How do you email a professor respectfully?

Unless explicitly instructed to do so, never address your professor by their first name. Begin your email with a greeting addressing the professor politely, such as "Dear Professor Smith" or "Hi Dr. Jones". After your message, end with a closing and signature, such as "Sincerely, YourName" or "Thanks, YourName".

What should you avoid when emailing a professor?

Avoid text talk and personal references . Your professor is not likely to LOL at jokes, witty observations or crude remarks. Punctuation and grammar rules apply! And always address your instructor as Professor or Doctor.

What sort of email etiquette are you aware of, especially when addressing your instructors?

Always use a formal address , such as Professor, Dr., Ms., or Mr. It's important to address the person you're emailing by name. If you don't remember your professor's name, check your syllabus or look on SOAR. Never use your professor's first name unless you've been specifically told that it's okay.

Etiquette tips for emailing your professors (2024)

A quick run down of what I think is most useful and important:

Write in grammatically correct English.I am not fluent in text-speak. I ignore occasional typos, I don't mind the occasional emoticon ;), and I don't want spend a lot of time or energy scrutinizing your emails, but the minimum requirement is that you communicate effectively. Moreover, your emails reflect your intelligence and your professionalism. Get in the habit of writing grammatically correct complete sentences now because it will help you in your career.
Be respectful.When you write me or your teaching assistants, you are usually asking for something. It is therefore in your best interest to be respectful. Some advice from my mother: If you can't say anything nice, don't put it in writing. Being respectful also includes using salutations and appropriate titles.
See Also
Emailing a Professor - Academic Advising Talking to Teachers: What Every Parent Needs to Know Hello, Teacher!What is the Difference Between a Teacher and a Professor? – Education Degree

For example:

Dear Dr. Nattrass -
I was wondering if you will be posting homework 7 soon. I would like to work ahead over the break.
thank you
Sam Student
Most of the people teaching your classes have doctorates. The title "Dr." is therefore a good default. You will very seldom offend someone who does not have a doctorate by addressing them as "Dr." "Professor" is another reasonable alternative. You should only address your college instructors as "Mr.", "Miss", "Ms.", or "Mrs." or by their first names if they have introduced themselves as such. Do not use any of these titles ("Mr.", "Miss", "Ms.", or "Mrs.") for me - I find all of them disrespectful, each for different reasons. Generally you can address teaching assistants using their first names. If you aren't sure how you should address one of your instructors, ask.

It is also generally a good idea to include a salutation ("Dear") and end with something like “thanks”. I'm OK with emails that start with “hey” or “hi”, but these are less formal and some professors find them too informal. “Thanks” or “thank you” is usually appropriate because you are usually asking for something. “Sincerely” sounds a little too formal for an email to a professor for my taste. “Cheers” and “Greetings” are also common.
Please do not send me “thank you” emails for routine things like answering questions about the class. If you write me a separate thank you email, I assume that this new email is more work that I have to do and it takes me time to sort it to figure out if I need to respond to it.
See Also
Ms. vs. Mrs. vs. Miss – The Correct Way to Use Each
Be concise and only ask questions you can't answer yourself. It is not uncommon for me to get 30-40 emails/day about class and particularly in the first couple weeks, I may write up to 50 individual replies. It is rare that any subject warrants an email longer than a short paragraph, particularly because all questions about the material should be directed to the discussion forum. Many questions are already answered on the syllabus. Of course the people who didn't read the syllabus probably aren't reading this either. Also the more time I spend answering questions that didn't need to be asked, the less time I spend answering substantive questions about physics. I do not need detailed information on your medical condition if you need to be absent from class for medical reasons.

Your goal in writing an email to me should be to write an email that makes me think about what you are saying, not how you said it. I should not have to spend a long time trying to decipher your email and you do not want your email to end up in my hall of shame for outrageous student communications.

Emails are forever. Anything you put in email can be forwarded to someone else. While most communications between students and professors are protected by FERPA and therefore not available to the public, I can and frequently do forward emails from students to teaching assistants and sometimes other faculty in order to coordinate the class. In the case of behavior that violates the student code of conduct, emails may provide evidence of such behavior. Do not write emails in anger.Even though student/professor communications have some protection under FERPA, most email provided by employers is not private and employers frequently monitor employee email. It is therefore a good idea to get into good habits now.

Etiquette tips for emailing your professors (2024)

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