What is an academic cover letter and why is it important?

C C E Whether inquiring about a department’s hiring needs or applying to a specific listing, candidates for academic
positions should always include a cover letter when sending their curriculum vitae. The academic cover letter
Center for Career Education is your opportunity to introduce yourself and to discuss your dissertation project, teaching experience,
Connect To Your Future publications, research interests, and the courses you would be interested in teaching.

How is an academic cover letter structured?

An academic cover letter should include your return address, phone number and email, the search committee
chair’s address and the date, a greeting, introduction, body, conclusion, and your signature. Unlike a business
cover letter, which is usually one page, the academic cover letter can be two pages. Your letter should be
freshly printed, not photocopied, on the same high quality paper that you use for your curriculum vitae,
abstract and other application materials (unless it is being faxed, in which case it should be printed on
standard white copy paper).
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What is the content of a cover letter?

ACADEMIC COVER LETTERS

INTRODUCTION This paragraph should state who you are, your current institutional affiliation, why
you are writing, the position for which you are applying, and where you found out about the position.
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR CAREER EDUCATION WWW . CCE . COLUMBIA .EDU

FIRST PARAGRAPH This is the place to discuss your dissertation. You will be evaluated in part based
on the quality of your research (its relevance, whether or not it’s publishable), so it’s extremely important to
provide search committees with a clear sense of your work. Include the title, a clear description of the
project, and any other pertinent information. If sections of the dissertation have been published, if you have
a book contract, or have presented sections of the dissertation at conferences, mention that here. Also be
sure to mention any grants or accolades you have received to help you complete your dissertation research.

SECOND PARAGRAPH In this paragraph discuss your teaching experience and philosophy. Mention
the types of courses you are willing and able to teach, the titles of some of the courses you have already taught
and your title (adjunct, teaching assistant, lecturer). When discussing your teaching background, be specific:
Did you devise a syllabus or did you use an already existing curriculum? How many students/sections did you
teach? Did you hold office hours? Grade papers? Guest lecture? In order for a search committee to assess
what you’re capable of handling in terms of teaching load, they need to have a clear sense of the kind of
teaching experience you have had.

THIRD PARAGRAPH In addition to being evaluated on the quality of your research, you will be
evaluated on your potential to be a productive scholar over a period of time. To this end, use this paragraph
to discuss other, future research projects. Candidates will also be evaluated on their potential to be an active
member of the academic community so those who have related professional experience (i.e. academic
administration) may choose to discuss that here as well.

CONCLUSION At this point thank the search committee and reaffirm your interest in the position. You
may also include the names of your letter writers and indicate that your dossier will be forwarded under
separate cover. Also, don’t forget to sign the letter!

General Tips
s Your letter should be addressed to a specific individual. Be sure to use his/her correct title.
s Tailor your letter to the specific institution and department to which you are applying for a position.
Visit the department’s Web site or request a course catalog so you’re familiar with the course offerings
and any special programs. Also visit the university’s general Web site for information.
s Search committees will be looking for the right fit, so do your homework about institutions and
departments.
s Make sure that your cover letter is well written. Your cover letter may well be the first writing sample a
search committee sees.
s Have several people review your cover letter both for content and for grammatical errors. Ask your
advisor and, if possible, a junior faculty member or peer who has been on the market recently for
feedback on your co ver letter

Materials available in the CAREER R ESOURCE C ENTER

s The Academic Job Search Handbook
s The Chicago Guide to Your Academic Career: A Portable Mentor for Students from Graduate School through Tenure
Online Resources:
http://chronicle.com/jobs/archive/tenuretrack.htm s http://kerlins.net/scott/careeracademic.html
http://www.grad.washington.edu/envision/phd/obtaining_employment/employers_want.html s

ACADEMIC COVER LETTERS
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR CAREER EDUCATION WWW . CCE . COLUMBIA .EDU
E AST CAMPUS, LOWER LEVEL, 2960 BROADWAY, MAIL CODE 5727, NEW Y ORK, NY 10027 (212) 854-5609
Sample Academic Cover Letter
123 West 110th Street, Apt. 4B
New York, NY 10027
(212) 555-7890
tjs1234@columbia.edu
October 10, 2002
Professor A, Search Committee Chair
University of XYZ
Department of XXXXX
City, State, Zip Code
Dear Professor A:
I am writing to apply for the assistant professorship in Humanities advertised by your
department in the Positions for Classicists. Currently I am a doctoral student in
Classics at Z University. I expect to complete my dissertation in May 2002, and am
now looking for teaching positions. My curriculum vita is enclosed for your review.
My main research interest is Greek prose literature, particularly the socio-historical
context of the Greek Novel. In my dissertation, “The Role of Q in the Characterization
of LMNOP,” I argue that representations of priests in ancient novels are not merely
reflections of the actual religious or social roles of actual priests but are fantasies
constructed from fiction and fact that cater to the pleasures of readers of popular
fiction; this conclusion runs counter to recent discussions of the role of religion in the
novel and the use of the novels themselves as reflections of actual social practices. This
project has led me to re-examine assumptions made about the Greek novel and Greek
Imperial culture in other ways as well. In order to complete this project I have received
grant support, including an XYZ dissertation research fellowship and an ABC travel
grant. Recently, a chapter of the dissertation was accepted for publication in the HIJ
Journal of Classics.
My teaching experience is diverse. I have taught Classics to high school students in
the prestigious private school LMN, and to undergraduate students in the Humanities
Program at D University. Courses I have taught include Greek and Latin language and
literature, Mythology and Etymology. I have enjoyed teaching both traditional and
non-traditional college students as well as high school and graduate students, and am
therefore thoroughly familiar with a full range of educational backgrounds, needs and
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Connect To Your Future
Center for Career Education
aspirations. Most recently, I taught the Humanities sequence in a great books program at P
University. While there, I received a faculty development grant to incorporate web-based
technology into my teaching. This was my first experience in using this technology and I
began by maintaining an interactive syllabus with links to texts and sites containing
background information. Now, I am interested in creating sophisticated learning
environments where, in addition to learning specific content, students may also acquire
interpretation and argumentation skills and increase their exposure to diversity. For example,
I envision a site where students may study the Medea using hypertext versions of the play, a
written commentary, information about its cultural background and video performances, and
work together to develop their own interpretations of the play and how it should be
performed. Thus, students not only gain a sense of the many different reactions that people
can have to a play but also how characters and themes can be manifested in many different
ways in a text and performance.
In addition to my teaching and research background, I have substantial administrative
experience. For the last year I have served as Assistant Dean of the School of Arts and
Sciences at University of R. During this time, I have been involved in a number of exciting
initiatives intended to broaden the training of graduate students. Because of prior experience
using the web as a teaching tool, I have been assigned to research and develop a graduate
student teacher training program that includes using learning technologies to enhance
instruction. In working on these and other projects, I have gained first hand experience in
grant writing and collaborating with faculty committees to implement new programs. As a
result of my technical expertise in web production, the Dean has assigned me to two other
projects: overhauling the graduate school web page in collaboration with public relations
and publishing a newsletter for graduate students on the web.
I am committed to higher education as a teacher, researcher and also as an administrator,
and would value the opportunity to contribute my experience and expertise to your
department. My dossier will be forwarded under separate cover. Thank you for
considering my materials.
Sincerely,
Taylor Smith
Taylor Smith