The following is a sample letter that should be sent to external evaluators. Please be sure to replace pronouns where appropriate.
Dear Professor:
Associate Professor Smith is being considered for promotion to full Professor in the English Department at Queens College. (Queens College is a comprehensive liberal arts college offering baccalaureate and master’s degrees. The teaching load is generally 3 three-credit courses per semester.) University policy provides that teaching and scholarship/creative activity are the two primary criteria on which promotion decisions are based, while service to the institution and service to the public may be supplementary considerations.
To aid us in our deliberations, we solicit letters from outside referees who are selected on the basis of their ability to provide a qualitative assessment of the candidate’s scholarship/creative activity, professional growth and standing in his/her field. We would be very appreciative if you can aid us in this assessment process.
The university’s and the college’s policies on tenure and promotion may be viewed here. To achieve promotion to full Professor, the guidelines are quite general: The candidate will have an established reputation for excellence in teaching and scholarship/creative activity in his/her discipline. The judgment on promotion to Professor shall consider primarily evidence of achievement in teaching and scholarship following their promotion to Associate Professor.
Our primary purpose in asking for your help is therefore to evaluate the quality of the candidate’s scholarly and creative work. It will be especially important for us to have an assessment of the character of this work and its relation to current scholarship in his/her/their discipline. In addition, we would appreciate your evaluation of his/her/their writings – how well he/she/they fulfill their intention and how much he/she/they contribute to his/her/their field.
Professor Smith’s promotion dossier may be accessed below (visible after you have formally accepted the request to write the reference). There you will find for your review a personal statement, a complete curriculum vitae, and copies of his/her/their works completed since his/her/their promotion to Associate Professor and currently in-progress. In your evaluation of work-in-progress, it would be helpful if you would comment on its potential for publication or impact. You may also wish to comment upon the standing of the presses or journals in which the work has been published. Once complete, please return your letter to me via the link below.
Please include a statement as to whether you are personally acquainted with Professor Smith and if so, how and to what extent. The letter of evaluation you write is confidential and will not be shown to the candidate. It will be carefully considered by appropriate departmental and college committees.
On behalf of the President of Queens College, I want to thank you for undertaking this assessment of Professor Smith’s scholarly credentials. You may be assured that your evaluation will be considered seriously as the College reviews the candidacy.
Sincerely,
Dean of Faculty