Matthew P. Winslow wrote:
As a beginning faculty, I have already been asked to write several
letters of recommendation. I have not had the chance to sit on
committees that regularly get thousands of these things every year
(graduate admissions, job search), so I am not very confident about my
letters (too glowing, not enough???). Does anyone know of any resource
on how to write an effective letter? How did you learn to write letters?
What about the ethics of writing letters for students that you don't
think are that great?
Matthew,
If I were you, I'd take a good long look at the four chapters on letters of
recommendation in Patricia Keith-Spiegel's "The complete guide to graduate
admission..." for starters. Those chapters are aimed at students and their
behavior, to emphasize the kinds of things that faculty members writing letters
look for, but a faculty member new to the game could also get some good
pointers.
If I were you, I'd also take a good long look at Appendix G (Letter writers'
survey: Items and descriptive data), in the same book. What you will see there
is rank-ordered elements of letters of recommendation as letter readers see
them. Again, there ought to be very clear hints in those lists about the things
a letter-writer might want to make a point of.
Keith-Spiegel's book is available from Erlbaum publishers (1-800-9BOOKS9) for
about $20 in paperback, and worth every nickel of it for both students who
aspire to graduate school and faculty members who aspire to counsel them. There
is a gold mine of info in this book....
Pat Cabe
**************************************************
Patrick Cabe, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology
University of North Carolina at Pembroke
One University Drive
Pembroke, NC 28372-1510
(910) 521-6630
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
