9/17/2015

HowtoEmailaProfessor(withSampleEmails)wikiHow

HowtoEmailaProfessor
ThreeMethods:

ComposinganEmailtoaProfessor

SampleAcademicEmails

SamplePersonalEmails

Thewaythatyoucommunicatewithyourteachersisveryimportantand
showsalotaboutthekindofstudentyouare.Mostteachershavecertain
expectationsforthemessagestheyreceivefromstudents.Belowaresome
tipsforwritingagoodemailtoyourprofessor:
Mostprofessorsandinstructorswillexpectastudent'slevelofcommunication
tobeprofessional,respectful,anduseapropertone.We'llhelpyou
understandthoseexpectations.

ComposinganEmailtoaProfessor

Readthesyllabus.Often,thequestionyouwouldliketoaskhasalreadybeen
answeredinthematerialtheprofessorhasprovidedatthebeginningofclass.

Askingaprofessortogooverthisagainmakesyoulooklikeyouarenotaserious
studentandonlyharmsyourcause.

Makesureemailisreallythebestwaytocommunicateyourissue.Emailis
oftenmuchmoretimeconsumingthananinpersonconversation.Itgenerally

takeslongertocomposewordprocessedtextthantosayit.
Eveniftheemailisshortandquickforyoutodeploy,theresponseforwhich
youareaskingcanbetimeconsumingfortheprofessor.Forexample,emailing
aprofessortoask"whatdidImiss?"isnotcool.You'rebasicallyexpectingthe
professortotakethetimetowriteupanentireclassjustforyou.
Don'temailtoaskaboutyourgrades.AtleastintheUS,FERPAlawsmean
manyuniversitieshaveinstructedprofessorsnottosendgradeinformationvia
email.(Plus,gradesarebetterdiscussedinperson.Gototheprofessor'soffice
hoursormakeanappointmentwhereyoucansitdowntogetherandreview
yourwork.Thentheprofessorcanshowyouexactlywhereintheassignment
youfellshort.Also,youaremorelikelytocomeacrossasinterestedinlearning,
ratherthanbeingagradegrubberjustwhiningtogetextrapoints.)
Wheneverpossible,trytohavea"live",inpersonconversationwithyour
professor.Ageneralruleofthumbis:ifit'sgoingtotakeyourprofessorlonger
totypeoutareplytoyouremailthantosayit,don'tuseemail.Makeuseofthe
professor'sofficehoursyoucanphoneand/orshowupandmostlikelygetan
immediateresponse.Or,iftheofficehoursdon'tworkforyou,makean
appointmenttovisiteitherbyphoneorinpersonatanothertime.Reserveemail
forshortexchanges.

Useyouracademicaccount.Professorsaredelugedwithemailseveryday,and
byusingyourschoolaccount,you'llhaveabetterchanceofavoidingthespam

filter,orofhavingyourprofessorskipoveryouremailbecauseit'sfromanunknown
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address.

Includeameaningfulsubjectlinewithyourcourseandsectiondetails.While
thisistrueofeveryemailyousend(thatyouwishtoberead),it'sespecially

importantwhenyou'reattemptingtocommunicatewithsomebodywhosedayisbusy
enoughasitis.
Ifyourprofessordoesnotalreadyhaveapreferredmethodforemailsubjects,
thenagoodruleistostartwithyourcoursedepartment,number,andsection
(ordayandtimeofcourse),andthenthetopicofyouremail.Forexample,
"PSYC100SectionXX:Questionaboutdatacollectionforproject"wouldbean
excellentwaytofillinthesubjectline.Withyouracademicaccountandyour
welltitledsubject,theprofessorknowswhoyouareandexactlywhatyouwant,
evenbeforeclicking"Open."Thisinformationhelpstheprofessororganizeand
prioritizestudentemails.Includingthesectioninfoisespeciallyimportantfor
professorswhoteachmultiplesectionsofthesamecourse.Donotsimplywrite
thegeneralsubjectarea(suchas"psychology"),becauseyourprofessoris
probablyteachingmultipleclasses.
Neversendamessagewithnosubjectline.

Alwaysuseagreeting.Donotbeginwith"Hey","Hi"orotherinformalgreetings.
Generallyspeaking,youshoulduse"DearProfessorLastname."Iftheinstructor

doesnothaveaPhD,refertothemas"Professor"unlessinstructedotherwise.Takinga
chancewith"Mrs""Mr."or"Ms."insteadof"Dr."or"Professor"runstheriskofinsultto
theprofessor.
Ifyourprofessorsignsthereplywithafirstname,itisstillbesttoaddresshim
orheras"Dr.Lastname"or"ProfessorLastname"inanemail.Donotusethe
professor'sfirstnameunlessyouhavebeenexplicitlyinvitedtodoso.You
shouldalsobesuretospellyourprofessor'snamecorrectly.

Brieflyandpolitelystatethereasonwhyyouareemailing.Offeronlyasmuch

Gettothepointrightaway.

informationasisrelevanttothesituationandislikelytointeresttheprofessor.

Nametheassignmentorprojectsyouarereferringtoinsteadofusingpronouns
orphrases,suchasthisassignment.

Ifyouareemailingwithaproblem,suggestasolution.(Seethetipbelow).Be
considerate,however,ofhowyoursolutionmightcreateadditionalworkforthe

professor.

SignitwithyournameandyourstudentIDnumber(butneveryourSocial
Securitynumber).Useyourfirstandlastname,andevenifyouknowthatyour

professorknowsyoubyname,includeyourcourseandsectioninformationbelowyour
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name.Youwillsaveherhavingtofigureoutwhatcourseandsectionyou'retalking
aboutifsheneedstolookupsomethingaboutthecourseinordertoansweryour
question

10

Sendattachmentsifnecessary.Ifyouremailisregardinganassignmentor
article,attachthedocument.Thiswayyourprofessordoesnothavetohunt

aroundforit.Youcanalsoattachscreenshotsofanyproblemsthatyouarehavingwith
onlinecomputersoftware.

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Readitover.Ifyoudonothavespellcheckonyouremail,thenyoucancopy
themessage,pasteitintoawordprocessingprogram,andrunspellcheck

there.Considernotonlythemechanics,butalsowhatyouhavesaid.Striveforapolite
tone,conciselanguage,andclearpurpose.

12

Iftheissueistouchyortheemailislong,asksomeoneelsetoproofread
it,too.Askthepersonifyourreaderwouldbeoffendedbysuchanemail,ifit

weredirectedathimorher.
Makeanychangesnecessary,andsendtoyourprofessor.

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Allowadequatetimeforareply.Seetipsbelowabouthowtoaddressa
professor'sfailuretoreply.Ifyouaresendingonlyapieceofinformation("I

havethefluandwillnotbeinclassonTuesday,butSuewillturninmypaperforme"),
thentheprofessormaynotconsiderareplynecessary.Inthiscase,youaredone.
Leaveenoughtimeforaresponse.Someprofessorsdonotworkoncampus
everydayandmaynothaveInternetaccessathome,soyoumayneedtowait
afewdays.

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Onceareplyhasbeenreceived,acknowledgeit.Asimple"Thankyou"may
beenough.Ifnecessary,writeamoreextensiveemailusingthesesame

guidelinestoachieveaprofessionaleffect.Ifthecaseisnotbeingadequatelyresolved
byemail,thenaskforanappointmenttomeetinperson.

SampleAcademicEmails

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SampleEmailProfessorAskingfor
Notes

SampleEmailProfessorAbouta
Question

SamplePersonalEmails

SampleEmailProfessorAskingfor
aFavor

SampleEmailProfessorAbout
Lunch

Wecouldreallyuseyourhelp!
Canyoutellusabout

Canyoutellusabout

Canyoutellusabout

Canyoutellusabout

Stimulating
hairgrowth?

Facebook
Groups?

Computers?

Behaving
socially?

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

Tips
Trytocontactapeerfirstifthepurposeofyouremailistofindoutwhat
youmissedwhenabsent.
Usethewords"please"and"thankyou"theyreallyhelpandare
universallyappreciated.
Followup.Ifmorethanafewdayshavepassedandyouhavenot
gottenaresponse,thenitisappropriatetopolitelyaskiftheprofessor
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receivedyouremailandhadtimetoconsiderwhatyouwrote.Itmaybe
moreeffectivetofollowupbyphoneorbyanofficevisit.Thesqueaky
wheelgetsthegrease,sodon'tbeafraidtospeakuporsenda
reminder.
Beingpolitedoesn'tmeanbeingapushover.Ifyouhaveaneed,make
itknown.Whileyoushouldnotmakeademand,youcancertainly
makeasuggestion.
Forexample,ifyouhavesurgeryscheduledonthedayofthefinal,
thenyoushoulddomorethanmerelystateyourconflict.You
shouldoffertotaketheexamearly,requestanincomplete,offerto
submitafinalprojectinplaceoftheexam,orpresentwhatever
otherideayouthinkwouldsolvetheproblemtoeveryone's
satisfaction.Besuretoremainopentoothersuggestions,asthe
professormayhaveideasofhisorherown.
Recognizethatrequeststhatmaytakeonlyafewsecondstowriteand
sendmaytakemuchlongertofulfill.Ifyouwantagradecalculated,or
afullbreakdownofwhatyoumissedduringanabsence,oranything
elsethatmaybelaborintensive,thenoffertocometoofficehoursif
theprofessorprefersanappointment.

Warnings
Bepatient.Whileyoumayseeyourprofessorsonlyinclassteachinga
fewhoursperweek,rememberthattheyhaveothercoursesandmany
nonteachingresponsibilitiesaspartoftheirjobdescriptions.Your
concernsareandshouldbeimportanttothem,buttheymaynotbe
abletoaddressthemattheexactmomentsyouwantthemto.
Besureyouhavecheckedallthematerialsthatyou'vealreadybeen
providedtoseeifyoucanansweryourownquestion.
Alwaysbepolite.Writing"Idonotmeantoberude"doesnotnegate
rudenesselsewhereintheemail.
Donotbeginaconversationwithaprofessorbyasking,"Didyouget
myemail?"Yourprofessorsprobablyreceivemanyemailsandcan't
immediatelyrememberthemallattheprecisemomentyouask.
Instead,say,"IsentyouanemailyesterdayafternoonaboutXYZ.Do
youhaveamomenttotalkaboutitnow,orcouldIcometoyouroffice
later?"Ifit'salargeclassorearlyinthesemesterbeforeaprofessor
haslearnedallthestudents'names,thenyoumighthavetoremindhim
orherofyourname.
DonotusethephraseASAP(asin,"PleasegetbacktomeASAP")or
otherpermutationsofthisphrase.
Donotask"if"youmissedanythingonadayyouwereabsent.Of
courseyoudid!
Donotemailallofyourprofessorsasagroupunlessthesituationis
dire.
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Ifyouhaveacomplaintorstrongnegativefeelingsthatyouaretrying
toresolve,thenemailisprobablynotyourbestavenue.Youneedto
haveaconversationwiththeprofessor,andemailisonlyoneway(ata
time).Youmayemailtotellyourprofessorthatyoufeelaneedtotalk
abouttheissueandasktosetupanofficevisitorphoneconversation,
butitisbestnottowriteanythingthatyoumightregretlater.

ArticleInfo

Categories:CampusLife|EmailandInstantMessaging
Inotherlanguages:
Italiano:Scrivereun'EmailaunProfessore,Espaol:enviarunemailaun
profesor,Portugus:EnviarumEmailParaumProfessor,Deutsch:EinemProfessor
emailen,Franais:crireunmailunprofesseur,:
,:email,BahasaIndonesia:MengirimSurel
kepadaProfesor,Nederlands:Eenprofessormailen,etina:Jaknapsatemail
profesorovi

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