TUN sits down with Vicki Lavendol, an instructor at the University of Central Florida\u2019s Rosen College of Hospitality Management, to discuss the dos and don\u2019ts when emailing professors and teachers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
TUN: Professor Lavendol, thanks so much for taking the time to speak with us today. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n LAVENDOL: Thank you for the opportunity to join you today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”BAdeqsrl” upload-date=”2023-11-03T15:27:29.000Z” name=”Email Etiquette When Writing to Professors and Teachers” description=”TUN sits down with Vicki Lavendol, an instructor at the University of Central Florida\u2019s Rosen College of Hospitality Management, to discuss the dos and don\u2019ts when emailing professors and teachers.” player-type=”static”]<\/p>\n\n\n\n When I write to students, I don’t say, \u201cDear Tom and Sally.\u201d So, I don’t ever expect a \u201cdear.\u201d I sometimes get a \u201cdear,\u201d but I’m perfectly fine either way. It can be, \u201cHello Professor Lavendol.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n I do expect some sort of a greeting. I’m happy if it’s just \u201cProfessor Lavendol.\u201d It doesn’t matter one way or the other. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Again, these are my perspectives as a faculty member. I’m sure other faculty may have different ones, but I’m happy to share from my perspective as a communications professor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDr.\u201d always \u2013 anybody who has earned a doctorate degree deserves to be honored and respected with that every single time. So, it’s always going to be \u201cDr.\u201d and her last name. Never use \u201cMs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I don\u2019t think \u201cProfessor\u201d is objectionable to anyone. In our conversation, I would be \u201cProfessor Lavendol\u201d because I have not earned a doctorate. But, I would absolutely address anyone who has earned a doctorate as \u201cDr.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n My perspective is that either one is fine. Sometimes that’s based on how much time you have, the timing of the message and the content of the message as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When I’m interacting with students, we’re typically dealing with questions about the course or an assignment. So, usually, we just go to that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I do think that somewhere in the message you should be cordial. Either \u201cthank you,\u201d \u201chave a nice day,\u201d \u201cgood afternoon,\u201d \u201cgood morning\u201d or a greeting like that is fine and welcome. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But, it\u2019s not necessary to comment on, \u201cDid you see the game this weekend?\u201d or \u201cDid you notice how sunny it was at the beach?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n If there’s been a circumstance where the student was ill, then I might say, \u201cI hope that you’re feeling better\u201d at some point in the message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s not a negative in any way, but nor is it expected to have anything other than the purpose of the communication. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There’s no reason to include \u201cmy name is\u201d because your name is in the email, the subject line and in the signature. So there’s no reason for a line that says, “my name is.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n I think the goal is to have a meaningful conversation and to minimize the back-and-forth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Rather than saying, \u201cI’d like to meet with you sometime,\u201d write, \u201cI’d like to meet with you during your office hours Tuesday. Are you available at 2 p.m.?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n I would be as specific as you could be because the beauty of email (and the challenge of email) is that we can respond whenever we are able. Even if we’re on different schedules, we can get each other’s messages. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But, you also want to minimize the lag between emails. If I’m in four hours of classes or you’re eight hours at work, you want to be clear. So, I would say you should put in as much detail as you need to meet your goals and objectives of the conversation so that you can minimize back-and-forth. And there may be some back-and-forth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And I would be remiss if I didn’t insert here that email is not the best tool for every single conversation of all time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sometimes, it may be that we say, “You know what, it sounds like this is a little more complicated and maybe we should schedule a call or a Zoom or a chat, or maybe we could manage this some other way to make sure that we get all your questions answered or that you get what you need from the conversation.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yeah. I think you don’t want the casualness that students sometimes use with friends. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For instance, I messaged a student one time and got back a, “Oh, I didn’t know what day it was.” And they just went into questions about the comment that I had with no greeting, with no acknowledgement, with no signature close, with none of that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I also have received emails with sentences in all capital letters when a student was upset about something or another. So if you’re upset, think about it for a moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We’ve all had times when we’ve been upset and we’ve responded before we really thought through our response. This has happened to me, and I’ve had to go back and say, \u201cI apologize. That response was not as gracious as it should have been. I was trying to be brief.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Again, it’s okay for us to make mistakes in our communications. It’s also okay to apologize for that. I’ve had that happen with students both ways as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Again, the thing is not to be so casual. I do think there would be enough respect represented by using greetings and a signature close like, \u201cThank you for your time.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Most often, in our professional exchanges, we are asking for information or asking for clarification. So, I think that, most often, when we’ve had a conversation with another, we do close it with \u201cthank you.\u201d We’re thanking them for their time. We’re thanking them for the information. We’re thanking them for responding. I think \u201cthank you\u201d is 100 percent golden all of the time. I think you cannot go wrong with \u201cthank you.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Some people prefer \u201cbest\u201d or \u201cbest wishes,\u201d and that’s perfectly fine. But, if you need to say thank you for what’s happened, then \u201cthank you\u201d may be a part of that. I don’t think I’ve seen anything inappropriate in terms of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I’ve seen a lot of no close and no greeting and just the “What’s going on with this class?” or “What’s going on with this final or this assignment?” Didn’t make sense to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whenever there’s a timeline involved, you want to express that. For example, if somebody asks for a letter of recommendation, one of my follow-up questions is always going to be, \u201cWhen do you need it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s helpful to be thoughtful about what we\u2019re asking for and by when we\u2019re looking for a response. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Some professors say, \u201cI’ll respond to emails within so many hours or so many days or within a week.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n I don’t establish that. I try to get back as soon as I can. Sometimes things happen that keep us from that. Once in a while, things do get lost or never send. All those things happen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n An appropriate follow-up may sound like, \u201cI messaged you on Tuesday. This is the next Monday, and I just was hoping for clarification before I see you in class on Tuesday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n You never want to be disrespectful. But it’s fine to say, \u201cI’m not sure if you received my message, but I was hoping to clarify this before our class tomorrow.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Realistically, if it’s 20 minutes before our class, I may be in another class for the four hours before that. If it’s my teaching day, I may be in class all day. So, try to remember that it’s not just your schedule. Somebody who is teaching a class does not have access to respond, especially in the last 15 minutes before the class starts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I don’t have a problem with a late email. Again, maybe some professors established that, \u201cthese are the times that I’ll check and respond to emails.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n But, that’s one of the beauties of email. I can send it at my convenience, and you\u2019ll get it at your convenience. So, I don’t have a concern with that, unless it was 3 a.m and you need a response at that moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I also think it’s fine to say, \u201cI’m sending this now because I just got off work and I know that I probably won’t hear from you until the next day.\u201d That’s fine too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Again, be clear about what your expectations are and the timeline. I think that helps everybody. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Thanks again for taking the time to talk with us.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It was my pleasure. I hope this is helpful. The bottom line is to think like a professional. Part of the college experience is preparing you to be a successful professional in whatever your chosen field is. Communication is a really important part of that. So, if you think \u201cHow do I make sure I’m professional,\u201d that will serve you well when you leave campus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This interview has been edited for clarity. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" TUN sits down with Vicki Lavendol, an instructor at the University of Central Florida\u2019s Rosen College of Hospitality Management, to discuss the dos and don\u2019ts when emailing professors and teachers. TUN: Professor Lavendol, thanks so much for taking the time to speak with us today. LAVENDOL: Thank you for the opportunity to join you today. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":48600,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[661,613,586,664],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ace-college","category-student-resources","category-school-hacks","category-study-tips-school-hacks"],"aioseo_notices":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Email-Etiquette-to-Professors-And-Teachers.png",1280,720,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Email-Etiquette-to-Professors-And-Teachers-256x144.png",256,144,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Email-Etiquette-to-Professors-And-Teachers-300x169.png",300,169,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Email-Etiquette-to-Professors-And-Teachers.png",1280,720,false],"large":["https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Email-Etiquette-to-Professors-And-Teachers-1024x576.png",1024,576,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Email-Etiquette-to-Professors-And-Teachers.png",1280,720,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Email-Etiquette-to-Professors-And-Teachers.png",1280,720,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Jackson Schroeder","author_link":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/author\/jackson-schroeder\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"TUN sits down with Vicki Lavendol, an instructor at the University of Central Florida\u2019s Rosen College of Hospitality Management, to discuss the dos and don\u2019ts when emailing professors and teachers. TUN: Professor Lavendol, thanks so much for taking the time to speak with us today. LAVENDOL: Thank you for the opportunity to join you today.…","featured_media_src_url":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Email-Etiquette-to-Professors-And-Teachers-1024x576.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48404"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48404\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Let’s get started with the introduction portion of the email. How should students start off their emails to professors or teachers? Say, it’s a new instructor who they might not know yet. Should students stick to the formal \u201cdear\u201d? Is \u201chello\u201d or \u201chi\u201d okay to use? Where’s the line? <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Say your professor has a doctorate. When introducing yourself to that professor, should you use \u201cDr.\u201d beforehand? Or is it best to just kind of stay with \u201cprofessor?\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Moving on to the body of the email, how should students start off the body of their emails? Is it best to start with a meaningless nicety like \u201cI hope all is well\u201d or \u201cI hope you had a great weekend?\u201d Or, should students get straight to the point?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Do you have any tips on how students should let their professors or teachers know who they are? Should they state their names up front or not mention their name until the sign-off at the very end of the email?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
I want to talk about the content of the body of the email. Is it best to be brief there, or should you add a lot of detail and explanation?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
I now have to ask, are there any big do-nots? Are there certain phrases, words or maybe styles of writing that students should absolutely avoid when emailing their professors or teachers?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Building off of that, what are the most appropriate sign-offs? Are there any things that you should use? Are there things that you should avoid?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Let’s talk about follow-up emails. If a professor or teacher doesn’t respond within a certain time and the student needs an answer to a question, is it appropriate for that student to follow up? If so, how long should students wait? Do you have any advice on how they should go about constructing a follow-up email?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What is an appropriate time frame for students to send their emails? Can they send an email at 3 a.m., or is it best to keep it between that 9 a.m.-to-5 p.m. window? <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n