Faculty Profile

Doug Hoffman

August 2009

Early in his career as dean of the College of Business, Ajay Menon asked Professor Doug Hoffman to attend a Georgia State symposium on teaching.  Hoffman, who was already winning teaching awards, came back energized and  created the Master Teacher Initiative –a compilation of professional development opportunities aimed at elevating the teaching mission within CSU’s College of Business.

The Master Teacher Initiative (MTI) is designed to give professors mini seminars on topics ranging from monthly master teacher workshops to weekly master teacher teaching tips provided via email.  The mission of the MTI is to enhance the quality of teaching within the college by creating an environment where teaching is valued and faculty can share ideas with one another.  Workshops to date have been led by College of Business faculty, faculty from other disciplines across CSU’s campus, and by visiting instructors from other universities.

Hoffman, a marketing professor, has been surprised at the way people have embraced the program in the college as well as around campus. The MTI has been warmly received by new faculty as well as even the most seasoned teaching professionals.

Hoffman, who specializes in the study of services marketing, is known as a leader in advancing teaching practices at Colorado State. He is an innovative teacher, course developer and significant contributor to the scholarship of teaching in the marketing discipline.

"The public face of the university is its teachers," Hoffman said. "Most faculty are not formally taught how to teach – we’re taught our subject areas such as marketing, accounting, and finance. There’s an unspoken need for programs such as the Master Teaching Initiative."

The program has been so successful that it has been turned into a university-wide initiative based in The Institute of Learning and Teaching, said Mike Palmquist, director of TILT, a program created to support faculty in improving their teaching and use of technology in the classroom. TILT offers professional development programs and activities, supports research on learning and teaching, offers colloquia on the scholarship of teaching and learning, and promotes collaboration within and across disciplines.

"Doug thinks carefully and well about how to enhance teaching and learning at a research-intensive university," Palmquist said. "As someone nationally known for his work in marketing, he understands the challenge of remaining at the top of his field as a scholar without sacrificing the quality of his teaching quality. His students have certainly benefited from his efforts. Impressively, so have his colleagues in the College of Business and, for that matter, across the University."

Of Hoffman’s 14 teaching awards since 1997, Doug has been recognized for teaching excellence at the College, University, and national levels.   Since joining the University in 1997, Hoffman has won at least one major teaching or advising award per year, including the Board of Governors Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award in 2006. He also has been honored by major marketing academic professional organizations.

In 2007, the university honored him as a University Distinguished Teaching Scholar – a lifetime appointment, one of only a dozen at Colorado State at any one time, and the only one in the College of Business.