First-name Basis?

[t_ruth]

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When corresponding w/grad directors, grad coordinators and potential advisors, how do you address them? Once they sign an email to you with their first name, should you then start addressing your emails to them with their first name or continue w/Dr. X or Professor X?

Thanks!

[ridgey]

<>>

When corresponding w/grad directors, grad coordinators and potential advisors, how do you address them? Once they sign an email to you with their first name, should you then start addressing your emails to them with their first name or continue w/Dr. X or Professor X?

Thanks!

Always take the hint from them - however they sign their email is how you should address them. The exception is when it's clearly part of an automatic signature that goes on all their correspondence ( i.e. Bob Smith, Position, Department, School, contact details). But however they end the actual text (Regards/Cheers/Best, Mary/Dr Jones) is the way they expect you to address them.

[socialpsych]

I have always called profs "Professor X" until either 1) they ask me to use their first name, or 2) everyone around me is using their first name and it's clearly what is expected. I figure it is best to err on the side of formality...but I have always wondered whether it might offend anybody. Has anyone ever had a prof seem to be bothered by use of their last name?

[adaptations]

I wouldn't be too quick to use first names. I had a prof. who signed all his emails with initials and was very informal. Eventually I decided to start calling him by his first name and was quickly reminded that he was to be called "professor ..." My suggestion is to continue using formal titles until you meet them and really have a sense of who they are - it certainly can't hurt to be overly formal, as opposed to offend someone for being too casual.

[t_ruth]

My inclination is to err on the side of formality. It's just this particular person went from signing her emails Dr. X to signing the last one w/her first name only. I thought maybe I should wait until she signs a couple that way?

[IvyHope]

I agree with adaptations. I'd keep calling them Dr. so and so until you get a clear a-ok from them to call them by their first name. I also had a prof who reamed me once for lacking "professionalism" in my emails. This was after knowing/working with her for over a year!

[gadhelyn]

I've always held to the idea that they will sign their correspondences with how they want to be addressed. I have been in touch with a Jim at Emory and an Alison at NC State.

[socialpsych]

If you're not sure, you can always try to avoid it altogether. If you are emailing back and forth, you could start emails without any particular address, just to stay on the safe side...as in:

Hi,

Blah blah blah

A little weird maybe, but some people write emails like that anyway, and it makes me feel better when I'm not sure what else to do. For example, I have been working as a research assistant for a professor in my field who is also a family friend. She signs emails with her first name, but since she never told me I could call her by her first name, and at the same time I would feel weird calling her Professor, I just avoid it as much as possible.

[willtherebestars]

I would always go with Prof. ______. I wasn't sure what to do at one point because a professor who was probably going to be on the adcom for my application signed his emails with his initials, and referred me to other professors doing work I would be interested in by their first names. Surely these people know how awkward it is for us, and they just like to see how we respond.

[purplepepper]

I would say, do not address professors by their first names unless they explicitly say ok. Through emails, I have only used Dear Professor X (unless they asked otherwise), even if that prof. signed their first name. And yes, sometimes it did get a bit redundant. It's better to show respect and err on the side of caution, as you never know how some people might react to being called informally by someone they don't know. When I met profs I met face to face-- I for one prefer to be addressed by my nickname and not my full name that appears in my emails--after introducing myself and saying "please call me..." usually the prof would say oh and please call me so-and-so. Just my opinion!

[dragynally]

I have a prof that gets mad when I DON'T call her by her first name. But I think she is a exception to a rule. Most profs will let you know.

[cardnav]

I stayed on the side of formality and used the proper titles. After I got in, I emailed an Admissions Coordinator and she said in her response to refer to her by her first name. I think it's always better to let them correct you.

[rising_star]

I've been in grad school for a while now (sadly). I always refer to professors as Dr. in email. My it's my Southern upbringing. I think I have twice emailed my MA advisor (who I no longer work with) and used her first name, and only then it was after I'd graduated. That said, I call many of my professors by their first name in person, in part because my discipline works in the informal a lot and the faculty think of us as future peers. One prof said he wouldn't talk to me if I called him Dr. X so I never did, not even in email.

I think sticking with the formal in email is good. My advisor signs his emails with one letter "L" (not the real letter but whatever). I'd NEVER start an email with "Hi L,"

[UnlikelyGrad]

A timely topic! My PI changed from signing his initials on emails (when I was just a student in his class) to signing his first name after I started working for him.

I was raised to call people formally until they asked me to do otherwise. But the email thing, and, later, a couple of things he's said could be construed to mean that he wouldn't mind being called by his first name. But he hasn't actually come out and said, "Just call me (FirstName)".

A week or so ago I asked my friends whether I should call him by his first name or not. They said, "DUH! Ask him if it's okay!" But alas, I'm not that forward...soo....I continue to call him Dr. PI.

[doctoraldude]

i had a few bad experiences with shooting to first name terms in the first email itself, while writing to grad students at prospective schools. That said - i also had a great many conversations with people who didnt mind this at all.

my lesson from all of this: stop worrying - if they are offended by first name terms, they're not very friendly anyway!

ofcourse with former professors, i always take the Prof. route

[fenderpete]

To take this one step further... If someone signs their email with initials i.e. TC, do you think this mean they endorse first name terms or not? This is from a professor in a prospective department who is also grad chair, so don't want to get this wrong lol.

[bgk]

To take this one step further... If someone signs their email with initials i.e. TC, do you think this mean they endorse first name terms or not? This is from a professor in a prospective department who is also grad chair, so don't want to get this wrong lol.

I think it means they write so many emails, that they're too busy (or lazy) to sign their name.

[socialpsych]

I vote no. I know a lot of professors who do this and I think it's just because they don't want to think about it.

I mean, really...think forward to when you're done with your PhD. Won't it be at least a tiny bit weird to start signing emails "Dr. X"? I think that might push some profs to use initials or even their first name when signing emails, even with students they still expect to use their last name.

[t_ruth]

I vote no. I know a lot of professors who do this and I think it's just because they don't want to think about it.

I mean, really...think forward to when you're done with your PhD. Won't it be at least a tiny bit weird to start signing emails "Dr. X"? I think that might push some profs to use initials or even their first name when signing emails, even with students they still expect to use their last name.

I can see this too, but the situation that prompted my post was someone who had signed three emails Dr. X, but then started signing later emails w/first name.

[socialpsych]

I can see this too, but the situation that prompted my post was someone who had signed three emails Dr. X, but then started signing later emails w/first name.

Yeah. I think that's a different situation, but someone else asked about initials...

[storiaitaliana]

I always use Professor X, but when I was corresponding with a British prof, he signed his e-mails with only his first name, so I get the impression they are less formal there with the names.

[ohheygradschool]

I always use Professor X, but when I was corresponding with a British prof, he signed his e-mails with only his first name, so I get the impression they are less formal there with the names.

Really? I got the exact opposite impression when I was over there.

[storiaitaliana]

Really? I got the exact opposite impression when I was over there.

Well, I'm sure you know better than me, since I just e-mailed, and you were actually over there! I'd just never had a professor sign his e-mail "Sincerely, Christopher" before!

ETA: Although I have read that in UK academic culture, it is normal to call them by their first name:

Here in the UK (and I suppose it's the same throughout Europe, and I know it's the same in Australia), "Professor" is actually a high ranking instructor, like a chair or a director. So a regular American "Professor" would not actually be called a Professor over here. But it seems as though first names are the norm here--a weird concept for Americans, but nothing out of the ordinary for Europeans.

http://successfulacademic.typepad.com/s ... fesso.html

[purplepepper]

I actually had a professor who signed his/her name "Prof. X" I always chuckled a bit when I read it. I think profs sign their initials or their first names becuase, yes, its strange signing your own name as prof. X.

I went to school in the UK for my masters. And yes, the title professor is only for very highly distinguished individuals. I always called my profs by their first name if I worked closely with them, and if not by "Dr. X"

I do stand by what I said earier though, unless you have met a prof in person and receive explicit permission to call them by their first name before you meet, call them by Dr. or Prof. in any emails or correspondences over the phone.

[HelloFeminists]

Always take the hint from them - however they sign their email is how you should address them. The exception is when it's clearly part of an automatic signature that goes on all their correspondence ( i.e. Bob Smith, Position, Department, School, contact details). But however they end the actual text (Regards/Cheers/Best, Mary/Dr Jones) is the way they expect you to address them.

Yep. Take the cue from them. I try to use first names as soon as it seems like they're ok with that, but then, I go to a private liberal arts college where professors actually interact with us and form quite personable relationships that border on friendship, so I haven't really had to deal with people who have huge egos and refuse to be called by their actual mortal names