Troubleshooting Tips for the Letters of Recommendation Process

The recommender never received the email.

1. Confirm that the email address is valid.  The applicant may try copying the email from the BWF grant application system into another email and sending it to the recommender to confirm the address is working properly. 
2. On the recommender page, confirm that the email address was inserted in the email field instead of the name field.
3. Confirm on the recommender page of the application that the applicant checked the box beside the recommender and clicked the “SEND” button.  If the applicant pressed the SEND button, he/she should have received the email template to complete.  In addition, the recommender’s name should no longer appear in a white box, but rather appear on the recommender screen with a gray background.

Once these steps have been verified, BWF recommends the following:

1. Verify the email address for the recommender is correct.  Remove the recommender’s name and email address from the application.  Re-enter the recommender’s name and email.  Resend the email with the link.   
2. Obtain an alternate email address (Yahoo, gmail, hotmail, etc.) from the recommender.  The email may be caught in the university’s spam filter.  If this is not a possibility, please contact Kendra Tucker at 919/991-5115.

The recommender received the link, but cannot log in to upload the letter.

Error messages are in “red” font at the top of the screen.  Note the error message that the recommender is receiving. 

Error Message:  “Thank you for taking the time to respond to a request for recommendation. However, you cannot provide input at this time. Please contact the applicant if you have any questions”:

1. Depending on the format of the recommender’s email, the web link may be wrapping to another line.  The recommender must copy and paste the entire link into the web browser.  The link is specific to the applicant and designated recommender.
2. The recommender entered an incorrect email address.  The email address must exactly match the one that was entered in the system by the applicant.  It should be the same email address that the link was sent to initially.

Error Message:  redirects to a log-in page for the grant application:

1. Close all web browsers.
2. Re-open the web browser and close all tabs.
3. Copy the entire link into the web browser (retrieve the initial email and web link originally provided by the applicant to the recommender and enter the link).
4. Log in, proceed to the recommender page, and enter the email address for the recommender as entered by the applicant.
5. Follow the steps to upload the letter.

If the error message states something different, contact Kendra Tucker at 919/991-5115.

The recommender is able to log into the site, but cannot upload the letter.

Error Message: “You are trying to upload a file with an unaccepted file type.  Please upload a file of one of the following types:  PDF.”  Confirm that the recommender is uploading a pdf file. Only PDF files are acceptable file types for uploading.

If the error message states something different, contact Kendra Tucker at 919/991-5115.

The recommender has submitted the letter, but would like to upload a revised letter.

The applicant cannot remove the letter for the recommender.  The recommender can re-load the letter, but he/she MUST have the initial email and web link that was sent by the applicant.  To load a revised letter, the recommender must:

1. Retrieve the initial email and web link originally provided by the applicant to the Recommender.
2. Access the recommender page using the link originally provided by the applicant.
3. Log in using the recommender’s email address (the same email address for the recommender originally used by the applicant).
4. Log in and access the “Recommender” page.  
5. Check the “Remove” box next to the html link.
6. Click the “Remove” button. 
7. Browse for the revised letter (.pdf file) on your system.  
8. Click “Upload.”  
9. Click the “Finished” button. 
10. View the acknowledgment that the letter has been submitted.

If the recommender no longer has the initial email and link, the revised letter cannot be removed. The applicant cannot access or remove the recommendation letter.   The recommender will need to email the revised letter to Kendra Tucker to be replaced after the application is submitted.

If problems arise email Kendra Tucker, program assistant, or call 919/991-5115.