Academics - any advice for writing letter of rec for senior colleague for promotion

[mmommy]

when you really don't believe they deserve it?
I can't "forget" to write a letter (believe me, I considered this option first) because enough leaks out during these processes that an omission will not go unnoticed.
I don't have tenure yet, and while this person's vote won't weigh as heavily as those of my other colleagues, I certainly don't want to have a negative voice from within my own department.
That said, there isn't much glowingly positive I can say unless I make up the whole thing, which I refuse to do...

Any advice?

[ThreeofUs]

Faint praise is always damning, don't you think? A letter like this should focus on scholarship and teaching, with emphasis on how the person compares to equals in the field, and a bit of how the person interacts with and/or adds to a department dynamic. Bland statements and comparisons, even if positive, are almost always read as negatives.

That said, are you sure you can't claim a conflict, ignorance of the person's work or sub-field, or just flat-out say you aren't the person to write it?

[cvanbrunt]

Why are you writing the letter? Did they ask you? Is the T&P process open or closed? IF the candidate can see the file, I'd be really hesitant to write anything. At my institution un-tenured folks are allowed to bow out of any reviews in their home department. If you have to write a letter, I'd just keep it factual and not actually comment on whether or not they should be promoted. A bland, non-commital letter makes a clear statement.

[mmommy]

Here everyone within the department is generally expected to write. The process is officially closed, but some info always leaks out. Several others in my dept will not be writing anything because they don't want to be supportive of this person, but I'm the lone untenured person and have been told I really should write something to cover my own behind.

I'm thinking of limiting my comments to the person's research since I don't have anything positive to say about the teaching and service done by this person...Hopefully I can keep it simply to the facts and keep it brief.

We're actually supposed to also fill out a separate form that asks if we believe the person deserves the promotion or not. I guess I am going to have to forget to submit that and avoid the secretary for a few weeks while she tries to chase me down for it...

[DrSally]

Damn them with faint praise.

[misshollygolightly]

I think the suggestion to really limit your comments to a small area that you can competently and fairly speak well about (such as X's research) is your best bet. If pressed on the issue of whether or not you think X deserves the promotion, I'd simply say you don't feel qualified to make that kind of assessment (you could even point out some reasons, like you've never observed X in a classroom setting or whatever).

[MontrealMum]

Agreeing that you should stick to what you can honestly make positive comments about. Also, there've been quite a few articles about letters of recommendation in the Chronicle lately. Do a search there on "recommendation letters" and check out the top hits---you may find some pointers.