Faculty and Advisors

Mentor and Refer Students

Scholars tell us again and again that they applied because a faculty or staff member encouraged them to do it. You can encourage your best students to apply for scholarships and guide them along the way. Professional mentorship is important for all students and they, and we, rely on your support and guidance for them as they navigate important decisions about their futures prepare to pursue their dreams.

NISO reaches out to faculty and student services staff members via email at the end of both the fall and spring semesters requesting that you refer your best and most interesting students to us. This process is intregal to student awareness of our office and the life changing experiences available through the various scholarships, grants, and programs for which we coordinate university nominations. Please refer! We make it as simple as replying to our email or submitting through BoilerConnect.

We are more than happy to accept referrals any time and encourage you to reach out whenever the inspiration strikes. Connect us with students you know who would be strong candidates for prestigious scholarships by sending an email to niso@purdue.edu with the students full name and any additional information you wish to share.

Serve as a Recommender

NISO is here to help you write recommendations tailored to the scholarships we coordinate for the university. Purdue’s Center for Instructional Excellence partnered with us to create these “how to” video guides for writing recommendation letters for scholarships.

Reference/recommendation formats vary among the scholarships. There are often strict word or character counts. You may be asked to answer specific questions or comment on specific traits or qualities. In addition, NISO coordinated scholarships require a campus review, and in most cases a nomination process, dictating a campus submission prior to the national competition. As such, NISO provides recommenders with clear guidelines and tips for each specific scholarship to assist in the process and we are always available to answer questions.

Serving as a reference/recommender is your chance to explain to a selection committee why this student is a good candidate for the award. Scholarship recommendation letters differ from job or graduate recommendations in that they should focus on a few select accomplishments of the student. Forget the general superlatives. A letter that highlights very specific examples of why this student is outstanding will go a long way with the scholarship selection committee.

If you do not know a student well enough to write a detailed letter or would rather not write in support of the student’s application, simply decline the student’s request. If possible, assist in identifying other referees who are more familiar with the student's work.