Dealing with Unprofessional Student Emails

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

I think you're overreacting massively. "Professional e-mail etiquette"? Give me a break.

Massively? Is that how you got such a high GRE score? I think having "professional e-mail etiquette" should be common sense in the education and business world and in any situation where you're e-mailing anyone you don't know personally. Nothing over the top. Just the basic: 

 

Mr./Mrs.//Dr. So-and-so,

Bla bla bla bla bla. 

Thank you, 

**Insert your name here**

[hashslinger]

I think you're overreacting massively. "Professional e-mail etiquette"? Give me a break.

You ought to brush up on your etiquette, actually. The philosophy job market is particularly brutal, and arrogant assholes need not apply.

[Loric]

To succeed in life, the workplace, academia.. you need to be 2 of 3 things..

 

Good. Fast. Nice.

 

You can be good and fast. You can be fast and nice. You can be nice and good.

 

You cannot be good, fast, and nice.

 

He appears to be good and is probably fast. He doesn't have to be nice.

[DHumeDominates]

Massively? Is that how you got such a high GRE score? I think having "professional e-mail etiquette" should be common sense in the education and business world and in any situation where you're e-mailing anyone you don't know personally. Nothing over the top. Just the basic: 

 

Mr./Mrs.//Dr. So-and-so,

Bla bla bla bla bla. 

Thank you, 

**Insert your name here**

 

Whatever, Chomsky. I basically agree. I myself more or less follow the basic format you've provided here. The point I was trying to make is that failing to follow that format isn't really grounds for calling the "perpetrator" out. In general, I think it's a good idea to disrupt the power imbalance between professors and students in order to make students feel more comfortable speaking their minds, thinking for themselves, etc. Censuring students for not saying "please" and "thank you," as if they were one's own children, is precisely not the way to to that.

 

You ought to brush up on your etiquette, actually. The philosophy job market is particularly brutal, and arrogant assholes need not apply.

 

I suggest that perhaps the students who write the allegedly disrespectful e-mails may well not deserve outright condemnation and you call me an "arrogant asshole." This is sad. Am I not permitted to disagree strongly with what someone says on GradCafe? Also, thanks for the tip regarding the philosophy job market. Until that post, I was utterly ignorant of how cutthroat it can be.

[ChocoLatte]

We (as I am not instructor of record, there are two of us TAs and the professor) include in the syllabus at the beginning of the semester a section that explains, with and example, how to send a professional email with salutations, etc.  It is then stated that, if the guidelines aren't followed, the TAs/prof. are not required to reply and most likely won't reply.  This is also where the syllabus outlines reasonable email response times.

 

The prof. also brings this up during the first week of classes to further stress the importance.  We also follow our own guidelines through the semester to lead by example--no shortcuts for us, either!

 

It worked splendidly--though not all of the details were quite right (incorrect titles, misspelling names, a few typos or an occasion of chat-speak) the emails were always polite, included salutations, and contained a proper closing.  For the size of the university, it's unlikely that any students will receive much guidance for professional behavior and writing ability, which is unfortunate; the department I'm in is aware of the administrative reasons why we can't tackle those on top of our actual subjects, but they still put effort in where they can.  Requiring polished email correspondence is a good way to introduce first-years to a higher expectation of professionalism, since many are fresh out of high school.

[TakeruK]

We (as I am not instructor of record, there are two of us TAs and the professor) include in the syllabus at the beginning of the semester a section that explains, with and example, how to send a professional email with salutations, etc.  It is then stated that, if the guidelines aren't followed, the TAs/prof. are not required to reply and most likely won't reply.  This is also where the syllabus outlines reasonable email response times.

 

This is one way to do it. But in most the courses I TA, I usually say that I am not required to reply to any emails at all, no matter how nicely formatted. The only surefire way to reach me is to find me during scheduled office hours, or in lectures/labs where I am scheduled to work as a TA. That is, I am not their TA whenever they can reach me. I try to emphasize that TAing their course is one of many roles I do so while I will always make the attempt to respond to an email or if they find me in my office and I'm not busy, I'll be glad to try to help. 

 

I don't give any instructions on how to write an email because I don't think it's useful to require a student to have an opening/closing, although it would be nice. Since I don't make any promises on how I respond to email, I don't make any requirements outside of the standard University code of conduct (i.e no offensive language etc.) But I don't really think it's worth my time to teach my students how to write and opening/closing. I rather spend my time teaching them about angular momentum or something. I also would rather have my student be free to ask a question about angular momentum instead of worrying about the format of their question. 

 

I think that the formality of email should depend on the context. I want my interactions between my student and I to be informal, not the way one would address a professor and definitely not the way one would write to a professional elsewhere in the workforce. I expect that my students have already learned to write professional emails so that if they ever write to Prof X. at Different University Y to ask about a summer lab position, then they better be writing top notch professional emails! As long as they are polite to me, I'm happy. It's their own fault if they think they can address someone they don't know at another school the same way as they address me (i.e. someone who is their advocate for the course they are taking). 

[hashslinger]

Whatever, Chomsky. I basically agree. I myself more or less follow the basic format you've provided here. The point I was trying to make is that failing to follow that format isn't really grounds for calling the "perpetrator" out. In general, I think it's a good idea to disrupt the power imbalance between professors and students in order to make students feel more comfortable speaking their minds, thinking for themselves, etc. Censuring students for not saying "please" and "thank you," as if they were one's own children, is precisely not the way to to that.

 

 

I suggest that perhaps the students who write the allegedly disrespectful e-mails may well not deserve outright condemnation and you call me an "arrogant asshole." This is sad. Am I not permitted to disagree strongly with what someone says on GradCafe? Also, thanks for the tip regarding the philosophy job market. Until that post, I was utterly ignorant of how cutthroat it can be.

 

No one here said that they punish or "censure" students who are rude or disrespectful--just that they don't owe them a reply. Some wrote that they feel the need to gently correct students' behavior--something that hardly qualifies as "censure" or manipulation or taking advantage of a power imbalance. (In truth, one could easily say that enabling students to conduct themselves unprofessionally is actually doing them a greater disservice, since the post-school world isn't as forgiving.)

 

Similarly, you are not owed a kind or gracious response when you write a snarky post. That's not to say that you aren't permitted to "disagree strongly" with whatever anyone says. Disagree away. No one's deleted your posts here. But reacting with passive-aggressive indignation when you get responses you don't like just makes you look foolish.

 

You're welcome on the job market tip, by the way.

[DHumeDominates]

No one here said that they punish or "censure" students who are rude or disrespectful--just that they don't owe them a reply. Some wrote that they feel the need to gently correct students' behavior--something that hardly qualifies as "censure" or manipulation or taking advantage of a power imbalance. (In truth, one could easily say that enabling students to conduct themselves unprofessionally is actually doing them a greater disservice, since the post-school world isn't as forgiving.)

 

Similarly, you are not owed a kind or gracious response when you write a snarky post. That's not to say that you aren't permitted to "disagree strongly" with whatever anyone says. Disagree away. No one's deleted your posts here. But reacting with passive-aggressive indignation when you get responses you don't like just makes you look foolish.

 

You're welcome on the job market tip, by the way.

 

Yeah, so they owe them a reply. It is disrespectful to refuse to respond to an e-mail because it doesn't include words like "please" and "thank you." Let me add that this is especially true in the context at issue. The student knows the professor; the professor knows the student. If the exchange were between complete strangers, you would (perhaps) have a (slightly) stronger case.

 

What I said hardly qualifies as "passive-aggressive indignation." (Seriously? Do you even care whether your criticisms are on the mark?) On the other hand, lambasting me as an "arrogant asshole" for dissenting forcefully from the general consensus on this forum is, frankly, very disturbing.

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

Yeah, so they owe them a reply. It is disrespectful to refuse to respond to an e-mail because it doesn't include words like "please" and "thank you." Let me add that this is especially true in the context at issue. The student knows the professor; the professor knows the student. If the exchange were between complete strangers, you would (perhaps) have a (slightly) stronger case.

 

What I said hardly qualifies as "passive-aggressive indignation." (Seriously? Do you even care whether your criticisms are on the mark?) On the other hand, lambasting me as an "arrogant asshole" for dissenting forcefully from the general consensus on this forum is, frankly, very disturbing.

I think it depends how well you know the person. Sometimes I feel awkward sending "professional" emails to a professor I drink beer with regularly. I agree it's less of a big deal for, say, a grad student sending a quick email to a professor they work closely with. You mentioned there might be a stronger case exchanging emails between complete strangers. Well, I think that's what this is. If an undergrad is taking a class, let's say a lab, with a TA, the TA may not know who any of them are. Some labs (in computer science, at least) the TA comes in, tells the students to log in and do the assignment, and when they finish they leave. The TA almost never communicates with the students. If he/she gets an email from John Doe, he's gonna have no idea who it is. 

[DHumeDominates]

I think it depends how well you know the person. Sometimes I feel awkward sending "professional" emails to a professor I drink beer with regularly. I agree it's less of a big deal for, say, a grad student sending a quick email to a professor they work closely with. You mentioned there might be a stronger case exchanging emails between complete strangers. Well, I think that's what this is. If an undergrad is taking a class, let's say a lab, with a TA, the TA may not know who any of them are. Some labs (in computer science, at least) the TA comes in, tells the students to log in and do the assignment, and when they finish they leave. The TA almost never communicates with the students. If he/she gets an email from John Doe, he's gonna have no idea who it is. 

 

Right. I can see this. In addition, I appreciate the cordiality of your post.

[fuzzylogician]

Yeah, so they owe them a reply. It is disrespectful to refuse to respond to an e-mail because it doesn't include words like "please" and "thank you." Let me add that this is especially true in the context at issue. The student knows the professor; the professor knows the student. If the exchange were between complete strangers, you would (perhaps) have a (slightly) stronger case.

 

My guess is some people are talking past each other because we are imagining different things as "unprofessional" or "disrespectful." If an email is lacking a "please" or "thank you" and is otherwise polite, I probably won't have a problem with it. However, if it's "hey did i miss anything today?," ignoring it is the nicest thing I might do.

 

This discussion reminds me of this recent post: http://www.academomia.com/2013/12/for-future-reference.html: inappropriate emails from the perspective of a professor.

[Loric]

"Hey did I miss anythign today?"

 

"Class.

XOXOX

-Prof Loric"

[Karajan]

I got one this semester that went something like this: 

 

"Hi, 

Here is my draft.  Get this back to me today with comments." 

[Loric]

I got one this semester that went something like this: 

 

"Hi, 

Here is my draft.  Get this back to me today with comments." 

 

"Dear Student,

 

Here is the comment you requested: I have better things to do.

 

-Prof Loric"

[spectastic]

attach this to the end of each email.

 

[Human_]

I think you're overreacting massively. "Professional e-mail etiquette"? Give me a break.

 

 +1

 

Email decorum makes no sense. It's what happens when old people have to adopt a new technology. I don't see any point in manually writing a signature when the receiver can clearly see who sent the email before even opening the email. An auto-signature with name/title/information works well to abide by decorum without conforming to awkward email protocol. I hope these inane conventions change when a more tech-savvy generation comes to power.

 

 

I have thus far had the advantage of only TAing in Canada, where there is generally a bit more of a baseline level of respect and decorum (and decent spelling and grammar). As I will be heading back to the States, I suppose I will have to readjust to a less polished undergrad student body.

 

I definitely like the idea of mandating protocols up front, as well as letting them know you are not obligated to reply instantly to any query. Some of my peers have set online office hours, that they will only reply at certain times. I like that idea, particularly when ones student head-count exceeds a couple dozen. 

 

I myself favor tolerating one single digression, along with a polite but firm reminder of acceptable procedures. It might be advisable to write up a standard reminder that one can cut-and-paste into emails. Or maybe a blog entry one can send them the link to.

 

Once a student shows they are conscientious and/or dedicated to their studies, I tolerate a bit of informality, but that has to be earned. 

 

Generalize more plz. 

 

You're a TA, yet you act like you've won a nobel prize. Try removing the stick up your ass.

 

For all things: USA > Canada

 

[VioletAyame]

+1

Email decorum makes no sense. It's what happens when old people have to adopt a new technology. I don't see any point in manually writing a signature when the receiver can clearly see who sent the email before even opening the email. An auto-signature with name/title/information works well to abide by decorum without conforming to awkward email protocol. I hope these inane conventions change when a more tech-savvy generation comes to power.

Generalize more plz.

You're a TA, yet you act like you've won a nobel prize. Try removing the stick up your ass.

For all things: USA > Canada

I'm gonna leave the USA vs Canada thing for people with more relevant experience to respond, for I am neither American nor Canadian. By the way, there's already a post from a Canadian right after the post you're quoting cautioning against generalizing. Also, isn't it hypocritical of you to call out other people on generalizing?

I just want to point out that in traditional, before-technology correspondence, we need to write our names and addresses on the envelopes, then sign our names once again at the end of the letter. So using yournlogic it was just as useless, but we did it anyway. However, if you look at the signature and salutation not as a literal mean to know from whom the letter comes but as a display of politeness and respect, then no it's not useless. Non-essential yes, and then isn't all decorum?

[Mamahope]

I would hope that my role as both a TA and professor (as I teach at a community college part time) includes teaching students how to properly engage with others. I'm always shocked at the poor level of customer service I receive in almost every industry (and having worked pre-university in customer service, this is a big issue for me.) As much as I would love to believe that every one of my students will go on to graduate school, become authors, teachers, or CEOs, the reality is that many of them will end up in one way or another, working with people. If I can take a moment out of my day to teach them how to 1) properly address someone, 2) properly format an e-mail, or 3) learn some patience when it comes to technology, then I have at least succeeded at something. 

[rising_star]

Email decorum makes no sense. It's what happens when old people have to adopt a new technology. I don't see any point in manually writing a signature when the receiver can clearly see who sent the email before even opening the email. An auto-signature with name/title/information works well to abide by decorum without conforming to awkward email protocol. I hope these inane conventions change when a more tech-savvy generation comes to power.

You assume that the email actually says who it's from. I have lots of students that email me from the personal (not school issued) email accounts, which often means they don't include their name or any part of it. I don't know who is emailing me from "skatergirl13" if they don't include their name. I even have this problem with school emails because my university has a very odd assigned system that involves students initials plus other numbers and letters. When you have multiple students with the initials JAS, for example, how am I to know whether that's James Smith, Joe Schmoe, or Javier Sanchez that is sending the email?

 

I would hope that my role as both a TA and professor (as I teach at a community college part time) includes teaching students how to properly engage with others. I'm always shocked at the poor level of customer service I receive in almost every industry (and having worked pre-university in customer service, this is a big issue for me.) As much as I would love to believe that every one of my students will go on to graduate school, become authors, teachers, or CEOs, the reality is that many of them will end up in one way or another, working with people. If I can take a moment out of my day to teach them how to 1) properly address someone, 2) properly format an e-mail, or 3) learn some patience when it comes to technology, then I have at least succeeded at something. 

I agree with this. It's not enough to assume that they use more formal correspondence when writing someone about a job. You have to teach them what you want them to know, rather than assume that someone else will do it or that it's already been learned.

[Karajan]

I'm debating about whether to include a clause about professional correspondence in my syllabus for next semester.  Some of you guys have already mentioned that you do this and/or make a statement about etiquette at the start of the semester -- For those of you who do either one or both of these things, what do you say/write? 

[TakeruK]

I'm debating about whether to include a clause about professional correspondence in my syllabus for next semester.  Some of you guys have already mentioned that you do this and/or make a statement about etiquette at the start of the semester -- For those of you who do either one or both of these things, what do you say/write? 

 

In my field, graduate students usually only act as TAs and have little responsibility in making course policies so we don't usually write the course syllabus. We have a set of responsibilities that vary form place to place and class to class. Usually, the syllabus says something like "The course TA(s) will be X and he/she will let you know about [....] and how to contact him/her." where [....] are the things we are responsible for. In most cases for me, [....] is helping students understand the material through office hours and/or helping them answer questions in labs or tutorials as well as grading assignments.

 

Usually, the prof goes over the syllabus on the first day and when they get to this part, they let the TAs speak about their responsibilities and expectations. In the past, I have handed out a single piece of paper detailing what I expect from my students when they hand in homework. These expectations cover basic things like "must have name on all pieces of paper" and "hand in your own work even if you work in pairs in the lab" and "please email me your computer code instead of printing it out, but hand in hard copies of any plots you make" and "please write words to explain what you are doing instead of just a page full of equations" and "I won't deduct points for spelling/grammar/legibility in your assignments unless I cannot understand it" and a basic marking rubric if I'm going to be marking a lot of assignments in the same way. I also provide my contact information (Office location, office hours, and email address). I don't usually write any rules for correspondence. I go over this sheet with the students to make sure they understand their expectations. I usually go over it again, briefly, just before the first assignment is due.

 

I usually only verbally tell the students something like the following. "The only way you can be sure to reach me is to speak to me during office hours or during the tutorial and/or lab sessions. If you cannot make office hours, please speak to me during tutorial or lab sessions to schedule an appointment. You can also email me to schedule an appointment but I can't promise I can make it in time for your assignment due date. You can also drop by my office and I will help you only if I am not busy." However, I am noticing growing expectations from students that TAs should be there to help them at any possible time, so I might make this part of my normal written handout in the future.

 

In the past, I have always worked as a TA where my contract stipulates a limit on the amount of hours I can work on my TAship so if an individual student asks me why I can't help them (or the class) more, I gently explain that I have a lot of other responsibilities and I can only provide so much TA support to this course. If I felt that the students are not getting much less support than they need to do well in the class, or if I get the sense that the students feel that they need more support, I would petition the department to assign more TA hours (either extending current TA contracts or assigning additional TAs) to the course and also encourage my students to do the same. Sometimes, enrollment changes faster than TA scheduling fluctuations so the TA to student ratio may be very off in some years. Obviously, doing this sooner rather than later would be best and I would do my best to get changes made to the current semester but at the same time, the department probably already fully budgeted all of their TA resources at the beginning of the year. I will also do whatever I can to reschedule my own work hours to provide the assistance required (e.g. spend less time grading, more office hours, or talk to the prof teaching the class to see if we could reduce my TA work on grading by reducing the number of questions assigned or reducing the number of assignments or maybe the prof would want to grade one or two problem sets themselves to free up more time for me to spend "face to face" helping students).

[rising_star]

This is what I had in my fall syllabus:

 

The fastest and best way to contact me with a question is by e-mail. Remember that email is a form of correspondence with your instructor and that you should be respectful and use appropriate language (i.e., no internet speak like “when r yr ofc hrs”). I will respond within 48 hours. If you don’t hear from me by then, please resend your email or talk to me before or after class.

[Loric]

Is there a difference between a graduate assistant and a TA? They seem like the same thing but my title was only ever "GA" and then outside of other class labs in the course I co-taught I was the "Co-Instructor."

 

Regardless, everyone knew my policy was "I'll get back to you if I have time, if I care, if it's important, when I feel like it." That wasn't on paper, it was just written in the look on my face.

 

And no one questioned it and I only occasionally got emails, mostly about "I wont be in class, can you tell me what the homework project assigned was."

Edited December 29, 2013 by Loric

[AdjunctOverload]

Good luck.  This type of issue never ends, and it seems to be getting worse over the years.  It happens at every level (tech, CC, undergrad, graduate, etc.).

 

If you want to head things off at the pass, set up requirements for email communication and etiquette in your syllabus AND cover that information in class on the first day or two. I do this for every class -- even fully online courses because net etiquette is even more important.

 

If you can't/don't want to put it in the syllabus, you are well within your rights to send gentle reminders to students that don't follow appropriate email etiquette.  I even know some colleagues that respond but withhold answers to student questions until they receive an appropriate email.

 

If you receive an abusive email -- which I get every other semester or so from a student that failed the course -- you can always decide not to respond.  Not responding can send issues up the ladder, though.  If students are verbally abusive to me over email (usually happens at the 2-year level where the 30+ year old student should definitely know better), I email back a scathing response that usually ends up getting the student to apologize.  If the email is bad enough or I feel I'm being threatened, I send it to my dean for the student's record or for administration to follow up on.

[danieleWrites]

Email decorum makes no sense. It's what happens when old people have to adopt a new technology. I don't see any point in manually writing a signature when the receiver can clearly see who sent the email before even opening the email. An auto-signature with name/title/information works well to abide by decorum without conforming to awkward email protocol. I hope these inane conventions change when a more tech-savvy generation comes to power.

ur lyk sooooooooooo rgt brosef y shud ne1 uze email dec0rm 2 wrt a pr0f itz no bigD 2 rit lyk u tak r txt cuz decorum iz wht 0ld p33ps do whn dey try 2 b cool

FYI: Digital Natives are worse at being "tech-savvy" than Gen-X. I have to teach too many of them how to use a UI that doesn't resemble the home screen of their smart phones. One (not the CompSci guy, either) knew what rooting an Android meant. None of them knew how to do more with Word than open, type, and save in the native format. Many of them don't know what the word "browser" means, unless its referred to by its app name (firefox, chrome, etc.) so most of them fail hard with unfriendly apps like Blackboard and then whine and cry about it. Tech-savvy my shiny hiney. Digital Natives will use devices first, and will expect instant access to anything. Just because they're more comfortable reading Moby Dick on an app than in a book doesn't mean that they know jack about how to actually work tech better than us old farts.

Get off my lawn! Damn whippersnappers. Back in my day, I actually had to use paper. And share a single phone line with everyone in the house. And it was attached to a wall in the kitchen. And nobody could text. And no Call of Duty! Not even the first one. And we had to walk to school uphill, both ways, in blizzards, and beat off starving bears with our trapper keepers and pencils. It's that yellow thing with the point on one end and pink rubbery thing on the other. It's a stylus for paper. Really.