First In Scholarship and Leadership
Tips for Requesting Faculty Recommendation Letters
As a student, there comes a time you may need to request letters of recommendation from a faculty member. For example, the Alpha Sigma Lambda scholarship application asks for a letter of recommendation. Beyond that, you may need letters of recommendation for graduate schools, job applications, and more. Below are some tips for you to consider when you need to request a letter of recommendation.
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Reach out to faculty who you recently took classes with. Remind them who you are- what grade you received, and anything else that may have stuck out (for example, the topic of your final paper or project, or if there were online discussions, how frequently or early you posted.)
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Mention a few things about yourself – what your educational and professional goals are, what your other responsibilities are in addition to taking classes.
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Clarify that the recommendation is meant to portray the type of student you are- which a faculty member can usually speak to from your behavior in their course.
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Offer to provide additional information if the faculty member feels it would be useful.
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Give the faculty a few weeks to complete the letter…don’t ask the week it is due.
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Ask a few faculty members for recommendations. So that if one or more don’t feel comfortable giving one, you don’t have to start the process over. It does not hurt to end up with more than one recommendation.
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For the Alpha Sigma Lambda Scholarship: Remind the faculty that the recommendation can be sent via email using their faculty email address (this alleviates any worry of having to use the school’s letterhead, which can be difficult for some non-local faculty to obtain).
Keep these tips in mind as you reach out for letters of recommendation. Also, if you know now that you plan to attend graduate school or go into a field that requires faculty references, start now to develop relationships with your faculty members while you are in their class. Being an active student in discussions, helping other students, and chatting with the faculty member (whether online or on-site) may help down the road when you need that reference.
Learn more about Alpha Sigma Lambda Student Scholarships for nontraditional students.
Already applied? Visit STUDENT RESOURCES for more tips and scholarship opportunities.
2020 William C. Hine Awardee | Elizabeth Kane
Elizabeth Kane is a professional in the area of adult pedagogy and the delivery of courses in non-traditional formats. Upon leaving her first career, Ms. Kane served as an advisor, mentor and director of the School of Professional and Continuing Studies (SPCS) at Saint Peter’s University for less than one year before being promoted to Dean in 2007.
Among her many accomplishments, she was responsible for moving the school from trimesters to 8-week hybrid terms, a model which is still in effect today. Her vision was, and continues to be, to facilitate degree completion by offering the convenience of online learning with the option of attending class face to face on a limited basis to bolster the confidence of adult learners.
While at SPCS Ms. Kane was the founding councilor for Alpha Sigma Lambda, introduced evening convocation and honors ceremonies to recognize working students, started a scholarship specifically for SPCS students, and revamped the experiential learning process for the benefit of working adults.
As the Associate Vice President for Adult, Graduate and Online Education at Centenary University, Ms. Kane continues to serve nontraditional students. In just over a year she has revamped the leave of absence policy, changed the definition of full-time studies and added two majors and five concentrations, all designed for the success of nontraditional learners. She continues to be an advocate for policies and procedures which may not align with traditional University model but which are created to recognize the unique needs of this vulnerable subset of undergraduate students.
Ms. Kane serves has served as consulting expert for other schools in the adult realm, has overseen the development of fully online programs at both institutions, created advisory boards of students, faculty and corporate partners to identify areas of opportunity, and oversees curricula with a focus on traditional academics partnered with practical experience.
Learn more about the William C. Hine Award.
Upcoming Events
Alpha Sigma Lambda staff and board of directors will be representing ASLHS at the following upcoming conferences.
ACHE 2019 Conference: Partnerships: Innovation & Collaboration
October 14-16, 2019 | 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM
Register for the Alpha Sigma Lambda Chapter Councilor Breakfast being held on Tuesday, October 15, 2019 8 a.m. – 9 a.m. at the Omni Interlocken Hotel in Bloomfield, CO. The ASLHS Board of Directors and Home Office Staff will be present to meet you and assist you with any needs that you may have. We are looking forward to seeing you!
$25 per person
NACADA | The Global Community for Academic Advising Annual Conference
October 20-23, 2019 | Louisville, Kentucky | Kentucky International Convention Center
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