Committee and Grant Access

Recommendation letters often need to reach specific recipients -- search committees, grant review panels, or application portals. AcaTrove provides secure sharing tools that give you control over who can access each letter and for how long.

Sharing a Letter

To share a letter with a committee or panel:

1. Navigate to /letters and open your portfolio or the relevant request.
2. Click Share on the letter you want to distribute.
3. Choose a sharing method:

Email share -- Enter the email addresses of the committee members or panel contacts. Each recipient receives a secure link to view the letter. They do not need a AcaTrove account to access it.

Link share -- Generate a unique URL that you can paste into an application portal or email yourself. Anyone with the link can view the letter until the link expires.

Direct attachment -- If the recipient is a AcaTrove user (e.g., the candidate who requested the letter), you can share it directly to their account. It appears in their Letters section and can be added to application packets.

Setting Access Controls

When sharing a letter, you can configure several access parameters:

• Expiration date -- Set a date after which the shared link becomes inactive. This is useful for time-limited application cycles. After the expiration date, the link returns a message indicating it is no longer available.
• Download permission -- Choose whether recipients can download a copy of the letter or only view it online. Restricting downloads is appropriate when you want to maintain control over distribution.
• View limit -- Set a maximum number of times the letter can be viewed through a shared link. Once the limit is reached, the link is deactivated.
• Confidentiality notice -- Optionally attach a notice indicating that the letter is confidential and intended only for the specified recipient or committee.

Tracking Access

AcaTrove logs access activity for every shared letter. The access log shows:

• Who accessed the letter (by email or IP, depending on the sharing method).
• When they accessed it.
• Whether they downloaded a copy (if downloads were permitted).

To view the access log, open the letter and click Access Log. This transparency lets you confirm that your letter was received and reviewed.

Revoking Access

If you need to withdraw access to a shared letter:

1. Open the letter's sharing settings.
2. Find the share entry you want to revoke.
3. Click Revoke. The link or email share is immediately deactivated.

Revocation takes effect instantly. Recipients who attempt to use the link after revocation will see a message indicating the letter is no longer available.

Sharing for Grant Applications

When a letter supports a grant application rather than a job search:

1. The candidate or PI typically provides the grant submission portal URL or the program officer's email address.
2. Share the letter using the appropriate method (link for portals, email for direct submission).
3. Set the expiration date to match the grant review cycle.

Tips

• Set expiration dates on all shared links. Open-ended links can be accessed indefinitely, which may not be appropriate for confidential letters.
• Use the access log to confirm that a committee has viewed your letter before the deadline. If no access is recorded, follow up with the candidate or committee contact.
• When sharing letters for multiple positions for the same candidate, share the position-specific version rather than a generic letter. The version history in your portfolio makes it easy to select the right one.
• Revoking access does not delete copies that were already downloaded. If download permissions were enabled, recipients may retain their copy.