June 23, 2005

To Whom It May Concern:

It is with a great deal of pleasure that I write this letter of reference for my former student, Ryan Spevack.  From the first day of my Communications course, Mr. Spevack was a breath of fresh air.  He was an enthusiastic communicator and an outspoken classmate.  

Ryan was one of those students every instructor hopes to have each semester.  He spent a great deal of time asking pertinent questions and helping his fellow classmates.  Ryan took both my Introduction to Communications course and my Persuasion/Debate course as electives to further his course of study at the University of Advancing Technology.  In both classes Ryan was an obvious leader.  He has a passion for education rarely seen in most classrooms.  In my debate course he was enthusiastic about acquiring the correct types of research materials, often going above and beyond the required materials for the class.  His final presentation in my Communications course was about the state of our current Social Security program and he was incredibly well versed and had outstanding arguments to sway the audience to his side.  

As you may know, today’s universities are laden with those who unenthusiastically take their General Education courses and offer little in the way of feedback during the course of the term, simply hoping to get out with a passing grade.  This is certainly the case for many of our students at UAT.  However, I can proudly say that is not an accurate description of Ryan Spevack.  He asks questions and he listens attentively.  His communications skills in each class improved exponentially from the first week of classes to the fifteenth.  I was proud to give him a well-deserved “A” in both of my classes.  

I certainly hope you will seriously consider Mr. Spevack for a position within your organization.  He is a motivated, deserving individual who will certainly be an asset to any company in the future.  

If you have further questions about Mr. Spevack, feel free to contact me – mbarham@uat.edu or (602) 390-3991.

Sincerely,



Meredith Warner Barham
Associate Dean of Student Life
Associate Professor – English and Communications
University of Advancing Technology