UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, RIVERSIDE

BERKELEY DAVIS IRVINE LOS ANGELES MERCED RIVERSIDE SAN DIEGO SAN FRANCISCO SANTA BARBARA SANTA CRUZ

KATE SWEENY, Ph.D., Associate Professor

Department of Psychology
Riverside, CA 92521
TEL: (951) 827-7165, FAX: (951) 827-3985
ksweeny@ucr.edu

April 12, 2016

To whom it may concern,
I am writing this letter of recommendation on behalf of Lena Oh in support of her application for your
teaching position. I first met Lena in September 2011 when she took my course in social psychology. This
course involves large lectures twice a week and a small (25 students) discussion section with a TA once a
week. In addition to attending lecture and studying book and lecture-based material, students in the course
are also required to read two research articles per week, which I assign, and discuss these articles in their
discussion section. The papers can be tough to read, especially for undergraduate students, and thus this
course can prove challenging unless students are on top of their game.
Lena was a very strong student, and she received an A in the course. Although I have not had much
interaction with Lena outside the classroom, her strong performance in this course demonstrates her
conscientiousness, dedication, and intelligence. She received near-perfect scores in her discussion section,
which indicates not only flawless attendance but also engagement with the material and depth of critical
thinking. In addition to her excellent performance in the discussion section, her performance on the three
exams was also quite impressive, particularly in terms of the trajectory across the course. Lena did not
perform up to her potential on the first midterm, but her scores increased significantly on the subsequent
exam, and her quarter culminated in a near-perfect final exam score. In my experience, notable
improvement from exam to exam indicates a commitment to success and growth that few students exhibit.
Based on the strengths just described and my interactions with Lena outside of the classroom, I believe
that Lena is an outstanding candidate for your teaching position. Ive been in touch with Lena as Ive been
preparing this letter, and I have been impressed by her passion for teaching and her clarity of purpose. She
has spoken to me about the experiences that led her to pursue a career in teaching, and the excitement
with which she speaks about those experiences makes clear that she is fully committed to the path shes
chosen. In addition, her excellent performance throughout her time in college further speaks to her ability
to achieve excellence in her career. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.
Sincerely,

Kate Sweeny (ksweeny@ucr.edu)

Associate Professor, Department of Psychology
University of California, Riverside