Credential Files

Confidential credential file services are provided to students and alumni seeking positions in teaching, student services, and administration at all educational levels ( K-12 & Higher Education). These files are to be used only for employment purposes and not for admission to graduate or professional schools.*

Students, particularly at the graduate level, may choose to use Interfolio, a secure web-based tool that allows you to store, manage and send electronic and print files. Interfolio allows users to include content beyond a resume, transcript and letters of recommendation (e.g. writing samples, dissertation summaries, student evaluations.) Interfolio may also be used for applications to graduate and professional schools.

Your contents
A completed confidential credential file must include the following.**
[printable credential file guidlines]

• Authorization to release – Due to Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), no file will be sent by the UCC without the signed authorization to release form.
• Resume – View sample resume formats.
• Recommendations – The UCC provides reference forms for your references to complete (see below) – or they may prefer to use their own letterhead. Teacher candidates: most school systems require you to use their own forms. If you use the UCC forms, complete the top section first. Provide a stamped envelope addressed to the UCC for their convenience. Instruct them to seal the recommendation in an envelope with their signature over the seal. You are not permitted to view the contents of the letter.
• Transcript (optional) - A transcript can be included, but is not required. Request an official transcript through Registration & Records and have it sent to the UCC for inclusion in your file.

Your references
Consider these options as you choose your best references. Allow at least a couple of weeks for a reference to complete the form and return it to the UCC. Once in a while they may need a gentle reminder. Ask them to save a hard or electronic copy; it is possible for a letter to get lost.

Bachelors Degree Candidates [printable undergraduate reference form]
- Cooperating teacher from student teaching experience
- Supervisory faculty member
- Professor in major field of study
- Present or former employer

Masters & Doctoral Degree Candidates [printable graduate reference form]
- Thesis or dissertation advisor
- Head of your department, if you are well known to that person
- Professor who knows you well and is knowledgeable of your skills, ability and qualifications
- Professor in field other than major, with whom you have completed advanced coursework
- Present or former employer

Requests & fees
There is a $10.00 fee to set up your confidential credential file. Your first 3 requests are free. Each file sent thereafter is $5.00. An additional fee will be determined for requests sent outside the USA. A complete copy of your file is reproduced and sent upon request of employers, graduating students, or alumni. (A fee is not charged when the employer requests your file directly.)

To request that a file be sent, provide the following to the UCC..

• Complete addresses for each prospective employer.
• $5.00 for each file requested, after your 3 free requests (cash or check made out to NC State University).

Inactive files
Your file will remain housed permanently in the UCC and remain available to you unless the following occurs.

• You receive an additional degree from another institution after leaving NC State. In this case, you should establish a credential file at that institution.
• There has been no activity in your file within 5 years. In this case, your file will be purged.

Non-confidential files
You may consider maintaining your own non-confidential credential file if your prospective employers do not require confidential letters. When you request letters from your references, they will send you the original letter. This is your master copy from which you will make copies and send with applications. Provide your references with self addressed stamped envelopes for their convenience.

* Graduate/professional school applicants -- we recommend the use of Interfolio as a service to maintain your letters of recommendation and other documents for the application process.

** Incomplete files -- it is your responsibility to check periodically to see if your file is complete with release form, resume, recommendations, and transcripts (optional). No requests will be honored until your file is complete. If your file is not complete within 6 months of the initial opening date, the file may be purged. If the file is purged, you must begin the entire process again in order to re-open the file.