Faculty Interfolio Information

Each student requesting a letter will give you a form from Interfolio. It will describe two methods for submitting your letter: through the internet or through the mail.

The internet method involves two steps. First, open a writer's account with Interfolio; doing so is extremely easy. Second, electronically transfer your letter using Interfolio's website.

The letter will be stored as a Portable Document Format (pdf, sometimes known as Adobe Acrobat) file on Interfolio's computers. Interfolio will accept and convert electronic files in the following formats: Microsoft Word, text, rich text, powerpoint, gif, jpg, tif, or Adobe Acrobat. If you use WordPerfect, AppleWorks, or some other word processing program, use "Save As" and save the letter in rich text format before uploading it.

You can add a signature to your letter by faxingit to Interfolio. Or, if you want to take the trouble, you can scan your signature and insert a picture of it into the electronic copy of your letter: you will need to be handy with a scanner, the relevant software, and templates for your word processing documents. If your letter will not have any signature at all, you might want to add a line explaining the reason why.

Letters sent to Interfolio through the regular mail are scanned (much like a fax machine does) and stored as electronic images on Interfolio's computers.

For speed and quality, the internet method is preferred, but the regular mail works fine.

Faxing a letter to Interfolio produces very poor results and should be avoided if at all possible. If you have run up against the deadline and are unwilling to establish an account on Interfolio on your own, please ask the department secretaries to open an account for you (it must be in your name) and allow them to upload your letter electronically.

Note that this is a slight change in policy. In 2001-2002, our first year of using Interfolio, all letters were sent via the department secretaries. The idea was to keep a copy that could be reviewed by the placement committee. Having the benefit of a year's experience, we think it is easier to use Interfolio as our filing system. Doing so removes a step in the process of sending letters out and the committee will be sure that it is seeing the letter that will actually be sent. So please send letters directly to Interfolio using either method described above.