December 18, 2017

To Whom It May Concern:

It is with great pleasure that I am writing this recommendation on behalf of Ms. Denise Kreiger. I had the unique privilege of working with Ms. Kreiger in my capacity as the Public Speaking Course Coordinator at the School of Communication and Information at Rutgers University.

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to collaborate with Ms. Kreiger on a variety of complex projects associated with instructional design and online learning technologies during the past six years during her tenure as the Senior Instructional Design and Technology Specialist. Ms. Kreiger was instrumental in redesigning the hybrid version of the Public Speaking Course according to the principles of Quality Matters. The specific model developed by Ms. Kreiger in close collaboration with my instructional team has served as the guide for all future versions of the course including the online version which was eventually certified by Quality Matters. In addition, Ms. Kreiger worked closely with the entire instructional pool of the Public Speaking program (approximately 25 instructors) and provided exceptional and on-going support for approximately 35 sections before and during the semester. I can state without hesitation that the quality of the course has been significantly enhanced due to the continuous support which Ms. Kreiger was eager to provide.

One of the key projects which clearly highlights Ms. Kreiger’s exceptional abilities as an instructional designer involves the transition of the Public Speaking course to the Canvas learning management system. This was a project that I was eager to complete and had started working on the initial set-up thinking that it would likely require about a year or so to come to fruition. Ms. Kreiger strongly encouraged me to accelerate this process and with her leadership and expertise we were able to produce a fully developed course template for the face-to-face sections in two weeks. This template includes detailed lesson plans, a full set of assessments with the corresponding rubrics and specific guidelines for the instructors in all of the key sections. In addition, Ms. Kreiger led two group sessions (in addition to the individual support offered to each instructor) demonstrating the use of the different sections of the template and the rationale for each associated content and design decision. Every member of the instructional pool who has used the specific template indicates that it is extremely well-designed and easy to use which is a very different view compared to the previous versions of the course.

While the above are only a few highlights of Ms. Kreiger’s instructional design skills what I have found most impressive is the ‘can-do’ attitude in addition to the keen attention to details. Despite the magnitude of the tasks associated with many of the instructional design projects which Ms. Kreiger was overseeing, she was always positive and cheerful when it came down to working on all of the specific instructional design needs of the Public Speaking course. I always felt that I could go to Ms. Kreiger for help, advice and support no matter how tense things may have been. In addition, Ms. Kreiger spent a lot of time teaching me about key elements of the instructional design process which were previously unknown to me and this is something I am extremely grateful for.

In light of the above, I consider Ms. Kreiger to be an outstanding colleague and I know that I can always rely on her exceptional mastery of instructional design and technology principles. Please feel free to contact me at 848-932-7563 or via e-mail at nick.linardopoulos@rutgers.edu if you need more information regarding Ms. Kreiger and her qualifications.

Sincerely,

Nick Linardopoulos

Nick Linardopoulos, Ph.D. Assistant Teaching Professor and Public Speaking Course Coordinator School of Communication and Information Tel: 848-932-7563 E-mail: nick.linardopoulos@rutgers.edu