Andrew Artis (Ph.D., University of Tennessee) joined the University of South Florida in 2003 and is an Assistant Professor of Marketing in the College of Business Administration. He has 15 years of practical experience in management, marketing, and sales. This experience includes 11 years spent as an executive for an NBC-TV station and a national advertising agency. He has also conducted consulting projects for Phillips Electronics, John Deere Inc., Continental Tire, and various hospitals.

The focal point of Dr. Artis' research is to answer the question, "How can professional business people effectively manage their own learning to achieve personal and organizational objectives?" He is currently conducting research in the areas of self-directed learning, sales force management, and marketing management. He has published in the Journal Business Research, Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, Journal of Marketing Education, Journal of Interactive Advertising, and Health Marketing Quarterly.

He won the USF Lakeland Outstanding Teacher Award (December 2007). For five years prior to joining USF he taught marketing and sales courses at the University of Tennessee and Boise State University. His current teaching assignments at USF include Marketing Management and International Marketing Management.

He earned his Bachelors of Science degree in Marketing from the University of Idaho and a Masters of Business Administration degree from Boise State University.

How many years did you work in the field in which you teach?
I worked 15 years in marketing and sales. I was an executive of a NBC television affiliate. I was also the marketing director for a venture capital company and for an advertising agency.

What is your teaching philosophy/style?
There isn't enough space here to accurately convey my teaching philosophy. In short, I apply my self-directed learning (SDL) research to promote autonomous learning by students. First, I model the behaviors of self-directed learners. Second, I try to create a culture where students will succeed in independent learning situations. Finally, I coach students through various SDL projects to build the confidence. I always profess that "the best student in the room has to be the teacher, and the best teacher needs to be the student." It makes sense if you think about it.

How long have you been at USF Polytechnic?
Five years in August 2008.

How long have you been teaching?
Ten years as of August 2008.

What are some of the assignments you have given your students? What was your favorite?

1. There is at least one SDL project in every class that I teach.
2. Every student has to submit an updated resume in the first week of all my courses.
3. Students seem to like that I require them to develop a personal mission statement and 10 personal goals in my marketing management class.
4. Students also seem to like that I require them to plan a trip overseas in my international marketing class.
5. We also do a marketing plan in my marketing management class and in my marketing problems course.
6. I work a lot to develop of students' writing skills à lots of essays and written quizzes.
7. I also use communities of practice so students can learn how to teach each other.

What accomplishment are you most proud of?
I built a community park for kids (raised the funds, got the volunteers, and got all the government approval, even laid the sod).

Until now, most of my students didn't know...
I am Spanish Basque and I am the eighth child in a family of nine kids. Also, I won the gold medal at the Idaho state track and field championships for the 120 high hurdles when I was in high school.

If I weren't a professor, I would be...
A watercolorist

My favorite memory from my undergraduate experience is...
I was student body president of my university (The University of Idaho).

My favorite thing on this campus is...
Working with college students (it is like drinking from the fountain of youth).

What I like most about the students at USF Polytechnic...
They don't take opportunities lightly because they understand how to pull themselves up by their boot straps.

Area of Expertise/Research Interest:

I am interested in how sales and marketing professionals can become experts within their fields.  I have developed an expertise in the use of self-directed learning as a means to create and extend expertise within business professionals.

Teaching Philosophy/Style:

There isn't enough space here to accurately convey my teaching philosophy. In short, I apply my self-directed learning (SDL) research to promote autonomous learning by students. First, I model the behaviors of self-directed learners. Second, I try to create a culture where students will succeed in independent learning situations. Finally, I coach students through various SDL projects to build the confidence. I always profess that "the best student in the room has to be the teacher, and the best teacher needs to be the student." It makes sense if you think about it.