Faculty Guidelines for Reference Letters

Posted Nov 13, 2008

FOR FACULTY: Departmental Guidelines for Graduate Students and Post Docs Requesting Staff Assistance With Mailing Letters of Reference (SEPTEMBER 2008). This information posted on Galois website.

Coordinator: Alla Savrassova, letters@math.ucdavis.edu MSB 1130,

The following information is provided to you as faculty so that you will be aware of the departmental procedure for mailing letters of reference for graduate students on the job market. We look forward to assisting them as they make this important transition.

If applicants expect to be on the job market this academic year, they need to let Alla know by email as soon as possible. Staff schedules and workloads, holidays, department closures, and the requests of other applicants are factors in meeting deadlines.

Two weeks prior to the dates that letters are due, applicants are asked to provide to Alla:

1. completed address labels for the institutions;
2. deadline information; and
3. the names and colleges of their references.

If applicants are applying for positions for which letters are uploaded online, we will not mail hardcopies of the letters.

If an institution requires that application packets include the letters of reference, we will mail the application packets. If the institution does not require letters with the applications, we will mail the letters only. If applicants would like copies of letters in sealed envelopes, we will provide these to them.

We do not personalize the letters. However, faculty may want to personalize their letters and provide them to me for mailing in department envelopes.

Applicants are responsible for assuring faculty provide letters to us.

Applicants are responsible for ascertaining whether the letters were received by the institutions to which they are applying.

In general, requests are reviewed with respect to reasonableness.