UMass Amherst - TT Asst. Prof (2 positions)

[letters requested...]

Apparently UMass Amherst is now asking folks who had already submitted their application materials to request letters of recommendation from their people.

I have no idea if they're asking everyone to do this, or if they've already done some sorting. But I would assume the latter since they didn't ask applicants to have their people submit letters upfront.

Best of luck to all. (I don't mean that. )

[same]

I also received an email to have letters sent...and was wondering the same.

[Anonold]

I feel like this happens several times each year and causes a lot of confusion (yes I've been here that long). I didn't even apply for this position, but the best way to figure this out is to ask if anyone who applied for this position did NOT get asked to send letters of rec in. Anyone?

[deadline hasn't passed]

BTW, the deadline for this position hasn't even passed yet. (It's tomorrow.) I would imagine that, even if the requests for letters are only going out to select candidates, they are going through applications incrementally.

[me too]

I applied and got asked to submit letters too. I think it's just from HR or something though because the request came only a few hours after I submitted my application.

[don't feel special]

got the same request. sorry.

[different school]

I received a request for letters to be sent, but from a different school. It came directly from the search committee chair (after the deadline). Who sent the request from UMass? Someone on the committee, or a generic HR email address?

[generic]

It seemed to be from HR.

[idk]

My request came over two weeks after I applied, but it does sounds like it went out to every applicant. Maybe they changed their minds, or thought letter requests were automatically generated in the system? Who knows!

[amherstletters]

I received a request for letters one day after I applied. 

[more info]

I had this request too, but I thought it was because I didn't properly click on the icon to have letter requests sent (it was a very small icon and next to each reference's name). So I assumed the request was from HR, wanting to get these applications wrapped up and sent to the department. Just my take.

[Joya Misra]

Dear All, 

I wanted to update you on the status of the UMass-Amherst positions. We have two positions, as most of you know (if you are reading this!), listed here: 
umass.interviewexchange.com/jobofferdetails.jsp?JOBID=50413&CNTRNO=1&TSTMP=1410789795739

We have a new system at UMass, Interview Exchange, and it is challenging to negotiate. HR set this up so that staff has to request letters of recommendation, one by one. So, last week, we were allowed into the system, and the staff person started making those requests. If you submitted your application in August, it may have taken weeks for the requests to go out; if you submitted end of last week, it may have seemed to happen almost immediately. But the end result is the same -- we want to take letters of recommendation into account for all applicants who submitted by September 12 (and there will likely be a grace period for those right after the 12th). Please don't ask your recommenders to send letters to me, as I am not allowed to upload them or otherwise "interfere" with the process. 

We will spend the next couple weeks sorting through the 318 (as of now) applications. Almost all of the applications I've seen are impressive. The applicants have worked hard in many different ways to achieve strong very records, and put together great materials. At this stage, I suspect we'll be sorting primarily based on "fit" -- does the candidate fit the preferences stated in the job ad? I know that these preferences are all over the map, but they were what emerged in our faculty meeting last spring as areas in which we'd like to add faculty. 

Our hope is that we'll have a long list of about 150 in two weeks, a shorter list of about 75 in four, and a short list of 10-20 in about six weeks.  Our aim is to invite candidates to campus for visits in November.

I will try to come onto the wiki to update you whenever we have sent out a round of letters. You can contact me at [e-mail] edu with any specific questions. I am wishing you all well on the job market this season, and send the committee's very best wishes to you as well.

Joya
 

[Thank you]

I got the same automated response for letters, but thank you Joy for letting us know your timeline. Knowing that allays a lot of concerns for applicants who apply and are in the holding pattern for several weeks.

[thankyou]

Thank you, Dr Misra, this information about the timeline is exceptionally useful for folks on the market.

[ElDuderino]

I deleted a few posts made here. This is the thread about the UMass Amherst position, please do not derail it with unrelated issues. If you want to discuss other issues, there are forum sections for that.