Northwest named Mottet its chief academic officer in June 2014. Under Mottet’s leadership, Northwest has reorganized its academic structure, revised its general education curriculum and opened Northwest-Kansas City at the Northland Innovation Campus, a 90,000 square-foot research and education complex in Gladstone, Missouri.
Mottet also oversaw Northwest’s development of a profession-based learning model, competency-based programming and a concurrent enrollment program with Metropolitan Community College.
In an email announcing the decision to Northwest faculty and staff, Northwest President Dr. John Jasinski said Mottet had aspirations of becoming a university president, but the opportunity became available sooner than Mottet and his spouse, Rick, anticipated.
“My three years at Northwest made me a qualified and competitive candidate for this leadership opportunity,” Mottet said. “We leave a university that performs; is focused and disciplined; is committed to providing all students with a high-value, differentiated learning experience; and a university where all faculty, staff and an entire community are committed to student success. We now know what good looks like, and it’s Northwest.”
University President Dr. John Jasinski said Mottet’s move has the Northwest community “feeling a sense of deep Northwest pride along with a smattering of emotions.” Jasinski called Mottet a bold thinker, strategist, mentor, listener, giver and servant leader. He also characterized Mottet as a leader who is student-focused; connected to faculty, staff, alumni, donors, partners and the community; and a champion of shared governance.
“Tim’s devotion to learning, relevance and all things profession-based will leave an indelible mark in all that we do in the coming decades,” Jasinski said.
During his tenure at Northwest, Mottet was honored by his alma mater, William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri, with a Citation of Achievement for his professional success, and by the Northland Regional Chamber of Commerce with its Excellence in Higher Education Award. He was appointed last year to the prestigious Baldrige Executive Fellows Program, which provides one-on-one access to leaders of Baldrige Award recipient organizations and an opportunity to learn role-model leadership strategies.
Prior to transitioning to Northwest’s administration, Mottet was dean of fine arts and communication at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. He worked for the University of Texas-Pan America in Edinburg, Texas, from 2007 to 2011, serving as a professor, endowed chair in communication, and assistant chair and chair of the Department of Communication. Between 1999 and 2007, Mottet held assistant professor and associate professor roles in the Department of Communication Studies at Texas State University.
Mottet has a master’s degree in mass communication from Boston University and an education doctorate in communication and learning and higher education from West Virginia University in Morgantown, W.V.