Wednesday, April 3, 2002
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Wednesday, April 3, 2002 |
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Hoffman named CCSU provost/VP Clayton State President Dr. Thomas K. Harden recently introduced Dr. Sharon E. Hoffman as the University's first provost/vice president for academic affairs. The appointment is contingent on approval by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. Speaking before a group of faculty and staff in the University's Spivey Hall, Harden introduced the former senior vice president for Academic Affairs at Spalding University (Louisville, Ky.) as "a remarkable educator and administrator... (who) fits in to the future of Your University." Harden also noted that Clayton State is on the verge of a new era in its 33-year history, both in terms of the growth of its physical plant the University Center presently under construction and in terms of academic programs and student population. "As I'm sure you know, a key figure in our future growth will be our provost and vice president of academic affairs... a new position of great importance to Clayton State, and one that will be intimately associated with many facets of the University's day-to-day functions," he noted. Hoffman's appointment comes at the conclusion of an extensive nationwide search that began in late 2001. Currently a resident of Mt. Pleasant, S.C., a suburb of Charleston, S.C., Hoffman begins her new position June 1. In speaking of Hoffman's "fit" for Clayton State, Harden noted that, over the past 15 years, she has started more than 20 new programs... primarily graduate-level programs... at three universities. "(New programs are) what Clayton State is all about," he says. "That's what we want to accomplish here in the next few years. New programs that better serve the need of our community, our public, our students and our faculty. We are going to indeed make Clayton State 'Your University' for the Southern Crescent, by adding programs and transforming this institution into one that can better serve everyone in our area. And that means change for Clayton State. "With Dr. Hoffman, we will have someone who has already been instrumental in creating successful changes in higher education, specifically through strategic positioning of universities... strategic positioning that has enabled those universities to provide a better fit for their students, faculty and communities." Harden specifically commended Hoffman's expertise in strategic planning. "Strategic planning a constant, ongoing process... one that can never be allowed to fall be the wayside," he says. "Sometimes, a university needs to be repositioned to better meet the needs of its community. To do so, you need the right person with a vision and experience in how to accomplish repositioning. Dr. Hoffman has that vision." At Spalding University, many of Hoffman's efforts were directed towards strategic planning, outcomes assessment and institutional positioning as well as fund raising and development work and serving as the university's liaison to the Louisville community. Hoffman also spent six months as interim president of Spalding, during which time the university completed a successful $15 million campaign to strengthen its endowment. Prior to coming to Spalding in 1999, she served as a dean and professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the Medical University of South Carolina. Hoffman was also associate dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and an associate professor, at The University of Texas Health Sciences Center and, from 1971 to 1983, held a variety of administrative positions at the University of Minnesota, including assistant dean for Outreach, assistant dean for Undergraduate Instruction and director of Continuing Education. Hoffman holds a B.S. from California State University in Los Angeles, an M.S. from the University of Minnesota, an M.B.A. in Marketing from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business and a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology from the University of Minnesota. She also earned a certificate from the Institute for the Management of Higher Education at Harvard University. A member of the Phi Kappa Phi Scholarly Honor Society, and a Distinguished Lecturer for Sigma Theta Tau International, Hoffman was also the 1994 Outstanding Women Administrator in Higher Education in South Carolina. Clayton College & State University, a state university of the University System of Georgia, is located in Morrow, in Atlanta's Southern Crescent.
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