Approved Sample Letter

FOR CANDIDATES BEING CONSIDERED FOR

A NEW APPOINTMENT AS TENURED ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

CONFIDENTIAL

Dear ______:

Dr. ______, now holding the position of ______at ______, is being considered for the position of Associate Professor with tenure in the Department/School of at DukeUniversity. As you know, appointments with tenure are among the most important a university makes, and we would be grateful if you could help us by evaluating Dr. ______'s scholarly achievements. We are providing his/hercurriculum vitae, intellectual development statement, reprints of publications, and a few items of work in progress.

Our tenured associate professors are expected to stand in competition with the top scholars of similar rank within their fields nationally and internationally. During the tenure review process, we look for clear indications that the candidate's performance as scholar and teacher is widely perceived as outstanding. In making your evaluation of his/her accomplishments, please comment upon the following:

  1. Your relationship to the candidate.
  1. The strengths and weaknesses of his/her scholarship and the degree of recognition achieved within his/her discipline. Also, how would you describe the scope, significance and breadth of his/her research interests and activities as they have made original or otherwise significant contributions to the subfield and to the discipline to date?
  1. Dr. ______'s achievements and stature compared to the best scholars inhis/herdiscipline and field who are at similar stages in their careers. In particular, which individuals are viewed as being the top scholars inhis/herpeer group, and where would you rank this candidate within that cohort?
  1. To assist the review process at the university-wide level, where the dossier will be evaluated by scholars who may not be familiar with this particular field of research, we have been asked to request from you the names of several other experts who would be qualified to provide an objective evaluation. Specifically, who else do you believe would provide the most illuminating and comprehensive evaluation of candidates in this subfield? Who else would be best qualified to evaluate how Dr. ______'s research accomplishments contribute to intellectual issues within the wider field? Within the discipline?
  1. Based on your knowledge of his/her work and the enclosed information, how likely is it that Dr. ______would receive a tenuredposition in your university? Would you support such a recommendation?

We also would welcome any additional insights that may be helpful to the department's faculty committee, the dean, and the Provost's Advisory Committee on Appointment, Promotion and Tenure in determining whether or not to recommend Dr. ______'s appointment at the rank of associate professor with tenure.

We would appreciate a reply by ______if at all possible. Thank you in advance for taking the time to do this. Your response will be maintained in confidence as stipulated in the enclosed University policy. It is very important to the integrity of our process that this request be kept confidential.

Sincerely yours,

Department Chair

orSearch/Review Committee Chair

Enclosures

(Confidentiality Policy)

(Curriculum Vitae)

(Candidate's Intellectual Development Statement)

(Publications)