#EDUC 1300: First Year Experience

Overall

• Only use your student email! This is related to FERPA (legal things). Also, your gmail or whatever might go into spam.
• Check your instructor's syllabus for their contact preferences: some want to be emailed directly, some only want you to contact them through D2L, etc.
  • Check the syllabus, too, to see if your question has already been covered!
• Be proactive! For example: Not going to make an assignment deadline? Email before the due date, not after.

What to Write

• Subject line: do have one. Be descriptive. "Help!" isn't a good subject line. "Can't submit assignment to dropbox" is better.
• Greetings! "Hello, Prof. Lastname" or even "Dear Prof. Lastname" are great choices.
  • Bad choices are skipping this entirely (at least the first email) or "hey, [question]."
• Mention what class you're in -- it's very helpful! If you don't know what your section number is, at least state that you're in the MW 10 a.m. class.
• Provide explanation. This goes along with being proactive.
  • Is something broken? What is it, and what have you tried so far to fix it or get around it? "I rebooted my computer and it still didn't work, so I've submitted a ticket to OTS and I'm working with them to get my assignment in. I just wanted to give you a heads up."
  • Is there something going on in your life that's causing problems? You don't need to provide every gruesome detail, but at least mention "health issues" or "a death in the family" or "scheduling issues with work." Contact as soon as you're aware of the issue.
  • Are you unsure of assignment guidelines? First, check the syllabus, class schedule, D2L, announcements... and say so. Be specific in your questions. "You said to cite our sources but I didn't see a particular style to use. Are we using MLA?"
    • Bad choice: "I'm confused about the Career Exploration assignment. What am I supposed to do again?"

Following Up

• Be patient and give your prof a chance to reply before hitting them up again. Something urgent for you may not be urgent for anyone else.
  • Emailed at 10 p.m.? Emailing again at 10:20, 10:45, and 11 p.m. isn't going to make them see your question any faster, respond any quicker, or feel inclined to do you any favors.
• Check the syllabus to see if your instructor has defined expectations for replies.
  • If they say they don't check email on weekends, don't expect a reply until Monday at the earliest if you emailed them on Friday.
  • If they say give them 24 hours to reply, do that! Don't follow up until at least 24 hours has passed.