Teacher Desk

Teacher Desk is a dedicated dashboard in Naviance that streamlines the process of submitting letters of recommendation. It offers a simple, three-step workflow and is automatically available to users with the teacher job function.

If your job function is not set to teacher, you can still submit recommendations from the eDocs section of the student folder.

• Start uploading letters for seniors on August 1.

• Letters uploaded before August 1 will be archived during Naviance’s July downtime and must be re-uploaded.

Basic workflow

1. Receive an email notification when a student requests a letter.

2. Log in to Naviance to review and manage your requests on the Teacher Desk dashboard.

3. Click a request to open the Student Request page.

4. Follow the three steps to submit the recommendation.

   1. Prepare the Common App teacher evaluation form if your school integrates with Common App.

   2. Upload a letter of recommendation.

   3. Submit your files, if available. If not available, the counseling department will submit your recommendations.

Navigate the dashboard

The Teacher Desk does not display letter of recommendation requests for alumni. To display alumni requests, navigate to the student folder or Recommendation Manager.

The Teacher Desk dashboard displays a list of your recommendation requests. Use the options to sort, filter, and search to locate specific recommendation requests.

• The nearest deadline is the default sort order for displayed lists.

• Enter a name in the Student Search field to locate the student's recommendation details and display their request page.

Filter details

To manage all requests, manually update a request status, or cancel a request, go to the Recommendation Manager.

Student request page

From the student request page, student and request details, and the steps to complete the request.

Requested college tabs are color coded by status:

• Blue indicates the request is active but not submitted.

• Green indicates the request has been submitted.

• Red indicates the request has been canceled.

Fulfill the request

When fulfilling letter of recommendation requests from Teacher Desk, you must complete all steps. The number of steps varies depending upon the eDocs settings at your school.

1. Expand the Prepare the Common App Teacher Evaluation Form section,

   1. Complete the evaluation form.

   2. Optionally, select Yes for Do you complete applicants' academic ratings, to display the Ratings section.

   3. Click Save.

2. Expand the Upload Letter of Recommendation section,

   1. Click Choose file and navigate to your saved letter of recommendation. Upload one letter of recommendation for all requested schools. Alternatively, click Compose to write your recommendation letter in Naviance or generate one using AI. Refer to Compose a recommendation letter for more details.

   2. Click Upload File.

      • Naviance uploads the recommendation for each school requested by the student.

      • For a general request, Naviance uploads the file for each school that the student has added to their active application list to date.

3. Collapse the Upload Letter of Recommendation section after you receive a notification that your files are ready to submit.

4. Expand Submit Your Files, if available. Your files are automatically sent, and the submission status updates.

If the status displays blocked, the maximum number of letters for that school may have already been sent, or you did not have a specific request for that college.

Compose a recommendation letter

1. Click Compose for the selected student's application.

2. From Get started with your recommendation, click Skip this step.

3. Type your letter.

4. Optionally, select a portion of your letter to rewrite with AI help.

   1. Let PowerBuddy know how you'd like to modify the content.

   2. Click Use to apply the AI-generated suggestion.

5. Click Add to eDocs.

Generate a letter with AI

1. Click Compose for the selected student's application.

2. Choose information to include, formality, tone, and relationship. Then, upload a template letter and letterhead logo, create your signature, and click Generate Letter.

3.  Manually update the placeholder text.

4. Optionally, choose to modify the entire letter or select a portion of the letter to modify.

   1. Let PowerBuddy know how you'd like to modify the content.

   2. Click Use to apply the AI-generated suggestion.

5. Click Add to eDocs.

Manage additional recommendation requests after submission

You may receive additional requests for specific colleges after you have fulfilled a student's general or specific letter of recommendation requests. Students who made a general request may add more colleges to their list of active applications.

Additional Common App requests

• Submissions are one and done. If you’ve already submitted a letter and evaluation, they’ll be sent to any new Common App schools automatically. You do not need to take further action in Naviance.

Additional Parchment and Scribbles requests

Submissions to Parchment and Scribbles member schools are not one and done. You must manually submit letters of recommendation to each Parchment and Scribbles institution.

1. Select the request to display the student's request page. The newly added request has a blue tag.

2. Expand the Upload Letter of Recommendation section. The section displays the newly added request, and your previously uploaded letter of recommendation is available to submit. Alternatively, upload a letter of recommendation written for a specific Parchment or Scribbles institution from Prepare in the eDocs section of the student folder.

3. Expand the Submit Your Files section to submit the letter of recommendation to the school. The school displays a green tag to indicate submission.

Letter of recommendation status types

Letter of recommendation statuses vary in Naviance.

The status displays blocked if the college does not accept teacher letters of recommendation or the maximum number of recommendations was already submitted.