- Check if your question is answered in the syllabus.
- Make sure the subject is informative. “Exam” is much less useful as a subject line than “Econ 101 exam conflict”.
- Start with “Dear Prof. Jones,” skip two lines, and begin your first paragraph.
There is some confusion about the appropriate title (Mr/Dr/Prof) to use. Somebody with a PhD can be addressed as “Dr”. A professorship is a particular job that comes with the title “Professor”. Most, but not all, faculty should be called “Prof”. (That is, not all faculty are professors. There are different grades, just like there are Congressmen and Senators.) A quick check of somebody’s website should indicate whether they’re a professor or not. If not, it’s best to play it safe and be over-dressed instead of under-dressed.
Ideally everybody would be just be called by their first name. Unfortunately it doesn’t work like that. There are plenty of things that would be fine to say to somebody in a pub or on the street that would be very unprofessional to say in a classroom or during office hours. There is a different social dynamic there that professors/teachers must follow. Similarly, the student should be aware of this dynamic too, and go with “Dear Prof. Jones” instead of “Hi Mike”. - Don’t use txt spk ever. Typos are fine; asking “where is ur office?” is not.
- Don’t use smiley faces.
- Use paragraphs.
- In your first paragraph, explain why you are emailing, and what you want.
- Keep the email short. Almost 100% of emails can remain polite and express their point in two paragraphs.
- Sign off with something nice like “Kind regards” or “All the best”
- Before you click send, ask yourself “Am I being reasonable here?”
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