AVÌìÌÃ

After leaving the British Columbia Institute of Technology, Mike spent almost 20 years in the radio & television broadcasting industry. He started his own marketing company and began holding seminars in marketing-related topics. This led to part-time teaching at various public and private post-secondary schools. Michael completed his Provincial Instructor Diploma and began teaching full time in 2001. He worked as a management consultant until starting with AVÌìÌà in January of 2007. He completed his MBA and became a full-time member of the business faculty. He still does occasional consulting work.

In 2012, Michael received the Employee Excellence Innovation Award for his inventive and pioneering work in the classroom at AVÌìÌÃ.  He uses technology to help present material and to evaluate students’ progress. He is also very progressive in his use of quick in-class exercises and small group activities to allow students to gain hands-on experience with the concepts and theories. Along with fellow professor OC Glen Coulthard, Michael co-authored a textbook on Microsoft Office 2013 for McGraw-Hill in 2014.

Michael’s philosophy of teaching has been drawn from his years in both business and media. He believes in being straight forward and to the point. His classes are not filled with esoteric pondering, but with common-sense discussion around the concepts of business and management. He likes to present concepts, theories, and models, then discuss the true application of them. He loves to capsulize concepts within real-live experiences. He has many of his own to share but invites students to take part and participate.

Mike has extensive experience and training in communication, both written and oral. He uses these skills in the classroom, and more importantly, he shares these skills with his students. He encourages clear communication and sound logic in his students. He also enjoys humour and likes to have fun in class. Michael has also coached many of the Business Simulation competition teams that have represented AVÌìÌà so well over the years. In 2024, he and fellow OC professor Dan Alan coached the first-place Gold-winning marketing team at the Queen’s University Intercollegiate Business Competition.