Question for Online Professors

For those of you who are online professors (well and anyone else for that matter), I was wondering what your thoughts were on a student requesting a reference. I am needing to add a few academic sources as references, but all of them were only aware of my existence for an eight week period. Would it be better to ask for a letter up front rather than asking to post their contact info (when they probably won't remember who I am a few months down the road) or should I refrain from even asking at all? Also, does it seem inappropriate to ask since all they can attest to is my academic performance? Any advice or help in this regard would be appreciated!

 

A letter on the department’s letterhead is the way to go after you conclude the course. If you did well, the professor will remember you and your work.

It is also helpful to provide him a little of your background to help contextualize your accomplishments. The professor will state how long he, or she, has known you, whether you were an active participant in the course, any notable research papers you did, and your final grade. He will use qualifiers on what he thinks is your ability to do graduate work (is capable, is very capable, I am very happy to recommend, etc. ).

A professor that is often asked for recommendations will have templates ready to go on the department’s letterhead. He will personalize it to reflect your accomplishments. I’ve written many recommendations for both undergraduate and graduate students.

 

I have given a few recommendations and I stick to what I know - reliable in class, a leader in class, high quality work, not afraid to ask difficult questions, etc.

 

A bonus with my graduate program is that it was at a relatively small, traditional university with only a few full-time professors in the department. I took more than one class with three of them. I had two professors who were more than enthusiastic to write recommendations for me and were actually pushing me to apply for doctoral programs.

 

Ask for the reference at the end of the course if you can. Easier for us (professors) to write.

In my letters, I stick to observable things, (writing ability, working on virtual teams, etc.) Never grades though - that's a big FERPA violation. Transcripts have grades on them

 

Thank you all for your advice! Do you think that this type of reference could be useful for applying to an employer, or is it solely used for further academic pursuits?

 

Mine focused on quality of work, thirst for knowledge, critical thinking, etc. Shawn is right, ask right after the class ends.

 

I get them all the time. I agree that its best to ask right away rather than months down the road.

 

Since you're from Liberty, I'll tell you (well, and everyone else reading): I asked 3 professors for letters (2 from my dissertation committee). One printed off a VERY generic letter that clearly just had name pasted in in a few places; one wrote about 2 sentences about how I followed directions well and overcome a lot of personal tragedy (which is true!); the third wrote and said something to the effect of "why don't you write me something up and I'll sign it."

not hatin. just sayin.

 

So these professors provided you signed copies of their recs? Interesting. So these were open recs. My recs were always confidential (or closed). Students never saw them. I mailed, or E-mailed, them directly to the designated person in graduate admissions offices.

Sometimes you'll see a question on a grad application asking whether the recs were open or closed. Obviously, this is important to graduate admissions committees. Confidential recs, of course, allow a professor to write what he really thinks about the student's potential for graduate work. Grades included if it gave the student an edge over the competition, or vice versa. So, BUYER BEWARE!

Now I can appreciate why the whole rec process is more difficult for distance learning students. I guess the question is: What can a DL student do to make herself better known to online professors, in addition to producing excellent work, asking insightful questions, and taking the lead on presenting difficult material?

What are office hours like for online professors? Could these be done through video conference in addition to E-mail and telephone?

 

Lots of online h/r departments ask for letters of recommendations to be attached electronically. Yes, they handed (or emailed) me their recommendations. I have only once been asked by a student to complete a reference and mail it to someone else (I think it was a grad school application).

I don't have specific "office hours" per se. I do "this" almost full-time so I'm "in here" every day. I generally correspond by email but I post a phone number (not my primary phone, just a google phone line). I am willing to interact over the phone - and I've used Skype as well.

 

Your suggestion, as well as Steve Foester's, is good advice for OP.