Emailing like a Bo$$: How to Email your Professor/Staff members
We’ve all been there. You need to email your professor, advisor, or another university affiliate (adult) and you need them to take you seriously; where do you begin?
Every good email starts with a subject.
Write a subject that is appropriate to the content of your email. Professors, staff, and employers read emails based on the order each was received, as well as the urgency of the message. Writing an appropriate subject can mean the difference between receiving a reply that day, or several days later. Do not leave the subject line blank.
Address the message appropriately.
While it is common to address people by their first name, it is always more respectful to address someone by their last name or by their title unless you are encouraged to do otherwise. For example, you may want to address a professor that you know has a PhD as Dr. X, the director of a center as Director Y, or a professor, generally, as Professor Z.
Do NOT address someone you assume is female as “Mrs.” unless you are asked to do so.
The practice of calling a woman “Mrs.” was drilled into us as children as a means of showing respect, but many women would rather be called by the professional title they achieved (i.e. Professor W, Dr. X, Director Y, etc.), rather than their martial one. Calling someone “Mrs.” can be disastrous. What if someone is going through a divorce? What if someone recently lost their husband? Starting the email with a “Mrs.” may unintentionally trigger someone before they even read your request; don’t do it. If you’re unsure of how to address someone (professor, doctor, director), simply address that person as Mr./Ms. Last Name or “Dear First and Last Name.” This allows you to show respect without guessing someone’s marital or educational status.
Remember your English lessons.
You are addressing someone with a request, question, or to seek information. Use complete sentences, proper grammar, and punctuation so that your email represents you professionally.
End your email thanking the reader for their time.
Closing statements like “Please respond ASAP,” “I need to know immediately,” and “get back to me ASAP” should be avoided at all costs. This communicates that you do not respect the reader’s time, connotes impatience, and will generally have the opposite of the intended effect.
Identify yourself.
End your email with your full name (no nicknames please), student ID number (123456789) and your Penn State email address (abc123@psu.edu). There are over 40,000 undergraduate students at Penn State so help the reader of your email identify you.
Here’s an example of what a well-written email looks like:
Subject: Can we schedule a time to meet?
Dear, Professor Jones:
I hope you are well.
I am not doing as well as I would like to do in your class. I have been going to tutoring through Penn State Learning, but I have additional questions that I would like to discuss with you. I am in class during your office hours, so I am hopeful that we can schedule a time to talk outside of your office hours. I am free Mondays and Fridays, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and Tuesdays and Thursdays 10 a.m. to noon. Are you available to meet during any of those times?
Thank you for your time,
Terry Brown
123456789
tab@psu.edu
Good luck!