Green takes the helm of Northwest, proving his unfaltering loyalty to the Bearcat brand

Upon Dr. John Jasinski’s dismissal as the Northwest Missouri State University’s 10th president, Dr. Clarence Green assumed the reins as the leader of his alma mater as the interim president upon the Regents request.

“I have no interest in taking this position in a more permanent fashion,” noted Green early in the interview with NNL Publisher Kay Wilson. “Instead I hope to set the stage for the next president by removing any barriers which would impede success for Northwest.”

Green bleeds green

“Once a Bearcat, Always a Bearcat” is a slogan which Northwest alum proudly proclaim through many avenues. Green is the epitome of that slogan. He came to Northwest from East St. Louis and was a Bearcat football lineman while achieving his bachelor’s degree in sociology in 1994. He continued his education by receiving a master’s degree in higher education leadership from Northwest in 2010. To receive his doctorate of education, he studied at the University of Missouri-Columbia where in 2018 he earned a doctorate in educational leadership and policy analysis.

While at Northwest, Green has served as the police chief of the university police and the vice president of culture at Northwest since April 2019 and has oversight of the office of human resources and the office of institutional research and effectiveness. While he leads Northwest teams responsible for strategic planning and crisis management, he also has served on implementation teams for student success, inclusive excellence and behavioral intervention, in addition to leading efforts to establish a multidisciplinary team focused on intervention strategies for students in crisis.

He previously served at Northwest as interim vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion, and as the interim vice president of human resources.

Green, who has been employed at Northwest since 1996, has served in law enforcement for more than 25 years. He served on the United States Attorney General Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee and is a Malcom Baldrige fellow.

Plans include to remove any current stigmas

Green sees as his mission while serving as the interim president to bridge the gap that has appeared between university leadership, students, faculty and staff. He is working to meet and listening to “all of the Bearcat family.” His focus will be to increase the engagement of all through this year.

He has also met with leaders within governance organizations throughout the state and locally with city and county leaders to allow for a better understanding of the transition Northwest will be going through.

The focal points of his leadership will be enrollment, diversity recruitment that will allow for a sense of belonging for all concerned and working on projects which could be a public-private partnership.

Green, who along with his wife, Chelli, live on a farm southwest of Maryville. Chelli is a middle school teacher at Maryville R-II School District. They have four grown children, three girls and a boy. His newest hobby interest is long-range shooting which joins his diverse and aged collection of bourbon.