References (sometimes called Letters of Evaluation, Letters of Reference, or Letters of Recommendation) are submitted by the references themselves; they cannot be completed or submitted by the applicant or another party on behalf of the reference. We are not responsible for verifying references' identities. If a discrepancy is found, we reserve the right to contact the appropriate individuals to investigate and to share the discrepancy with all programs.
Before getting started, consider the following:
When you request references, your reference receives an email request with a link to Liaison Letters. References review your requests, and then accept, complete, or deny them. References may complete assessments such as writing essays, completing Likert scales, and/or uploading letters.
Once your reference completes your reference, you'll be notified via email. You can check the status of your reference requests in the Check Status tab of your application at any time.
You are required to request at least 3 and may request a maximum of 5 references. If you want to submit more, send those additional references directly to your programs.
If you want to submit a committee letter as part of your application, you can do so by entering the committee chair (or their alternate) as the reference. The committee chair must then complete the ratings section and upload one letter (that includes the assessments of various committee members) via Liaison Letters, the Recommender Portal. Note that a committee letter only counts as one reference and the individuals who contributed to the letter may not be used as additional references.
If you need to resend a request:
If you entered an incorrect email address for any references (or if any reference asks that you send the request to a different email address), you must delete these requests and then re-add them with the correct email.
The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) gives you the right to access references unless you choose to waive your right of inspection and review. Prior to requesting any references, you are required to indicate whether you wish to waive your rights. SocialWorkCAS will release your decision to waive or not waive access to your references and designated programs. Your waiver decision serves the same purpose as a legal signature and is binding.
Selecting Yes indicates to programs that your reference completed their reference with the understanding that you would not be able to view it. This means you will not be able to see the content of the reference. Programs may view this type of reference as a more accurate representation of an applicant's qualifications.
Selecting No indicates to programs that your reference completed their reference with the understanding that you may choose to view it in the future. Selecting this option does not allow you to view your reference via the application. If you do not waive your right to view the reference, you may ask your reference for a copy of the reference. Programs may view this type of reference as a less accurate representation of an applicant's qualifications.
Once you make a selection, you can't change it, so consider the choices carefully.