Appendix G

Email to All Professors Teaching Undergraduate Courses at Edgewood College Requesting

Permission to Access Undergraduate Students in Their Course(s)
Title: Individual College Student Differences in Academic Achievement
Dear <professor name>,
My name is Patrick Estes and I am a graduate student in the Master of Science in Organization
Development (MSOD) program here at Edgewood College, and I am conducting research to
fulfill my degree requirements at the College under the direction of Dr. David Gibson. I will be
conducting my graduate capstone research project via an online or paper-and-pencil survey to
undergraduate students and am writing to request your assistance in getting the word out to
students. I am contacting you because you have been identified as a professor teaching
undergraduate courses at Edgewood College.
For those that agree to assist in the recruiting process, there are two options for survey
administration:
a.) Visit your course(s) to administer the survey via paper-and-pencil. No more than twenty
minutes of your class time would be required for administration. This would be ideal.
b.) Visit your course(s) for a brief, five minute presentation that describes the study, explains
where to find the survey link, and answer questions students have about participation.
Within 48 hours of presentation, students would receive, electronically, the attached cover
letter with a link to the survey.
Additionally, as part of my research protocol, I am requesting that all professors who have
agreed to assist in recruiting student participants provide a list of email addresses for their
undergraduates students enrolled in the particular courses that I visited. I will send the cover
letter containing a survey link (see attached cover letter document) to your students within 48
hours of receiving the list from you. Additionally, I plan to set up and send two automatic
reminder emails to non-respondents over the next two weeks with the intention of increasing
survey participation.
The purpose of my study is to investigate the role that individual student differences play in
academic performance. More specifically, the four constructs/variables I am interested in
include:
1.) Grit: Defined as perseverance and passion for long-term goals (Duckworth &
Quinn, 2007. p. 1087).

2.) Academic Entitlement: Defined as the expectation that one should receive certain
positive academic outcomes (e.g., high grades) in academic settings, often independent of
performance (Kopp, Zinn, Finney, & Jurich, 2011, p. 106).

3.) Achievement Goal Orientation: Defined as an individuals disposition toward
developing or demonstrating ability in achievement situations (VandeWalle, 1997, p.
995).

4.) Academic Self-Efficacy: Defined as an individuals conviction that they can
successfully perform given academic tasks at designated levels (Schunk, 1991).

Furthermore, I am interested in determining these variables predictive relationships with
academic achievement (operationalized and assessed using a self-reported measure of collegiate
cumulative GPA). I have attached a copy of my survey instrument as well if you would like to
take a look at the types of questions that are asked.
Thank you kindly for your consideration in this request. If you have any questions about the
research, please contact Patrick Estes, Principal Investigator, via email at pestes@edgewood.edu
or by phone at (608) 663-2342. Lastly, if you are interested in viewing the results of my project,
I would be happy to share an aggregated frequency report with you after the study has been
completed.
Best Regards,
Patrick Estes
Graduate Student
Master of Science in Organization Development (MSOD) program
Edgewood College