{"id":12296,"date":"2022-12-12T00:05:45","date_gmt":"2022-12-12T00:05:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/provost.ncsu.edu\/ofe\/?page_id=12296"},"modified":"2025-10-23T19:13:32","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T19:13:32","slug":"advice-for-letter-writers","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/provost.ncsu.edu\/ofe\/awards-support-and-resources\/advice-for-letter-writers\/","title":{"rendered":"Letters"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n

How to Write a Winning Nomination Letter<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
<\/span><\/span>

Tell a Story<\/h2><\/a>
\n

A nomination letter is a narrative. Think about how you can tell the story of an applicant\u2019s successes and how to best organize that narrative beyond listing accomplishments or organizing the letter chronologically. Ask yourself: what is the story I want to tell? How can I best tell that story? What are the underlying themes and ideas that I want to touch on? Often, following a chronological narrative buries your claims about an applicant\u2019s potential.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/span><\/span>

Impact, Impact, Impact<\/h2><\/a>
\n

Describe the impact and\/or future impact of a nominee\u2019s contributions. Emphasize the potential of a candidate, as well as their influence or potential influence on others (students, peers, researchers, local or university community, and\/or more broadly a field of study or industry).<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/span><\/span>

Note Differences<\/h2><\/a>
\n

Committees often want to know what sets an applicant apart. The majority of applicants will be active researchers and\/or teachers. Productivity alone is unlikely to win awards. So what makes the applicant different? It can be helpful to consider how the applicant\u2019s work is unusual<\/em> or exceptional<\/em> and in what way.  <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/span><\/span>

Measurable Impacts<\/h2><\/a>
\n

If you want to emphasize scholarly impact and\/or productivity, concisely indicate the number of publications and\/or citation factor of a faculty member, but do not list publications. Listing publications doesn\u2019t offer evidence of impact. However, you might highlight articles that have won awards, the placement of an article in a top-ranked journal, the author\u2019s citation index, or accolades for a given publication.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/span><\/span>

Know Your Audience<\/h2><\/a>
\n

Emphasize the candidate’s contributions in ways that are clear to those who do not actively work on a specific application\/theory\/idea. While an awards committee may be well versed in a general field, they are likely unfamiliar with the particularities of the candidate’s expertise. Therefore, it is important to always make your narrative accessible to a broader audience. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/span><\/span>

Review Website
<\/h2><\/a>
\n

Review the criteria outlined on the application website. Make sure to explicitly address how the applicant meets this criteria within your letter. If unfamiliar with an award, it can be helpful to search for keywords that are used on the website to gauge the importance of certain qualities over others. These are the qualities you want to highlight. Also, look to previous winners.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/span><\/span>

Avoid Repetition and Lists<\/h2><\/a>
\n

Most application packets require a CV. Therefore, do not spend time listing the candidate\u2019s publications, which does not provide evidence of scholarly impact. Instead, highlight and describe the significance<\/em> of a publication. Why is the publication significant? For whom? In relation to what? Your letter of support should go beyond listing achievements that already appear on the CV. The letter is an opportunity to provide in-depth information that cannot appear on a CV and is in the service of supporting a larger narrative about the candidate.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/span><\/span>

Provide Examples<\/h2><\/a>
\n

Rather than a statement that a candidate is exceptional, provide clear examples of how <\/em>the candidate is exceptional. One way to do so through tangible and impactful achievements. (i.e. rather than claiming that a faculty member is a strong mentor, you might highlight what their students have accomplished thanks to the faculty member\u2019s mentoring).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/span><\/span>

Demonstrate Well-roundedness<\/h2><\/a>
\n

Highlight multiple aspects of the applicant\u2019s profile, including: professional specialization, key accomplishments\/awards, significant professional memberships\/activities, insights on effective teaching, and other noteworthy accomplishments. This shows that a candidate is well-rounded. Given the award criteria, consider what is most important to emphasize about a candidate.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/span><\/span>

Highlight a Scholar\u2019s Impact on a Larger Community<\/h2><\/a>
\n

When considering how to best highlight a scholar’s impact, it is useful to not only focus on productivity but on how the applicant\u2019s work impacts others. Consider addressing the following:\u00a0leadership roles, impact of inventions\/discoveries\/ theories on other scholars or on the field in general (offer proof of that), contribution to education\/students, and service to one\u2019s community.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Obtaining Institutional Letters of Support<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Some awards require letters of\u00a0institutional support that need to come from the Chancellor or Provost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • To obtain a letter of institutional support:\n
      \n
    • The dean and department head must make a request to the Office for Faculty Excellence (Kyle Miskell, Director of External Faculty Recognition), demonstrating support for the nomination. This will include a CV and statement from the nominee related to the award.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • The Office for Faculty Excellence will follow the appropriate approval process for the letter and notify the dean and department head of the status.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
        \n
      • Below are the awards that require institutional support:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
        Award Name<\/th>Office Providing Letter<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
        National Academy of Inventors<\/td>Chancellor<\/td><\/tr>
        Carnegie Fellows<\/td>Chancellor<\/td><\/tr>
        The Frontiers Planet Prize<\/td>Chancellor<\/td><\/tr>
        Tang Prize<\/td>Chancellor<\/td><\/tr>
        Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists<\/td>Chancellor<\/td><\/tr>
        American Council on Education (ACE) Fellow<\/td>Chancellor or Provost<\/td><\/tr>
        Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Program<\/td>Chancellor or Provost<\/td><\/tr>
        SURA Distinguished Scientist Award<\/td>Provost<\/td><\/tr>
        Bower Award<\/td>Provost<\/td><\/tr>
        Moore Inventor Fellow<\/td>Provost<\/td><\/tr>
        Beckman Young Investigators Program<\/td>Provost<\/td><\/tr>
        Mellon Foundation<\/td>Provost<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        How to Write a Winning Nomination Letter Obtaining Institutional Letters of Support Some awards require letters of\u00a0institutional support that need to come from the Chancellor or Provost. Award Name Office…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":137,"featured_media":0,"parent":12291,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"source":"","ncst_custom_author":"","ncst_show_custom_author":false,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"ncst\/default-header","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"{}","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-12296","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/provost.ncsu.edu\/ofe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/provost.ncsu.edu\/ofe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/provost.ncsu.edu\/ofe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/provost.ncsu.edu\/ofe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/137"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/provost.ncsu.edu\/ofe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12296"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/provost.ncsu.edu\/ofe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12296\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32179,"href":"https:\/\/provost.ncsu.edu\/ofe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12296\/revisions\/32179"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/provost.ncsu.edu\/ofe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/provost.ncsu.edu\/ofe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}