Letters of Recommendation for Rob Ludlow

Richard Metz, Vice President Administration & Business Affairs, CSU, Hayward -- Employer

Richard Moore, Business Professor, California State University, Hayward -- Instructor

Ron Kihara, Project Manager, CSU, Hayward -- Managing Supervisor

I have been asked to recommend Mr. Rob Ludlow. It is an easy and enjoyable task. Rob will be a wonderful addition to any firm that is perceptive enough to hire him.

I have known Rob for over three years. Our association began when his inventive suggestion for an improvement in our business operations led to our employing him as our Project Intern in the Vice President's Office. He worked for us for two years and was always inventive, reliable, trustworthy and enjoyable to work with.

Rob performed several projects which required that he represent the Vice President's Office to University staff, State of California officials and outside publics in many other locations and on many levels. He always did this with tact and aplomb. He would usually leave interactions with administrative professionals possessing their respect and admiration.

Of particular note is his ability to coordinate the interests of divergent parties to accomplish a unified goal. This was illustrated very well in his coordination of our efforts to secure registration of over twenty different symbols representing the University with the California Secretary of State's Office. The variety of internal offices represented in this effort was substantial and their interests were divergent so the coordination of the effort was extremely important to its success. Rob did a superb job.

In short, Rob was an excellent addition to our office operations and one we have not been able to replace since his leaving shortly after graduation. The company which is lucky enough to secure his talents and abilities will truly have a wonderful addition to its operations.

Sincerely,

Richard S. Metz
Vice President for Administration
and Business Affairs

I am delighted to write this letter in support of Mr. Rob Ludlow's application for employment.

Rob was a student in my labor relations course during the 2001 Fall Quarter and he also took my strategic management seminar during the 2002 Spring Quarter. He performed at a high level in both courses earning a "B+" in the labor relations course and an "A" in the strategy course. I got to know Rob quite well during the strategy course. This course is a rigorous senior-level seminar that challenges students' analytical abilities and requires them to develop three written reports as well as prepare and present an oral business case analysis in a group setting. Rob was always well organized and he was a hard worker. He also exhibited solid analytical abilities as well as excellent written and oral communication skills. In particular, his instructor and his classmates appreciated his frequent comments and insightful questions.

Beyond that, Rob's most salient characteristics are his maturity, outgoing personality and entrepreneurial drive. Rob has considerable business experience and currently heads an Internet-based venture.

Suffice it to say, given his intelligence and enthusiasm, I feel strongly that Rob Ludlow possesses those attributes that would make him an excellent employee. I recommend him highly.

Sincerely,

William L. Moore
P h.D. Professor of Management

Mr. Ludlow transferred to Cal State Hayward for his upper division work. Upon arrival to campus, he applied for, and was hired as a Projects Intern for the Vice President for Administration and Business Affairs. I acted as his supervisor in that capacity. Rob worked for us for over two years while he completed his academic studies in June 2002.

As a Projects Intern, Rob had many different and varied projects. It was the Vice President's commitment to him, and mine to insure that he not do clerical or general office assistance tasks. I will say that in our small shop (the V.P., myself and one secretary), we all pitch in to answer phones and help to keep the office running smoothly, and Rob was no exception. The majority of his work time was devoted to projects that required unsupervised work, where he developed the general project plan, and worked with me or the Vice President (Richard S. Metz) to complete the task. We found that Rob was industrious, that he quickly understood the project scope, asked good questions which helped assure successful completion, and that he kept us appraised of his progress along the way. The following are some of his projects:

Campus Map.
Rob did most of the work to update the existing Campus Map. This required that he work closely with a professor of Geography, who had developed the original map. Rob researched all changes, coordinated with Campus personnel to insure that the changes were correct, and saw the final product go to print.

University Policies Library.
The V.P. is custodian of University Policies. Rob was tasked to organize the many policies that exist in hardcopy, and to design and develop a University Policies and Procedures Website. Although this project is still currently under development, we are using the format that Rob originally designed for us.

University Logo Registration.
The Vice President had Rob research and complete the process of registering the University Logos with the California Secretary of State. Rob was able to take this involved process from end to end, and to successful completion.

Audit Response.
The Vice President handles all audits of the various University functions. Often, the tracking of the University responses to audit recommendations require months of detailed work and negotiation. Rob was willing to track the University's response to a Seismic Safety Audit, which meant that knew what we had done for compliance, when action was taken, and how the correction was made.

Holiday Schedules.
Rob took on the annual task of publishing the University (Staff) Holiday Schedule. This is the sort of task that requires an in-depth understanding of the Union agreements, CSU System guidelines, and the academic calendar. Rob needed to pay careful attention to detail, and for the years he did the calendar, we never once published an error.

I hope that these projects give some indication of the level of responsibility that we gave to Mr. Ludlow. We found him to be very bright, capable, and hard working. Rob takes pride in his work, and was always willing to put forth the extra effort to insure that the final product met the highest expectations. He comes to you with highest recommendations.

Sincerely,

Ron Kihara
Assistant to the Vice President