1. Pamplin Collegeof Business
Business Information Technology MC 0235
Pamplin Hall, Suite 1007, Virginia Tech
880 West Campus Drive
Blacksburg, Virginia 24061
Office: 540/231- 6596; Fax: 540/231-3752
www.bit.vt.edu
To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing this letter of recommendation for Michal Szuba. I know Michal as a student from my class during Fall 2014. I
teach the course Personal Computers in Business (ACIS 2504). This course teaches students how to use Excel
spreadsheets and VBA programming to solve business problems.
The main objectives of the course, which the students achieve by the end of the semester, are: (1) To develop
advanced spreadsheet skills transferable to solving real-world business problems; (2) To gain experience in
designing and presenting spreadsheet content effectively through worksheets and charts; and (3) To build basic
programming skills in Visual Basic for Applications to supplement and automate spreadsheets.
The topics we cover in Excel include: Conditional Formatting; Relative vs Absolute Referencing; Naming; Logical
and Information Functions; Text Functions; Math Functions; Statistical Functions; Date and Time Functions; Financial
Functions; Large Data Analysis; Importing Data; Sorting, Filtering, Excel Tables, DFunctions; Lookup functions; Pivot
Tables and Pivot Charts; Data Validation.
The topics we cover in VBA include: Objects, Properties, Methods; Recording Macros; Worksheet and Range
Objects; The With Construct; Referencing and Names; Formulas; Data Types, Variables; Message Box and Input
Box; VBA Math Functions; If, Then Statements; Exit Statements; Debugging; For, Next Loops.
This is a very demanding course. We have two 75-minute lectures per week. In each class, we work on Excel and
VBA examples to illustrate and expand on the course concepts. There are eight homework assignments which focus
on the students’ ability to perform individual tasks in Excel or VBA as related to the class discussions and examples.
There are also three in-class exams which test the students’ ability to perform cumulative tasks in Excel and VBA to
create a small business application.
Michal performed very well in my course. He attended the lectures and completed the in-class examples. He also used
office hours to strengthen his understanding of challenging concepts. He has demonstrated his ability to understand
challenging concepts and apply them to new situations. I feel confident that Michal not only has developed advanced
spreadsheet and programming skills, but also the competency to use these skills to solve a variety of business problems.
I feel confident that Michal will be an asset to your program. It is with true pleasure that I offer this letter of recommendation.
Sincerely,
Michelle M.H. Şeref , Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Business Information Technology
Office: 2062 Pamplin, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg
Office Phone: 540-231-4593
Email: mmhseref@vt.edu
V I R G I N I A P O L Y T E C H N I C I N S T I T U T E A N D S T A T E U N I V E R S I T Y
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