References
Written and Verbal Recommendations
Faculty are often asked to provide recommendations for students. It is, in fact, an important role of a faculty. The following material provides practical tips for writing letters of recommendation and for giving verbal recommendations.
When Asked to be a Reference
It is important to assess your ability to provide a recommendation in a timely manner. If your schedule is very busy and providing a timely reference will be problematic, inform the student that it may be to his or her advantage to seek the reference from another instructor. This is a better alternative than agreeing to provide the recommendation and then not following through.
If you have only limited knowledge of the student, it is appropriate to communicate this limitation to the student suggesting, perhaps, that he or she might desire to obtain a more qualified reference from another instructor or that the student provide you with additional data about his or her career interests, academic performance, etc. so that you could provide a more informed reference.
The Recommendation
It is important to be objective when providing a recommendation, limiting your evaluation and comments to your experience with the student.
If the recommendation is to be in writing, and a form is not provided, be sure to place the recommendation on official letterhead.
Be sure to include the following information:
- How you are acquainted with the student (e.g., courses for which you were instructor, academic advisor). As a basis for comparison inform the reader of the nature of the course(s), level of difficulty, your grading criteria, specific work requirements, or other information relevant to the purpose of the letter.
- The length of time you have known the student.
Depending on the purpose for the reference, you might also include information about the following student qualities:
Scholarship |
Initiative |
Integrity |
Analytical skills |
Maturity |
Motivation |
Judgment |
Oral communication skills |
Writing skills |
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Ethical and Legal Considerations
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law that applies to students and their educational records. A letter of recommendation is considered an educational record if a faculty member provides a recommendation, in his or her role as a faculty member, about the student’s tenure and performance at the university. FERPA gives the student the right of access to letters of recommendation unless the student waives access in writing. The waiver from the student must be explicit.
Remember also that any reference to a legally protected status, including race, national origin, religion, gender, physical disability, marital status and age could be considered discriminatory, regardless of the spirit in which the writer may be presenting it. For example, while the writer may perceive the struggles overcome by a single mother or the initiative taken by a non-traditional age student to return to school as a positive, any reference to such attributes could be problematic.
Further, The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) recommends that faculty receive the student's permission to disclose academic information, especially if the reference is to be made by telephone or e-mail.
