The Professional Development Seminar is a new seminar, starting Spring 2010. We meet once to twice a month on Thursdays at 9:30am in PHSC 1025 (and occasionally in PHSC 1105 on Tuesdays at 3:30pm). For more information about the seminar, contact Michael Jablonski.

• Be willing to turn someone down.
• Always put on letterhead.
• Ask for CV, transcript, statement of purpose, list of due dates.
  Undergrads should ask you to contact colleagues.
• Be mindful of filenames - e.g., don't make a file called "small_liberal_arts_school.pdf"
  PDF's contain extra file info - e.g., the computer name that made the file.
• Be mindful of the audience - e.g., hometown scholarship vs. REU vs. grad. school.
• Be content relevant.
• Use concrete, specific details!  This has a big impact.
• Put yourself in context - e.g., how long you have been teaching.
• A typical letter for an undergraduate is around 1 page long.
  For grad. students, a normal length is 1-3 pages.
• Avoid ultra short letters (e.g. 1/2 page) or ones which have no actual content.