The HenrySamueliSchool of Engineering

SAMPLE SOLICITATION LETTER FOR PROMOTION TO
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OR FULL PROFESSOR

The Department of ______at the University of California, Irvine, is currently reviewing Professor ______for promotion to the rank of [Associate Professor with tenure / Professor]. For such advancements, the University of California requires letters of evaluation from experts in the field. I am seeking your valuable assistance in the assessment of Professor ______’s scholarship and hoping you will be willing to help us in this process.

The opinions of outside scholars carry critical weight in considerations about promotion in the University of California. We would appreciate your candid and specific evaluation of Professor ______’s work, the significance of his/her contributions, and an assessment of his/her relative standing in the field. How would you rate the quality of the venues in which Professor ______’s work has appeared? Can you comment on his/herintellectual leadership, advancing new ideas? Would Professor ______be a strong candidate for this advancement on your campus? Please be as specific as possible and feel free to make comparisons.

We are also seeking leadership in the broad sense. Can you comment on Professor ______stature and leadership role within his/her chosen areas of work?

In addition, any comments you can provide about Professor ______’s performance as a teacher, supervisor, or mentor and on service to the profession would also be helpful.

Although the contents of your letter may be passed on to the candidate at prescribed stages of the review process, your identity will be held in confidence. The materials made available will lack the letterhead, the signature block, and materials below the latter. Therefore, material that would identify you, particularly your relationship to the candidate, should be placed below the signature block. In any legal proceeding or other situation in which the source of the confidential information is sought, the University does its utmost to protect the identity of such sources.

We know that writing a detailed assessment takes valuable time. If you are unable to provide an evaluation of the type requested, I would appreciate hearing from you at your earliest convenience. If you are willing to assist us in this assessment, we would like to receive your letter by ______.

I am enclosing Professor ______’s vitae, bibliography, and a selection of publications. Should you need any additional information, please let me know. We appreciate greatly your help in this assessment and thank you for your assistance.