Northwest to celebrate opening of Kansas City location Aug. 18_Northwest Missouri State University[노스웨스트미주리주립대,미국주립대장학금]

Northwest to celebrate opening of Kansas City location Aug. 18_

Northwest Missouri State University[노스웨스트미주리주립대,미국주립대장학금]

Northwest is offering bachelor’s degree completion programs in business management, marketing, elementary education and special education at its new Northwest-Kansas City location in Gladstone. The public is invited to a grand opening event Aug. 18. (Photo by Todd Weddle/Northwest Missouri State University)

Northwest Missouri State University and the city of Gladstone will celebrate the culmination of a unique partnership initiated in 2014 with a grand-opening event Thursday, Aug. 18, at its new Northwest-Kansas City location.

The public is invited to the event from 4 to 6 p.m. at the newly completed Northland Innovation Campus at 6889 North Oak Trafficway in Gladstone. A presentation at 5 p.m. will feature Northwest President Dr. John Jasinski, Provost Dr. Timothy Mottet and Gladstone city officials. Tours of the Northwest facility also will be available, and refreshments will be served. 

“This grand opening gives us the opportunity to re-introduce Kansas City to Northwest Missouri State and our proud 100-plus year history of providing students with a high-value educational experience made possible by a faculty and staff who are personally invested in each student’s success,” Mottet said.

The new Northland Innovation Campus, a 90,000 square-foot research and education complex, was constructed through a partnership involving Northwest, the city of Gladstone and North Kansas City Schools to create synergies for K-12 programming while attracting business partners and students from the Kansas City metro and regional area.

The partners broke ground for the $20 million project with project developer CarrBaierCrandall Real Estate Group in May 2015. Under the terms of a 10-year lease agreement, Northwest occupies 18,529 square feet on the building’s fourth floor.

Twelve classrooms are equipped with state-of-the-art technology for student learning. The space also features a student lounge, staff office suite, faculty work area, conference room and student collaboration room.

The location will support students enrolled in Northwest’s bachelor’s degree completion programs in business management, marketing, elementary education and special education. Additionally, the University plans to add completion programs for fall 2017 in computer science: mobile computing, communications: public relations, criminology, corporate recreation and applied health science. Northwest-Kansas City also offers dual credit coursework through its partnership with Northland CAPS as well as professional education graduate degrees.

“We are providing educational opportunities through Northwest-Kansas City to diverse audiences, ranging from aspiring secondary school students through practicing professionals, spreading to civil and community leaders and the residents of the area,” Dr. Terry Barmann, director of Northwest-Kansas City, said. “Northwest is enriching educational opportunities in the Northland and making a commitment to serve as a viable member of the community of Gladstone and the Northland.”

Northwest has offered academic programs beyond its Maryville campus since the late 1980s when Northwest faculty loaded textbooks into the trunks of cars and pickup truck beds and ventured to remote sites to instruct students. During the 2000s, due to increase demand, Northwest entered partnerships with the North Kansas City School District and later Liberty Public Schools to maintain its Kansas City presence. In 2014, Northwest entered into a partnership with Metropolitan Community College and began offering classes on the MCC-Maple Woods campus.

As operations grew, expansion was necessary again, and Northwest joined the partnership to build the Northland Innovation Campus.

“The vision of Northwest-Kansas City is to embed high-quality academic programs to develop a strong workforce in the Kansas City Northland and beyond,” Barmann said. “By employing field experts mentored by University faculty, the academic offerings at Northwest-Kansas City are aligned and have the same characteristics as the offerings on the flagship campus in Maryville. The programs offer profession-based work experiences throughout the degree programs.”