I've been writing #tenure & promotion letters lately (deadlines!). They are very challenging & I've agonized over every word. As w/ most things in #academia, we have to figure things out on our own. I don't recall a workshop about how #professors should do these effectively!

I can't help but wonder how the outcome of tenure cases might be different if our organizations offered workshops/training for professors. I've seen some bad letters--not even vindictive ones; just useless. The writer failed to articulate the impact of a junior scholar's work.

They used the space to offer praise with little evidence and then the letter is mostly useless. Did the writer know they were contributing to a tenure denial by giving a weak/useless letter or did they actually think they were helping? I suspect they wanted to help.

I'm striving to write better letters (and I'm committed to making the time to write them especially for scholars of color). I think the key is always to be clear about impact and contributions and avoid making remarks without evidence to back them up. And answer the questions.

Always answer the questions given to you as clearly as you can. Assess the candidate based on the expectations of *their institution* and not your own. Try not to make assumptions. Just say what you know based on what you've read/seen in the file. And don't be too long winded.

You can offer critiques of a candidate but make sure they are fair and constructive. And remember that tenure committees will likely focus more on the critiques than anything else in that letter so craft them carefully. Always read the candidate's statement carefully too.

Their own statement will offer clues about anything that might have given you pause. Maybe they'll explain why there's a gap in publishing or why they selected a particular press. You'll miss it if you don't carefully sit w/ the candidate's words (read the statement a few times).

Perhaps someone will find this thread useful. Feel free to add (reply with) your own tips and suggestions too. Back to writing letters and agonizing over them! I'm determined not to miss deadlines (never miss deadlines for these letters so start writing early)!