In our November “how can we help you?” thread, a reader writes:
My appointment as a tenure track assistant professor was recently terminated. This was not for cause or otherwise poor performance but simply because of a severe financial crisis at my school. How should I address this as I apply for other jobs, including tenure track academic jobs, non-tenure track academic jobs, and non-academic jobs? Members of upper administration have offered to write letters of recommendation that address my employment and provide context for my termination. Most applications request three or four letters, but those spots are already accounted for by other letters about my research and teaching. How should I incorporate the new letter(s) from administration into my applications without sacrificing my other letters?
I’m so sorry to hear this happened to the OP. Personally, I’m inclined to think that just mentioning it in their cover letter is probably enough. They could even list contact information for an administrator if search committees wanted to confirm, I suppose. But I don’t think recommendation letters are necessary.
What do other readers think?
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