Writing recommendation letters/ providing references for students; Issues and concerns:

There are two Types of Recommendation/Reference Letters. The first type of letter includes faculty/staff personal observations or assessments of the students and uses subjective statements such as “great student,” “participates in class discussions” or “mediocre performance.”

No permission is needed for this type of letter because the information provided is limited to personal observations of the student’s activities and performance. These are subjective evaluations of the student’s abilities, motivations, and potential, written out of the writer’s personal knowledge of the student.  For example: “The student displays a natural ability to conduct research independently and reaches conclusions that exhibit substantial depth of understanding.” Notice that nothing identifiable is given away in this example, not even the student’s gender.

The second type of letter includes information from the student’s education record – Recorded data, personally identifiable to the student, and maintained by the institution. Specific things, such as test scores, GPA, or grades received in a course.

Permission is required for this type of letter because the information is personally identifiable non-directory information that is maintained by the university. GPA and grades will never be classified as “Directory Information;” sharing them without permission violates FERPA.

In addition, the writer should be made aware of whether the student has formally waived the right to subsequently review the letter or not. This knowledge may influence what the writer includes in the letter. Once written, the letter itself becomes an education record, because it will (or should) be maintained by the institution. This includes paper as well as electronic copies. It is recommended that you have students complete the University of Rhode Island Letter of Reference Request and Student Authorization Release for Recommendation form before completing any recommendation/reference request for a student.

Remember, students and writers have both rights and responsibilities.

Students have both:

• The right to review personal education records.
• The responsibility to provide a written request for every letter of recommendation.

Writers also have both:

• The right to insist on a written request for every letter of recommendation – put that responsibility on the student, not on your-self.
• The responsibility to protect yourself and the University.

(Adapted from “FERPA & Letters of Recommendation”, University of Florida Office of the Registrar 2013, Web.12 December 2015)