Approved Sample Letter
FOR INTERNAL TENURED ASSOCIATE PROFESSORS
BEING CONSIDERED FOR PROMOTION TO FULL PROFESSOR
CONFIDENTIAL
Dear ______:
Dr. ______, now a tenured associate professor of ______at Duke, is going to be reviewed this fall by both our department/program/section and the School of for a possible promotion to full professor. As you know, full professors play a critical role in establishing the intellectual quality of a university. We would like to request your help in evaluating Dr. ______'s
scholarly achievements. Enclosed are his/her curriculum vitae, the candidate's intellectual development statement, reprints of publications, and a few items of work in progress.
Our criteria for promotion to full professor include outstanding performance as evidenced by recognition among peers in the field worldwide. In making your evaluation of his/her accomplishments, please comment upon the following:
1. Your relationship to the candidate.
2. 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 activities as they have made original or otherwise significant contributions to the discipline?
3. Dr. ______'s achievements and stature compared to the best senior scholars in his/her discipline. In particular, which individuals are viewed as being the top scholars in his/her peer group, and where would you rank this candidate within that cohort?
4. 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?
5. Based on your knowledge of his/her work and the enclosed information, how likely is it that Dr. ______would be appointed at the rank of full professor 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 this promotion.
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
or Search/Review Committee Chair
Enclosures
(Confidentiality Policy)
(Curriculum Vitae)
(Candidate's Intellectual Development Statement)
(Publications)