system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Not a professor but a graduate student. I would like to write a recommendation letter for my thesis advisor as she is an awesome mentor who really cares about students and is an inspiring scientist.



I’m a PhD candidate in biology and in a research- focused university. I hope to seek some advice regarding  writing recommendation letter for my thesis advisor to the Vice Dean in charge of faculty. My advisor ( relatively young PI) is an exemplary mentor who has inspired me in many ways in terms of scientific thinking and she truly cares a lot about students progress/and gives us both the space and support to develop our scientific minds. Therefore, 
I would like to write a recommendation letter for her in hope that it will be beneficial for her tenure consideration.


My hesitation is that: how effective will this letter be in aiding her to get tenure? Or will it on the contrary, be something against her(?)- I am not sure how common is this practice of students writing recommendation letters for their advisors are in academia.
gpt
The best thing to do is ask the professor whether there is any way you can help her compile materials for her tenure application. While that conversation is taking place, ask whether there is any room for a student to write about how much she has helped as a mentor. 

The guidelines are different at every university, but they are generally organized around teaching, research, and service. The mentorship/advising of a PhD student can often be bent and shaped to be included in any of the three sections. (There will always be a set place for it, but if she needs it to help support a weaker area of her application.) So, in summary, the best thing that you can do is make the offer directly to her and offer to do whatever she needs to help her case for tenure. If she doesn’t need the help, she’ll be happy that you asked because she’ll know personally that she’s doing a good job in that part of her job. If she does need help, she’ll be glad to have an ally in presenting her case.