Best practices for reference issues

Joe Daysen

Does anyone have best practices they might share for streamlining/managing issues that outside references have with logging in and submitting their recommendation forms? We are constantly chasing after failed email deliveries, other people's spam blockers, and an astonishing inability of educated adults to handle account creation, basic login, password resets, and file uploads. What are other schools doing to reduce the amount of traffic generated by references who can't navigate the system?

Jennifer Rudolf

@Joe Daysen We have the same issues and because I can't stop sometimes to help them through the process, I will just have them email me directly and then I will upload it for them. This is faster for me, but it is frustrating!

Tina Phifer

@Joe Daysen, we have a lot of the same problems and I wish there were some updates to the BBAM reference system to deal with them. I don't have a magic bullet, but here are some of the things we do at University of Oregon to alleviate some of the issues:

• I add text like this to the Reference question that students complete: “You should reach out to this individual personally at least 10 days before the scholarship deadline so that they can talk with you about your request and have plenty of time to get it submitted.” and “Entering a name and email address will trigger an automatic email to your intended Reference person. It is advisable that you contact this person ahead of time and ask their permission/notify them before triggering this automatic email.”
• Since the email the reference doesn't say the scholarship deadline in it, I have added this wording to our message template: {{ applicant.name }} has requested that you serve as a reference for a University of Oregon scholarship. You may preview the questions being asked of you, view the scholarship deadline and submit your reference by following the instructions below…
• I try to encourage my scholarship committees to use a text box on the reference questionnaires instead of an upload, but if they do choose an upload, I have them add this to the prompt: PLEASE NOTE: When attaching a file, you must not have any punctuation (comma, period, hyphen) in the name of your file, except for the file extension. (for example, you may title your document JohnSmith.pdf but you cannot title it John.Smith.pdf or John-Smith.pdf)
• I have the belief that it's the responsibility of the applicant to get the reference submitted, and we include this wording in an email that we send a week before the deadline to anyone with a submitted application but unsubmitted reference: "Thank you for submitting your application for the General University Scholarship. This is a notice that the person you have chosen to be your Reference has not submitted the Reference via our online portal. Your Reference must be submitted no later than _____. In order to view who your Reference is and to re-send the Request Email to them, please follow these instructions:
  • Log in ……..
  • Click on “References” on the top of your screen
  • Note that we will only will review ‘Active References’ and anything in the ‘Unused References’ will NOT be reviewed.
  • Under the _______ Scholarship, look under ‘Status’. It must say ‘Submitted’ to be considered complete.
  • If your Reference is not ‘Submitted’, please reach out to your Reference person immediately to check in with them and remind them about the deadline. You can click the “Resend Request” button to send them a new email link so that they can submit your Reference online.
  • It is ultimately the applicant’s responsibility to confirm their reference has been submitted on-time. Your Reference must be submitted no later than ______ for your application to receive review.
  • If you have questions or technical issues, please note that our staff is only available during the following hours:
• Lastly, we offer to submit on behalf of the reference if they reach out to us, like Jennifer mentioned.