Request for a Letter of Recommendation for the Watson Fellowship

The Thomas J Watson Fellowship Program Request for a letter of recommendation for the Watson fellowship

From: Lisa Kooperman, Assistant Dean of Studies Director, Vassar College Office for Fellowships Office phone: (845) 437-5263 Jeanne Leslie-Wander, Administrative Assistant

Please read this request carefully. As of fall 2012 the TJW Fellowship is using a new recommendation format. In the past recommenders have been asked to write a free-form letter to the Foundation addressing Watson criteria. This year the Foundation is asking eight targeted and one open-ended question. This format will keep recommender responses focused on the criteria uniquely required for Watson’s selection process; the form should accompany the request you will receive directly from the applicant.

Forms are due in the office by September 20, 2013. Please submit your letter via email to [email protected]. We do not need a hard copy of your responses. If the senior you are supporting becomes a nominee you will receive instructions from the Watson foundation on how to log into their system to respond to the prompts; therefore I recommend you save the file in a place from which you will be able to retrieve it easily later on to copy and paste your responses into the official Watson system. The national deadline for the submission of all materials, including recommendations, is November 6, 2013 by 3pm EST.

The form you submit to Vassar will be reviewed by the faculty Committee on Fellowships as part of the selection process. Unless you are notified otherwise, your responses will be kept confidential and remain in the student’s application file. The Committee values your candid assessment of this applicant. As you may know, the competition for the nominations for the Watson Fellowship is keen. Vassar may select only 4 seniors to forward to the Foundation for consideration.

“The Watson Fellowship provides recipients with the freedom and resources to engage in 12 months of independent exploration and travel abroad after graduation. Forty participating institutions nominate candidates for the program’s consideration. From this national pool of about 180 nominees, the program selects up to 40 fellowships each year. To learn more about the program, please visit our Web site: www.watsonfellowship.org.

In selecting Watson Fellows, we are most concerned with holistically identifying individuals who demonstrate:

- strong ethical character; - emotional maturity; - the capacity for leadership and vision; and - the potential for meaningful contribution to society and a chosen profession.

Since these qualifications can be best measured over time by those who know the candidate well, your frank and confidential estimate of the candidate is important to our selection process.”

Thank you for your assistance. Recommendation Form: The Thomas J. Watson Fellowship Program

RECOMMENDATION FORM Mission: The Thomas J. Watson Fellowship Program offers college graduates of "unusual promise" a year of independent, purposeful exploration and travel -- in international settings new to them -- to enhance their capacity for resourcefulness, imagination, openness, and leadership and to foster their humane and effective participation in the world community.

The following questions are especially relevant when selecting fellows for the significant, often challenging, year proposed by the Watson mission. Please answer each question as fully as possible, elaborating as necessary. You may also add additional comments at the end of this form. We appreciate the effort required to write a thoughtful and personal recommendation. Thank you in advance for your candor and time.

Your Name and Title:

Name of Candidate:

1. How long have you known the nominee?

2. In what capacity have you known them?

3. The Watson Fellowship uses the term “Unusual Promise” to mean a collection of characteristics including leadership, independence, resourcefulness, imagination, openness, and integrity. How is the nominee unusually promising in a field of exceptional nominees? Please use examples where possible. (200 word count limit)

4. What legacy or deep impression, if any, has this student left on you or your campus? (200 word count limit)

5. In what way do you believe the Watson Fellowship would be a transformative experience for the nominee? (200 word count limit)

6. What evidence can you provide of the nominee’s investment in the proposed project beyond academic coursework? (200 word count limit)

7. The very premise of the nominee’s project may be upended as they encounter it “on the ground”. How does the nominee deal with difficult and changing conditions? Do you believe that they will adapt well, even thrive, under unexpected conditions? (200 word count limit)

8. What, if anything, gives you pause about sending the nominee on a year-long solo pursuit that will include moments of loneliness, failure and even illness? What are your reservations? (200 word count limit)

9. Please share any additional thoughts that you would like us to know or consider. (200 word count limit)