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.