Letters Overview

Recommendation letters are a cornerstone of academic career advancement. AcaTrove's Letters system provides a structured workflow for both sides of the letter process: requesting letters from your references and managing letters you write for others.

What the Letters System Does

The Letters system is accessible from the Career section in the sidebar at /letters. It supports the full lifecycle of recommendation letters:

Requesting Letters -- Send letter requests to your references through AcaTrove. Provide context about the position or program, specify deadlines, and track whether each letter has been submitted. See Requesting Letters for details.

Writing and Managing Letters -- When someone requests a letter from you, the request appears in your Letters inbox. You can accept or decline, write the letter within AcaTrove or upload an existing one, and manage your commitments. See Writing and Managing Letters for details.

Letter Portfolio -- Maintain a versioned collection of all letters you have written. Store multiple versions of a letter and archive older ones when they are no longer current. See Portfolio and Versions for details.

Committee and Grant Access -- Share letters securely with search committees, grant review panels, or application portals. Control who can view each letter and for how long. See Committee and Grant Access for details.

Two Perspectives

The Letters system is designed for two distinct user roles:

As a letter requester (typically graduate students, postdocs, or junior faculty), you use the system to:

• Send requests to your references with the context they need.
• Track which letters have been completed and which are still pending.
• Include letters in your application packets.

As a letter writer (typically professors, PIs, or senior colleagues), you use the system to:

• Receive and manage incoming requests.
• Write or upload letters and maintain them over time.
• Share letters with committees and panels as needed.

Both perspectives are accessible from the same /letters page. Your view automatically adjusts based on whether you are viewing letters you have requested or letters you have been asked to write.

Getting Started

1. Navigate to /letters from the sidebar.
2. If you need a letter, click Request a Letter and follow the prompts.
3. If you have received a request, it will appear in your Incoming Requests tab.
4. Use the My Portfolio tab to view all letters you have written.

Tips

• Send letter requests well in advance of deadlines. AcaTrove will display the deadline to your reference so they can prioritize accordingly.
• Letter writers should maintain updated versions in their portfolio. An outdated letter can be less effective than a current one that reflects the candidate's recent accomplishments.
• The Letters system integrates with the Professional Assistant. Letters in your portfolio can be attached directly to application packets.