’s degree in public relations in 1999 and a master’s degree in business administration in 2002 from Northwest.
“I am honored I was asked to serve on the Board of Regents,” Klindt said. “It is a small way to give back to give back to an institution that has given me so much. My time at Northwest was transformative and has really had a huge impact on the person I’ve become. I think for a lot of kids that’s still true. I want to help ensure those same opportunities are there for the next generation.”
Three months into his term, Klindt says there is always a plethora of issues and the biggest challenge is understanding the issues. He has had to learn a very complex industry — on a state and nation level — and a whole new set of acronyms and issues.
“You do a lot of listening: You listen to experts, you listen to executives, you listen to the students, you listen to administrators,” said Klindt. “You try and find out what the problems are and the potential solutions.”
He defines success in finding a way to continue to grow Northwest and the meet the challenges in continuing to be seen as a university that offers extraordinary value for students.
“Northwest is, and always has been, a leader in value,” said Klindt. “As an institution, our niche is providing a great education at an affordable price. So continuing that tradition of excellence and value into the future is a consistent challenge.”
One of the big issues higher education faces is balancing a budget. Two decades ago, 70 percent of Northwest’s funding came from the state and 30 percent from the university. Now those numbers have flipped with 30 percent of the funding coming from the state and 70 percent coming from Northwest.
There are two ways to balance a budget: Increasing revenue or decreasing spending. In the last 4 years, Northwest has saved about $66 million in cost, according to Klindt. In the March meeting of the board, they voted to increase tuition for the next — though Klindt voted against doing so.
“We are being asked for a tuition increase before we voted for a budget. My belief is we should see expenses and then decided if we want to raise tuition,” said Klindt. “I think we should be considering a tuition increase only after we know our expenses for the year.”
While most votes on the board are unanimous, Klindt isn’t afraid to be the sole no vote — as shown on the tuition increase vote.
“I respect that my colleagues view it differently but I think we need to reform our process for how we consider both revenue and spending,” he said.
Higher education in the United States is going through a profound change, according to Klindt. He believes that it is important to understand that the world is changing under our feet and Northwest will have to continue to adapt to the needs of its students. The university will continue to do that by having sound policies and finance and curriculum and other issues.
“There are no shortages of challenges,” said Klindt, “it is just a matter of finding a way to continue to provide that niche that we have, which is a great education at an affordable price.”
Alisha Shurr was a reporter for The Missouri Times and The Missouri Times Magazine. She joined The Missouri Times in January 2018 after working as a copy editor for her hometown newspaper in Southern Oregon. Alisha is a graduate of Kansas State University.
