Teaching Center Director, Jeremy Van Hof

Jeremy Van Hof headshot

Van Hof brings student-centered approach to new position in the Center for Teaching and Learning Innovation

Jeremy Van Hof, Ph.D., has been named director of MSU’s Center for Teaching and Learning Innovation, or CTLI. With over 20 years’ experience as an educator from the high school classroom to most recently as the director of Learning Technology and Development at the Eli Broad College of Business, Van Hof’s passion for making a difference in the lives of educators and students is evidenced by his leadership roles within and far beyond the confines of MSU’s campus. 

“Professionally, I am driven to see a world where engaging, equitable education is available for all,” said Van Hof. “I feel most fulfilled when my work advances progress toward that cause, and I believe that the Center for Teaching and Learning Innovation is the perfect place to do that work at scale.”

Strategic Growth

Van Hof sees synergies between MSU’s strategic goals and the future of CTLI as a national leader. “The CTLI is taking shape at a critical time in MSU’s history. On the heels of a decade marked by challenges, the center is developing at a time of great change, both in terms of the institutional environment and the desires and demands of the students we serve. It is also a time of opportunity, in which new technologies and proven pedagogies are fusing in exciting and inspiring ways. MSU’s strategic direction is clear, and rich educational experiences are an essential element in realizing that vision. The CTLI must take this opportunity to help solidify MSU as the nation’s model for pedagogical excellence,” remarked Van Hof. 

During his tenure with the Eli Broad College of Business, Van Hof worked on initiatives related to accessibility, instructional design and pedagogy across various instructional modalities. In his new role with the CTLI, he is excited to bring a student-centered vision to drive decision-making that will further uplift and empower MSU’s nationally recognized faculty and academic staff. Van Hof knows this path won’t be linear, but he looks forward to brainstorming, collaboratingand working toward a unified vision with the CTLI team that will help mitigate some of the complexities and conundrums educators face when teaching. “Within five years, I want the teaching center to be seen by the campus community as a reliable and trusted resource for all ofMSU's teaching and learning initiatives. More broadly, I want MSU's teaching center to be a top-of-mind organization within the educational community. MSU has a long history of educational excellence, and I envision a future in which our teaching center is held up as a leader in educator development,” said Van Hof.

Environment for Educators

He is excited to be part of the CTLI team. “The people at CTLI are, without exception, outstanding and dedicated educators who sincerely care about making the educational environment at MSU the best it can be. I have not been part of the team long, but I feel so excited every day to work with such amazing human beings,” said Van Hof. 

CTLI’s focus on excellence provides MSU’s faculty a gateway to important resources and professional development. “We crave engagement from across the university's educator community. Members of that community can tap into CTLI's resources in a number of ways. Joining, perusing, and contributing to iteach.msu.edu is an excellent entry point. There we have an ever-growing library of educational resources, and educator colleagues Spartans can rely on for excellent information. We will continue to build out our menu of support offerings as the year unfolds, and will document all of that on iteach, as well as on our events calendar. Those who wish to engage more deeply might consider our graduate fellowship, faculty fellows program, or our affiliates network,” explained Van Hof.

Inspired

CTLI is the next logical step in Van Hof’s career. “I have always been compelled to make a difference,” he said. “As an undergraduate student here at MSU, I came to see teaching as the way that I could do just that. I look back on my classes in the MSU College of Education with fondness, as they helped me to see early in my professional life how tightly coupled education and justice are. I learned that through good teaching we can create a more equitable and just world, and I wanted to be a part of that...”

Van Hof’s inspiration, passion and drive for education doesn’t stem just from within— his wife, a two-time MSU alumna, and two kids, who are both current MSU students, push him in his continuous pursuit of teaching excellence.

“I believe that the classroom is the primary mechanism through which students interact with the university. By working with CTLI to support MSU educators in their teaching, we can, by extension, improve the on-campus experiences of all our students,” confirms Van Hof.

Upcoming Objectives

Van Hof has concrete plans for the next year. Over the next six to nine months, his objectives include:

  • Growing the Spring Conference on Teaching and Learning.
  • Establishing a clear mechanism for implementing mid-semester formative feedback surveys in classes, analyzing the data those surveys generate, and developing just-in-time pedagogical modifications in response to that analysis.
  • Simplifying and clarifying the syllabus creation process, making the teaching center the go-to place for all MSU educators as they consider what's required, recommended, and appreciated in course syllabi.
  • Establishing a teaching center advisory committee that serves as a mechanism for campus stakeholders to have a voice in the planning and implementation of educator development programming.
  • Delivering a more robust set of new educator orientation materials geared toward helping educators new to the MSU community understand all the intricacies of what it means to teach at MSU.
  • Expanding on the set of development offerings presented by the teaching center and its partners as the semester begins.

“While CTLI is still new to campus, and is still growing, it is already doing important work in numerous ways. I am thrilled to help continue that work, and to solidify the teaching center's upward trajectory,” said Van Hof.

Background

Outside of MSU, Van Hof has chaired the Big Ten Academic Alliance Teaching and Learning Liaisons committee and served the president of the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association. He was also a recipient of a 2022 #iteachmsu Educator Award, the 2020 Broad College distinguished staff award, the 2020 Broad College Lewis Quality of Excellence award and the 2017 Rick Fredericks Award for Outstanding Leadership.

Before joining MSU, Van Hof was the Assistant Director of Academic Technologies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and has 11 years of experience as a high school English and journalism teacher. Dr. Van Hof has a Ph.D. in Educational Studies from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, a Master's in Curriculum and Teaching from MSU, a Master's in Library and Information Science from Wayne State University and a BA in English education from MSU.