Goal! That’s what our company scored when Mike Carey, President of Campus Partners, recently appointed Robert Layton II to serve as Vice President, Application Development. Rob was hired in 2007 as Director, Private Loan Origination Systems, bringing with him impressive accomplishments as an IT professional, national championships as a soccer player, and a stint in the United States Navy.

While there must be a plot for several movies in that resume, there is nothing theatrical about Rob’s professionalism and leadership skills. “I like to lead from the front. I don’t ask my staff to do anything that I am not willing to do myself,” Rob told us in a recent interview. In fact, Rob has already started the process of upgrading our IT systems by conceptualizing what needs to be done immediately. “I am beginning to make system-wide changes to the code for MyCampusLoan, E-Exit, iPROMise, security, report generation, and content management. Every upgrade we make will improve both our campus-based and private loan products,” Rob stated.

Rob’s responsibilities include evaluating needs in the marketplace and developing forward-thinking technical initiatives that align with business objectives. His goal is to provide premier services to customers. “I never lose focus on the end-user, and to me, it is all about delivering services that customers can use,” Rob observed.

Rob’s early experience working in the Admissions Office at his alma mater, Johns Hopkins University, helped shape his pro-active approach to meeting customer needs. “By working at the university level, I understand how important it is for our customers to be able to meet the needs of the people they serve, their students.” Rob said. “I don’t look to technology for technology’s sake. I look to it as a way of providing solutions.”

While working for Johns Hopkins, he began his IT journey and started coding during lunch, while on breaks, and just about anytime as he experimented with how department needs could be met with IT solutions. During his tenure as Associate Director for Information Systems and Technology, he also served as Implementation Team Coordinator and led a student information system initiative that involved 11 offices at the school and 50-60 financial and IT staff members and consultants.

After leaving Johns Hopkins, he began working for the Evans Consulting Group, a student financial services firm. Rob looks upon founder Robert Evans as a mentor, and went to work for the organization due to Mr. Evans’ reputation in the higher education community. Many of our customers may also know Mr. Evans as Past President of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) or for his work at several prominent universities as well as the Department of Education. Under Mr. Evans, Rob served as Vice President, where he provided process re-engineering, program review responses, and fund reconciliation solutions for educational institutions ranging from community colleges to large state institutions to private research universities.

His experience at the Evans Consulting Group inspired him to establish KEL Group, which provided IT consulting for SIS vendors, student loan providers, and colleges and universities. While working as a consultant, Rob designed our online application for private loans, and was attracted to our company’s dynamic leadership and the services it provides to the higher education community. “I embrace change. I never want to stagnate, which is why I moved to Campus Partners,” Rob commented.

Just as Rob has achieved a high level of success in his career, he has a very fulfilling personal life. He has been married to his wife, Kate, for six years, and the couple has a two year old son, Caleb. He most recently began training for an upcoming half marathon, in which he and Kate will both participate. Kate, a former goalie for the Johns Hopkins women’s soccer team, urged him to run with her so he has been working his way up to the 13-mile mark. He always enjoyed coaching for the opportunity it provided to nurture the growth of young people, and now he gets to do that on a full-time basis as a father.

In order to spend more time with his family, Rob has temporarily retired from coaching soccer. Just as he participated in championships as a player at Johns Hopkins, where he also served as team captain and assistant coach, Rob has played in the US Open Cup, US Amateur Cup, and National Indoor Championship. He has also coached club and Olympic Development teams to national prominence, and several former players are now playing for the US National team and professional teams.
Rob is intense and ambitious, but he is also a very caring person. This combination ensures that he approaches life with a real commitment to meet the needs of his family, community, and customers. As a customer, you can expect to score big as Rob embraces his role as leader of the software development team at Campus Partners.