The Importance and Guidelines for Writing Effective Letters of Institutional Endorsement, Lecture notes of Chinese

Download The Importance and Guidelines for Writing Effective Letters of Institutional Endorsement and more Lecture notes Chinese in PDF only on Docsity! 1 National Association of Fellowships Advisors 2006 Journal article. LETTERS OF ENDORSEMENT JULIA A. GOLDBERG The letter of institutional endorsement is often the first item that committees will read beyond the applicant’s particulars (e.g., resume and basic information). As such, it “opens the door” for the applicant by making the complete, most persuasive case for the candidate. But unlike letters of recommendation, which are intended to offer valuable, individualized and detailed perspectives of the candidate, the letter of endorsement is intended to offer committees a more comprehensive overview of the candidate. The endorsement letter “packages” and contextualizes the candidate, enticing the committee to “read on” and to “look favorably upon” the candidate, warts and all. The letter is the PR, the blurbs on the “dust jacket” that announce and guide the way to the hidden gems (not the costume jewelry) within. As such, the letter of institutional endorsement plays a very important role in the scholarship selection committee’s deliberations. The endorsement should highlight various aspects that may be overlooked or otherwise deemed insignificant by committee readers when not explained and/or placed within the context of the candidate and/or institution. At a small liberal arts institution where the student body is “indifferently” engaged in outside concerns and questions of civil society, a student’s ability to mobilize a tiny fraction of the student body or raise a small sum of money for a cause may be a significant accomplishment. Inform the committee that although the candidate is planning on pursuing a career in East Asian development studies, and he is teaching himself Mandarin Chinese because the college does not offer instruction in any of the East Asian languages. Similarly, as committees scrutinize the depth and breadth of the courses on the student’s transcript, it is important to let the committee know if students at your institution are limited to the number of courses (hours/credits) they may take each term. This is particularly important where the college considers a full course load to be four courses/semester and the student was able to successfully petition to take a course overload while engaged in varsity athletics or working part-time. The endorsement letter should also address anomalies in the candidate’s record. Explain the candidate’s lone “C” (or worse yet, “D”) in an otherwise unblemished transcript—a grade that also had the misfortune of being assigned to an upper division course in the candidate’s major—because the student slept through her midterm exam at 8am and, rather than get a dean’s excuse by claiming to be ill, she showed up for and wrote the exam with only 15 minutes left in the period. (Believe me, it does happen! Moreover, the student’s honesty and sense of responsibility can speak volumes on her behalf. (By the way, students at Cambridge and Oxford don’t get make-up exams; they take exams at the same time as everybody else, even if they are in the infirmary.) 2 It should pay attention to the scholarship’s criteria and priorities. If the ideal scholar is a leader, change agent, or consummate scholar, than the letter should highlight, demonstrate, or otherwise explain why and how the candidate fits the program’s ideal without reiterating what is already evident in the application packet. Tell the scholarship committee how, as editor of, or columnist for, the campus newspaper, the candidate is able to provoke serious, informed debate about important issues on or off campus or why the candidate was selected to serve on a faculty governance committee or to make a presentation to the board of trustees on an issue that is vital to the future of the college or university. Although such information may show up in the candidate’s application résumé or be mentioned in passing in a letter of recommendation, it will lack the necessary detail and punch if the endorsement letter fails to comment upon the honor and high regard in which the institution as a whole regards the candidate. It should tell the scholarship committee about the candidate’s strengths, extraordinary circumstances, and weaknesses, and why, despite those weaknesses, he/she should be awarded that particular scholarship. Additionally, the endorsement letter should, when necessary, mention the strengths or weaknesses of those writing the letters of recommendation, informing the committee how to read those letters, particularly in those cases where the referee is not amenable to elaborating upon or modifying the content of his/her letter². If a professor at your institution is notorious for writing very terse letters that on the surface say very little UNLESS you know that the professor typically will not write a letter for a student he does not feel very positively about, it is important to mention this fact. Likewise, if a professor says the student is one of the best she has taught but does not provide a framework for evaluating this claim, do so in your endorsement. Let the committee know that the professor in question has been teaching at some of the nation’s most reputable institutions for 20 odd years, and that her students have gone on to illustrious professional careers or are currently enrolled in grad- uate programs of the highest caliber. Without this context, the professor’s praise is virtually meaningless. Letters of endorsement should also be up front and frank regarding how a candidate might perform during a committee interview. Let the scholarship committee know that the candidate may become excessively nervous, may come across as too self-assured, or may be mistakenly perceived as being aggressive or strident when passionately defending her position. Likewise, inform them about the candidate’s speech or language impediment, his need for special accommodation (e.g., is hearing impaired), or if he has a disturbing tic or lazy eye. Sharing this information will not (or should not) damage the individual’s candidacy in any way; but it will allow the interviewing committee to take the appropriate extra steps to make the candidate feel more at ease during his/her interview. As you can see, the letter of endorsement’s impact is significantly enhanced when the letter indicates genuine, personal familiarity with the candidate. Letters that contain concrete examples of unique or interesting aspects of the candidate’s personality, or that display initiative and true leadership are much more helpful than general laudatory prose. This type of information is especially important when the candidate is either shy about or unable, due to space constraints, to share such information in his/her application. Use the endorsement letter to tell the committee that as well as being a top-flight physicist, Sally is also the lead guitarist in an all-girl band that has recently released an album, or that Robert had started up a very successful used text book business, selling to other students.