What do MA students call their professors?

[boomah]

I know that undergrads usually say "Dr. Smith" or "Professor Smith," and PhD students normally call professors by their first names, but where do MA students fall in?

[juilletmercredi]

Depends on the program, but I would say generally MA students are grad students too, and are treated similarly to the PhD students - so if the department is first-name basis, then the MA students use the first name.

 

In one of my departments the master's students are a mish-mosh; some refer to professors as "Prof X" and others use "John."  In my other department, post-baccalaureate students usually call professors by their first names...but then here even some undergraduates do, because that's just my department's vibe.

[TakeruK]

I think it just depends on the culture of where you are and your department. At my undergrad program, once you get past 2nd year, your courses are like 4-5 people per class and everyone is on a first name basis. For some profs, we would forget their last name since we never saw (except for on the course syllabus on day one) and no one would ever use it. I would group Masters students with PhD students--whatever they do, Masters students would generally do too, from what I've seen.

[bsharpe269]

Both MA and phd students at my school say Dr. ... Or Professor ...

[PhDerp]

In one of my departments the master's students are a mish-mosh; some refer to professors as "Prof X" and others use "John."

Xavier*

[Amelorn]

I generally referred to them as "Exalted Magus".  

[pears]

Dr. [Zoidberg] (where "Zoidberg" is their surname as it's listed on the dept. site) until I know them pretty well & they recognize me immediately, & first-name basis after that. My department is pretty informal, though.

[The Wayfarer]

In my MA program we referred to our professors by their last name only (sans 'Dr.')...

[RunnerGrad]

Most of the professors at my current institution are referred to by their first names, by both Masters and PhD students.  Also by senior undergraduates, if they get to know them well (i.e. the prof that I did summer research with, and the prof who supervised my honours thesis, both told me to refer to them by their first name).

[dhg12]

I obviously have no experience with this... but my plan is to play it by ear. I always err on the side of formality anyway, so I am probably going to refer to them as Dr. Surname until I am told otherwise

[bakalamba]

If you get to know faculty well but don't want to use their first names, try calling them "Proff" or "Doc" and see what happens.

 

Or like my friends who TA or teach at the University level, just say "Hey!" and follow it with your question or comment.

Edited March 26, 2014 by rbamattre

[roguesenna]

I know that undergrads usually say "Dr. Smith" or "Professor Smith," and PhD students normally call professors by their first names, but where do MA students fall in?

 

In theatre, you spend a LOOOOOOOT of time with your profs. I've been calling profs in my department by their first names pretty much since the first day of undergrad. The profs insisted and when some of them are your directors -- or even your acting partners! -- it gets a bit ridiculous to always be referring to them with honorifics. outside of the department I called familiar professors by their first name and others by "professor" or "dr." if they had a PhD.

[maelia8]

At my undergrad institution, juniors and seniors who had taken class with a prof before usually referred to them by first name (the cue to do this would usually come from a professor signing an email with their first name). I did go to quite a small school though, so that might have something to do with it. At my grad school's visit day, all of the current grad students (in the Ph.D. program) referred to their doctoral advisors by first name.

[kyjin]

Depends on the department. I was only allowed to call my advisor at my MA by his first name after I passed my thesis defense. At that point I was no longer his student, but simply another colleague. At my current institution as a PhD student, there are a handful of professors who I call by their first name (mainly younger profs), but my advisor is still Dr. (Last name). 

[WriteAndKnit]

Doctor/Professor/Mr./Ms. until told otherwise; if I'm given approval to use their first name, only during conversations with them. Especially when undergrads are around -- "I have an advising meeting with Dr. Einstein" is much more professional than "I'm getting coffee with Al, we're going to talk about my research".

[victorydance]

I also refer to every professor as "professor [last name]" until asked to call them something else. It's a simple rule that avoids any confusion or awkwardness from ever happening.

Edited May 28, 2014 by HopefulComparativist

[TakeruK]

Doctor/Professor/Mr./Ms. until told otherwise; if I'm given approval to use their first name, only during conversations with them. Especially when undergrads are around -- "I have an advising meeting with Dr. Einstein" is much more professional than "I'm getting coffee with Al, we're going to talk about my research".

 

I agree that this situation is often more tricky than when it's one-on-one with you and the professor. At my program though, I've learned that the culture is to still use first names in this case because undergrads call professors by their first names and professors will refer to other professors to their undergrads by first name. Professors will also refer to the dept chair and the president of the university by first name in front of both undergrad and graduate students so cues like this are useful for navigating awkward situations. 

[MakeYourself]

I think it's funny calling people Dr. so and so. I've always called them by their first names.