Recommendations for School or Employment
One of the things that makes me happy about being a teacher is helping people move on to the next phase of their lives by providing recommendations for employment or school, including recommendations for scholarships and awards. However, because I most like writing good recommendations, I have a couple of conditions, and Federal law requires a third condition.
- You have to warn me before you give my name as a reference. (Otherwise, I may think a caller is trying to sell me something I don't want to buy and blow them off. That would be bad.) An email telling me who's expected to contact me is enough.
- Please don't give my name as a reference without talking to me if you earned a grade of less than B in any of my classes. In fairness to you, I want to discuss with you what I would say about you and give you an opportunity to decide whether you would rather ask another professor to serve.
- Federal law requires that I have a FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) release from you before I tell anyone other than a school to which you have applied anything about your education at SPSU. For most of you, all I know about you is your performance as a student, so without that release, the most I can say is that you were my student, period. Because those asking about you are likely to interpret such a stark statement negatively, I won't provide any reference at all (except to other schools) without that FERPA release.
Resume and Other Information
I can write a better reference if you send me a current copy of your resume and tell me a little bit about why you're particularly qualified for the job, educational program, or award you're applying for. I don't require those things for a recommendation, but it is probably worth your trouble to send them along. (You have to get this stuff together for your application anyway; you may as well get the maximum mileage out of it!)
If you have items you'd like me to mention in the recommendation, tell me what they are, preferably in writing; email is fine. (However, I don't promise to mention all of them; I have to have some personal knowledge of them to write about them.)
If you're applying to a school, a copy of your application essay will help me write a better recommendation.
About the FERPA Release
If you are applying to graduate school or for a scholarship or award, their reference form probably includes a "built-in" FERPA waiver, and that's fine; I don't need anything else. Have a look at the form in the link below, and if your reference form covers the same ground, that is, tells whether you do or do not waive your right to access to my recommendation, we're done! (If I find a problem, I'll let you know.)
Most employers don't know about FERPA and don't provide a reference form anyway. So, here is a FERPA release form you can fill in on line. However, when you have filled it in, you have to print it and sign it. You can then drop it by, mail it to me or send it by fax.
If you think you might want me to serve as a reference for more than one kind of application, or for more than one potential employer or potential educational institution, cover all the possibilities in the first form you send me. That way, you won't need a new form every time.
If you're applying for a security clearance, want me to talk to a parent about your progress, or otherwise have a request that's not employment, educational application, or award, I still need that release. Fill in the "other" blanks, print it, and send it along.
| Hand deliver: | Bring your release to J-370 during business hours. |
| Send by fax: | (678) 915-5511 |
| Send by mail: | Bob Brown Mail Stop J-370 Southern Polytechnic State University 1100 South Marietta Parkway Marietta, Georgia 30060 |
Waiver of Right to Access
Whether you are using your prospective school's FERPA release or the one from the link above, you will be asked to check whether you do or do not waive your right of access to references I may write under your release. If you do waive your right of access, then I do not have to tell you what I have written. I think that both prospective schools and prospective employers will give more weight to a reference if they believe it is confidential, and you should take that into consideration when you make your choice.
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Last updated: 2008-04-19 18:18