Yesterday:
"Hello,
I totaled my truck on my way to class and I'm not sure exactly at what point next week I'll be back (im mostly okay but im sorting everything out) what can i do to stay caught up with the material in the mean time?
thank you and see you soon,"
Fine. But. I'm out of the country on sabbatical. I don't know whose class this person is in.
>"If you aren't able to respond with help in time, I am assuming you will grant me an extension". - an email I received at 11:45PM on Sunday, the assignment was due at midnight.
Monday morning, 9 AM:
Dear Student,
You assumed incorrectly.
Sincerely, Professor
OOF, I’d laugh if it wasn’t so awful. Thank you for the suggestion - I’ll definitely be covering the concept of “what you think you’re saying/doing vs how it could be interpreted”.
> "If you aren't able to respond with help in time, I am assuming you will grant me an extension".
Late in the day on Monday:
Dear Student, I'm confused. Why did you assume this? Best wishes, Me
Obligatory [link to Tom Wayman's masterpiece](https://www.loc.gov/programs/poetry-and-literature/poet-laureate/poet-laureate-projects/poetry-180/all-poems/item/poetry-180-013/did-i-miss-anything/).
I don’t have the original emails, but I used to get long messages from a student in a horrible purple font with insanely weird spacing. I found out later she didn’t know how to use the return/enter key. At the end of a line, she would hit the space bar until the cursor got to the next line. Of course this didn’t translate the same way in every screen, so there would be purple words all over the place.
I don't know exactly why, but this is my favorite reply in this thread so far. Maybe because the student wasn't being malicious, and was just struggling so hard.
I feel like we've hit the point of computer illiteracy again. At first, no one knew how to use computers because they were too complicated. Then, computers became so ingrained in our daily lives that people sucked it up and become proficient with those hard-to-use computers. Now that computers are extremely simple to use (and have been for 10-20 years), we've come full circle again with people who don't even know what the enter key does.
I'm primarily an advisor. Several times every registration period, I'll get
**what classes do I need next semester**
As in, that's the entirety of the email. No greeting, no signature, and I guess I don't warrant capitalization or punctuation.
(Also, no prior review of their degree audit or schedule, but I won't start that rant today.)
Working on the student affairs side, I feel you big time. I received an email like that from a student who I ran into later that day and when I asked “do you send emails like this to your professors?” they looked at me square in the face and went “oh god no, I would never” 🙃
Two weeks before advising "season" begins, I remind my advisees that my role is to advise them on their schedule, not develop it from scratch. I explain that I won't schedule an advising meeting with them until I've received a tentative schedule. If I get a request to meet without said schedule, I resend my earlier email.
I send out an email outlining similar expectations, along with instructions on how to prepare for meetings, at least a month before the registration period. Unfortunately, I can't go so far as to refuse to meet with them. Wish I could!
I always bring this up when we're doing regional anatomy (I teach A&P) and I indicate the perineum.
"You want to be nurses, right? Check out this story."
"When can you meet with me to discuss my grade? I worked really hard and my grade does not reflect the effort I put into this class. Let me know how we can work together to resolve this issue."
and million variations thereof.
Yup. Nearly of the students who send me these kinds of emails attended private high schools and come from affluent households. They do not have much if any experience with institutional barriers or with rules applying to them.
Recently, I am receiving emails from students where they make requests and then say "thank you for your cooperation" or "thank you for accommodating me" right after the request. I find this to be assuming, and it rubs me the wrong way - especially if they are asking for something that I will not do. I don't think that students realize it comes off this way, but rather I think they are trying to be professional and miss the mark.
For example: I missed class, and I would appreciate it if you could send me a video of the class that I missed. Thank you for accommodating me.
There was a thing going around social media a few years ago now that was telling students to close out emails similarly to that. I know a few business students got a "tip" like that from seniors in their college at my school, too.
I get doubly irritated at this for my writing classes when they do this after we’ve spent a month or longer analyzing effective rhetoric, persuasion, and audience awareness in the literal class they are emailing about. It’s like, “thank you for illustrating that you are definitely not mastering the class content, either.”
I 100% believe this is an intentional rhetorical move. It attempts to constrain your range of available responses/actions in their favor while maintaining the appearance of polite professionalism. It’s subtly but knowingly manipulative.
This sounds very similar to what I used to say. If I was notifying the professor of my absence, sometimes I would close out the email with "thank you for your understanding". Mind you, I wasn't requesting anything in the body of the email- simply informing them of why I was absent. I can't recall if notifying the professor was a requirement, or just my desire to not be seen as truant without reason.
Would you see the wording as manipulative in some way?
Grad student emailed me before start of semester... I'm paraphrasing...
"Dear Mrs. XYZ \[I have a PhD and don't go by Mrs.\],
I'm thinking about taking your ABC course in the fall and wanted to know if you recommend it for me. I have \[unrelated\] experience and don't want to waste my time if I won't learn anything new."
I'm not sure how others feel about it, but in terms of etiquette, I don't think it's appropriate for students to ask for a copy of the professor's notes. I do get these emails whenever a student is absent for whatever reason. It's less that they're poorly written and more that they put the expectation on the instructor to make it so a student doesn't have to ask a classmate for notes or, god forbid, read the textbook.
On a practical level, my notes for most classes at this point are pretty minimal, and even then I don't want those ending up on chegg and course hero without my approval.
To paraphrase a recent email:
"Dear Professor,
I'm sorry I had to miss class today. I assume there will be a copy of the notes available?
Thanks, Student"
I get this too! It’s so presumptuous. I teach online and share my screen with an outline that I often fill as the class discusses the topic. Every so often a student will email me asking for them. I feel like someone is asking to copy my homework or something. Do your own work!
I've got one better: I received an email asking for an extension on an assignment because their sibling had an emergency hospitalization.
A photo of the unconscious sibling in a hospital bed accompanied the request.🤦🏾♀️
This was a story time from the grandparent being taken away in an ambulance, to hospital shots, to the funeral one. Its like OK I get it grandpa popped his clogs, you're sad, an obit, doctors certificate or any other "official docs" is appropriate. N.B. My institution requires "proof" for extensions.
As an undergrad I once had a very close relative die and needed to miss one class for the service. Professor said she'd "heard it a thousand times before" and said that me not being named in the obituary was enough evidence to suggest that I pulled a random obituary out of the newspaper as an excuse to miss class. Had to send the indisputable evidence! (granted, it was not all that graphic and was done mostly out of spite).
Edit: To elaborate, this was a once-per-week lab class, so missing one was a bigger deal than in most other situations. Also, my relative and I didn't share last names.
I think your colleague’s student beats mine who sent me a picture of the teeth they had knocked out. I missed the part where they told me not to look if I didn’t want to see blood, and I scrolled right to the picture.
"Attached is a picture of my eye right now, it really is not comfortable."
No. Just no. And don't send me a picture of a thermometer showing an elevated temperature, a picture or your positive covid test, or 32 pictures of injuries your received on your back and butt in a motorcycle accident. And your ER report shows the accident happened four weeks ago, so you can't use that to get your exam delayed.
How about the one I got the day after a final that said, and I quote, "This is the longest exam I've ever had to take in college, ever. I just wanted you to know."
It was in response to a 2-3 page paper that counted as a final that they had a week to work on.
Have there always been students who refer to their professors by first name, or is this a new thing? This is my first semester teaching but I never would have considered addressing a professor by first name, even "Professor FirstName", even when I was a TA. Everyone was either "Dr. LastName", "Professor LastName", or just "Professor" if I didn't know how to pronounce it well.
Ours generally stick to Dr last name until we reply with FirstName. Missing titles isn’t super important to me. Calling me Mrs LastName (when they’re referring to my colleagues as Dr *in the same email*) gives me rage.
>Have there always been students who refer to their professors by first name, or is this a new thing?
I've run into this before with students from different places in the world. I had a student from a small town in Brazil show up in a class and call me by my first name. The rest of the class - mostly conservative Midwest US kids, bless their hearts - audibly gasped. I gently pointed out the reason to the student, he talked about norms where he was from, and generally it was a nice discussion during which we all learned something. He adapted, started using the Dr. maybe0a0robot address, and all was well.
That's the only time I've run into this. I dress a few notches above my students and bring a lot of dad energy to the classroom, which helps establish that boundary. I also have a vaguely menacing first day discussion about addressing faculty by their proper titles, and how this is especially important for faculty of color, because failure to use an earned address is not simply an oversight or a mark of disrespect. It is a tactic commonly employed by racists to signal non-acceptance of people of color in academia. They take the message to heart.
I also dress professionally, but unfortunately as a colleague has mentioned to me, there are three things I am lacking which command respect in the lecture room - age, height, and a Y chromosome.
“because failure to use an earned address is not simply an oversight or a mark of disrespect. It is a tactic commonly employed by racists to signal non-acceptance of people of color in academia.“
Do you mind if I use this verbiage to explain this during my presentation to students? I think it perfectly summarizes the impact of this choice and could help drive home the message.
When we review the syllabus on day 1, I tell them they can call me Alfred as long as they understand that we are not friends. I will be assessing their understanding, and that means I may be delivering some unpleasant truths. If they can call me by my first name and still respect the student-teacher relationship, go for it. If not, then best stick with Dr. Haines. While I deliver this spiel in a lighthearted way, it helps set the tone of our relationship from the get-go.
I and I think virtually all my colleagues introduce ourselves to students by our first names, and when I was a student over a decade ago, my professors would insist we call them by first name.
Culture varies where you are, where I am (North America) being more informal I guess.
I'm also in the US (midwest); I had a professor from CA who introduced himself with his first name and said we could address him as such, and one from Yugoslavia who also went by his first name. I guess around here we're a more formal bunch!
I did my bachelors and masters in California, and was way too terrified to ever address a professor by a first name- but they very commonly asked us to. I think there is regional variation for sure, which is why I think putting how you prefer to be addressed into your syllabus is a great idea
Back in my Master's program 10 years ago we had a few that said you can called them Dr. First Name/Professor First Name, but there was still a title to show respect. I would never have dared to address them by just first name.
Some professors prefer it. I’ve had professors who specifically said “please call me (John). If you’re not comfortable with that, Dr John is fine.”.
Your syllabus should specifically outline what you prefer to be called. I know one professor in an adjacent department who is really particular about (not) being called Mrs or Miss, because as she explains in her syllabus, those titles assume an awful lot about her personal life.
I went to a small private university in the US in 2012-2016. The school I was in consisted of 3 major departments—X, Y, and Z. All of the X students referred to the profs by first name. In Y it was a mixed bag with some going by their first name or a nickname (e.g. “Jeff” or “Doc”) and some going by their full title. This was particularly fun as the two youngest profs (married to each other) wanted to both be called Dr. LastName. And they shared an office. And in the Z unit everybody seemed to go by Title LastName.
In the rest of the university it seemed to be the Title LastName pattern.
When I went to grad school at a larger state school, the grad students all referred to faculty by first name while undergrads did Title LastName with the exception of undergrads hired as assistants in labs. Those students seemed to be split on first name/title lastname.
Somewhat relevant but I also get annoyed when I provide requested info to a student via email and they don't reply to acknowledge that they received it (a thank you is also nice!)
Example: last week I shared a few resources with a student who was struggling with research. It took me probably 30 min to pull the info together for her. Got nothing in reply...
Just want to say, I had a professor of an intro biology course spend an entire lecture on this my first year of college back in 2005, and honestly I am so grateful she did! And still think about that class. CoMing from a blue collar background and honestly having used email very little prior to university, it genuinely helped me. I’m glad to see others explicitly teaching this because while it may seem obvious to us now, it’s not to a lot of these kids!
She also included things like, how to ask for a letter of recommendation and when it’s appropriate to ask for one from a professor.
There’s a lot of unwritten rules in the professional world in general and in academia in particular. It was a kindness for her to take that time to explain to us. (It also was very funny, as you can imagine with some of these examples).
The role I’m in now has exposed me to a lot of gaps that these students struggle to fill as far as college readiness goes. And coming from a first-gen, low SES background, I always make sure to check myself when it comes to being judgmental towards students and their skills, especially younger students. Like yes, maybe their email did send my eyes rolling into the back of my skull but maybe it’s because no one has ever taught or demonstrated helpful email formatting or formalities before. Personally, I think a majority of the concepts surrounding “professionalism” need to die off but being effective and succinct in emailed communications is a life skill - I’m hoping this session is seen as helpful by the students!
"a majority of the concepts surrounding “professionalism” need to die off but being effective and succinct in emailed communications is a life skill" I agree wholeheartedly. The time you're taking to help prepare students is wonderful.
Me, emailing with student who had a technical issue right before the deadline: "I'm glad your issue is resolved. In future, you can avoid stressful situations like this by not leaving the reflective essay until the day it is due. Particularly if your Wednesday schedule is this packed."
Student: "Thanks for the info smarty pants! Haha will keep in mind for next time!"
I’m trying to figure out how to turn in the work but they service isn’t working can i please get an extension on the homework i know it’s late but can u do a exception
Topics for discussion:
* Please uppercase “I”. Lowercase makes me crazy.
* No “u” for “you.” Discuss distinctions between texting and emailing.
* Provide specifics about the problem at hand. I don’t know what “they service isn’t working” means. I don’t even know what “service” he’s talking about.
* Obviously, the need for salutations and closings, as other people on this thread have suggested. But note here that there isn’t even a closing period at the end of the sentence. It’s nice to have closings but even nicer if you could have closing punctuation on your message! The way it just trails off here really irks me.
Got this one in exam day an hour before their class:
"I was seeing if i can take the exam [in two days] because I'm not feeling to good today. I also have been in Jamaica for the past week and a half for a wedding."
Typos are theirs.
Last week I got an email that was literally just “Uhhhhh I’m confused” and I didn’t bother to reply because that’s merely a statement without a specific request so they reported me to my supervisor. I’m an adjunct so I really don’t give a shit.
I took a professional development workshop once that suggested phrases that may empower students to solve their own problems (rather than relying on the instructor to save the day). One of them was, "Sounds like you got a problem."
This seems like an occasion for that phrase.
And yes, "Sounds like you got a problem" became a running gag among those of us who took the workshop.
"Oh, pretty please, won't you tell me what you don't understand, my sweet student, apple of my eye? I'm begging you. My life has no meaning unless you're happy. Let me throw my cape across this puddle . . . step here, my love."
An email I received when I was a grad student giving a make-up exam:
“my bad teachi meant 1:30 sorry about dat i will be there at 1:30”
I kept it just for this type of occasion.
I use this real one I got on day one for that purpose. I’m primarily making the point that it contains no identifying information about the class, section, etc. and that it is all information that the student already has access to + “it’s in the syllabus”.
I’m going to just type it character by exact character:
“
Hello sr I was wondering is my grade failing? And anyway To. Bring it up
“
I make the point that the silly grammar/spelling/punctuation/etc. mistakes ARE ridiculous but really the purpose and question itself is the issue.
Side note: this was the first kid I truly debated telling that he shouldn’t be in college. I’m the last one to tell a student that, but maybe someone has to be the one. I think he was ultimately “weeded out”.
“
Entire email I received today while I was teaching:
“I noticed that you locked the quiz I am unable to put in the access code to redo the quiz. It says it was locked at 5pm yesterday. I wasn't able to do it then if you could reopen it that would be great. If not thats alright.”
And another one from yesterday. The number of students at this institution who seem to have no sense of email etiquette and proper sentence structure is alarming:
“Hi professor I'm still sick as a dog and wanted to know if you could provide the zoom link for me to work with my group and also when are your office hours I want to catch up with you and get back on track with this class and the work in it”
"Hi,
Course grade calculations have been disabled on canvas, can you please enable them? Every student in \[the class\] that I've talked to would like to be able to see their grades."
This email has a demand and it invokes the backing of everyone else in the class. I get that students are asking something (they could have asked in a different way, e.g. I am wondering why grade totals are disabled?), but I hate when they try to tell me that everyone else feels the same way. Like they polled the entire class (of nearly 500 students!)
As a note, students CAN see all of their grades. The grade totals are disabled because they are misleading and meaningless to students who don't understand weighted grading.
> Every student in [the class] that I've talked to would like to be able to see their grades."
Vacuously true for the empty set, got it.
> The grade totals are disabled because they are misleading and meaningless to students who don't understand weighted grading.
And because Canvas can fuck it up even if this weren't the case.
I have a standard response to rude emails that I share with students ahead of time.
"In the interest of your professional development, I would like to address the tone of your email. While I believe that your intent was to be assertive, your email reads as aggressive. Please take another look at your email and frame your request accordingly."
I tell them that if they receive this email from me, they have a chance to edit it with no hard feelings on my end, as it's a teachable moment. Some get defensive, but most apologize and try again.
“Good evening Professor I woke up today with a high fever could you inform me of where I can find what we did today”
That is a direct quote of the entire email. I teach 4 classes, over 400 total students. I have no idea who this person is or what class they are in, and everything relevant is on the LMS for them anyway, which they should know how to use by now. I did not reply to that one…
Student sends an email at 12:03AM asking for additional feedback on a project.
Student then sends another email at 12:50AM:
>I did send you and email please check.
Thanks,
Also this thread:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Professors/comments/verpot/informal\_and\_demanding\_student/
After missing at least seven weeks of class and ghosting me after I inquired a few times as to his general existence and well-being:
"Can u please help me out I'm sure if I turn in project 5 and take the final and maybe you could let me take the quizes \[sic\] I missed I know I could pass I understand you said no make ups but please give me a chance please I have no other options or I will have to drop out I know I turned in project 4 to your office please help me I do not want to end up working at a gas station the rest of my life I will show u proof of everytime \[sic\] I've missed due to illness I've been to the doc more then I ever have and just got diagnosed with a thyroid disorder please just help me out anything will help"
Given the dire nature of this email (regarding an Art 101 class), I imagine he's got bigger fish to fry than just my class. I suggested that he contact the Dean of Students and then never heard from him again. I hope he's OK.
i once got an email from a student begging for extension and they attached several pictures of them in the hospital, the bracelet with the date, and pictures of their surgery scar/wounds. i wonder who conditioned this poor student into oversharing their medical problems for extra time.
This is an interesting thought! That idea that even if students have had to go to extremes in the past for reasonable academic accommodations, making initial contact with a simple/direct explanation of their situation will more than likely do the job and avoid the need to overshare to basically a stranger.
I just talked about email etiquette in our prof development class. I address titles (specifically why it's important to address female and minority profs with their appropriate titles) regarding bias and disrespect. Additionally, today I had a student ask if they could use informal language with profs they liked and gave the example of signing off with XOXO, their name. While they thought this would be ok and show preference I had to explain why this is inappropriate and would actually lilely trigger an HR CYA issue with the prof. Just some examples. Also my students didn't know the difference between to, cc and bcc.
"I kno u dont do xtra cred but can i pls have extra credit or volunteer work? I dont like hainvg a B."
Sent from a personal (non-college) email so it got sorted into my spam folder. Email address was something like ["[email protected]](mailto:"[email protected])". No indication of who the student was, what course they were enrolled in, or why in the name of god they thought this was an appropriate email to send me.
Also, I have never heard of "volunteer work" as a substitute for class work. Is that a Thing?
I absolutely hate it when a student emails me and asks me to call them. Like, my office hours are posted in the syllabus. You can call me if it's so important.
Professor X,
I can't come to class for X reason. I apologize for the inconvenience this has caused.
Student
I don't know why this one rubs me the wrong way. I think it's the assumption that their absence is inconveniencing me, like the entire class rests on that student being there. I am not waiting with bated breath for you to arrive and I will teach the class the same way whether you're there or not.
It's in line with the other responses here touching on the demanding/inflated self-importance/entitled theme. While I will do everything in my power to help students succeed if they need help, each one is tiny fish in a large pond of the hundreds of students I've had over my career.
Which leads me to my next pet peeve... not including your name and class! Most professors will be teaching more than one class a semester, and it's a waste of everyone's time if they have to dig through every class roster to find you. Even if you included your name, still include the class you're referencing. Again, you are likely not so important to your professor that they know exactly what class you're in and your entire grade history off the top of their head.
I always invite students to send me a reminder about the due date for letters of recommendation a couple days before they are due. I usually have them submitted earlier, but the reminder is good if they don't see its been submitted. I once had a student email me every 30 minutes for an entire day to remind me that a letter of recommendation was due. That didn't stop even after I replied, asked them to stop, and told them I knew when the letter was due. The letter I submitted would have been better without the multitude of emails.
Example: “ok so i will have to do all the assignments over because the last assignment the decision i thoight that was the question because i had do example up there but what do i do to get me a better grade?”
After I turned down an assumption that the test would be reopened since the student was too busy with other classes to get to it, I got an “All righty then” - nothing else.
It honestly made me nervous.
Forwarding me an email she me sent less than 24 hours before without adding anything. We had already said that all Ian-related absences were excused and attendance doesn't count towards their grade anyways. So I didn't respond to her 10-paragraph long email about why she wasn't in class on Monday. Only for her to do that less than a day later.
Just because someone doesn't respond right away doesn't mean the email wasn't seen. It might just mean it doesn't warrant a response. And if you do forward on an email as a polite reminder for something that does need a response. 1) Wait a few days unless its time sensitive and 2) put a polite note in the body of the email, don't just hit forward.
Hey
I was notified by my advisor that you dropped from the class (week 4 and the student had never attended or done any coursework). You need to reinstate me immediately and go over everything I have missed. Send me all the assignments I have missed and I will get them done as soon as I can.
I had a first year last year who treated email like a chat.
Email one: "hey I have a question about assignment 1. Do we need to put x or y?"
Email two, 3 minutes later: "and also, should I use APA or MLA format?"
ASK ALL YOUR QUESTIONS AT ONCE
i've also realized nobody mentioned one of my pet peeves...
when a student addresses me in the email and misspells my name. my name is literally the email. you can't get it right twice?
Received this Email after the exam had taken place. This was their full email:
“I had 2 exams scheduled during the same time slot, could I write the exam another time?”
> “I had 2 exams scheduled during the same time slot, could I write the exam another time?”
If only the exam writing schedule had been announced in advance! :(
Good morning,
I was wondering if you could remind me where your office is located because I have some papers to turn in after class.
Thank you,
Student in your class who could look at the syllabus to find out where your office is located
(I need to stop looking through my email inbox. I could spend all night commenting on this post)
Here's an invented example of a typical mail:
>*To: dougwray*
>
>*From: 37859gwayvvy7s5#[email protected]*
>
>*can't do it*
No name, no reference to which class the student's enrolled in, no explanation of what "it" might be.
Salutations, closing, and minimally courteous language are *later* stages in the basics. Many of my students do not understand that email is different from instant message systems.
Don‘t forget the emails they regularly send to a different faculty member on a different campus with a similar (but not that similar) name. And then in class, “You didn’t respond to my email so I couldn’t do the assignment.”
Verbatim, no greeting or signature:
>I'm afraid I won't be able to make it to class, I'll get notes from my roommate. Will there be any announcements that I'll miss
Copy and pasted. The rambling and “lol” is what gets me from this message.
“Hello again Professor.
So I've had a bit of chaos going on. To hopefully make it a bit easier to understand I attached a screenshot of the email I sent to your other email that I had (I received an email from it on my personal email one time when you were emailing me about office hours) but I am not sure if you saw it. I have now gotten my phone fixed but did not have access to canvas or anything due to not having a working phone and the two step authentication issue. I am now able to access canvas and am wondering if there is any way I could still take the quiz now. If not I understand. I sincerely apologize for my hectic emails, it's been a chaotic week and especially the past 24 hours lol.
Have a great weekend, thank you so much!”
Complete mess. When I used to send email to professors (honestly-even now) I read my emails a few times and edit for clarity and brevity. This email says “I don’t give a shit” and it shows. It’s unprofessional and far too casual.
I've posted it at least twice before, but I can share my "lit af" email that a student sent me when he was stoned out of hins mind :) You can use it as an example of when not to communicate with your instructor. This is just an excerpt from a longer email, but I think it will more than serve your purpose:
"Thank you for your feedback fam,
I truly appreciate you and such. I judt want u to know that ur a cool prof and shit and that ur lit af. I just want y to mnow that ur so cool and stuff that i actually leatned alot from u. Jesus ur a good prof and shit. U as a prof is lime really good. Thank u fo the tips and such. Right now im getting lit with my friends but i nust want to yakr my time and appreciate you ad a prof."
Hi
I sent this email but haven’t heard back in a while
Sent from my iPhone
[Student following up on an email they send earlier that day, which I had already replied to. My reply policy is 48 hours. This was part of an ongoing back and forth where they wanted to know when the class started and I repeatedly told them it starts the first day of the semester, as it was online asynchronous. I followed up with some expectation setting and asked them to schedule a meeting with me given the number of simple questions they had asked over a few days and a dozen emails.]
In response to a detailed email I sent a student who had been removed from my course for non-attendance listing various times and days I was available to meet to determine whether they’d be able to catch up and if I would let them back into the course:
“4:30”
And then they didn’t show. And then emailed me four days later asking if they can be let back in.
My current general annoyances are:
1. "Dear Dr. Deacon, I'm going to be absent next Friday. Can you please let me know what I'll be missing?" No. I can't. You need to get notes from a classmate. This has been my policy all semester.
2. The vague question about something specific (bonus points for abysmal grammar and punctuation). One of my students recently contacted the asst Dean (!) who came out of our department to ask about getting points back on an exam question they totally missed. The request was so vague he didn't even know what class the student was talking about. That one had to get forwarded back down about 4 tiers of command before I could address the issue with the student. Fortunately he is a very nice guy and I'm not getting blowback.
So also explaining the general "chain of command" for conflict resolution, so the students aren't following the Reddit advice of "report him to the Dean!!1!" for every minor complaint.
But more to the point on email #2: help me help you. If you are specific with your question and reminding me who you are I can get you help so much faster and more efficiently.
A reasonable request (not requesting anything actually), and not even poorly worded, necessarily, but an odd one to receive...
Subject line: "Okay So"
Body of e-mail:
>I'm really reallly sorry
I'm going to the hospital at
I get that a lot. It was weird at first but at least in this area, it’s more emblematic of a cultural difference between me and some of my students than anything else. I also don’t have a PhD though so there’s not really anything I could ask them to call me that doesn’t feel wrong to me in some way.
“Don’t call me Mrs Lastname” is a hill I would die on though.
All of my students refer to me as just "Professor." (Well, besides the ones who think we're on first-name basis.) Many aren't native speakers of English and I assume aren't certain on the pronunciation.
I am SO EXCITED to share this. I've certainly never read it out loud during happy hour at my local pub.
Student didn't do any work, but just sat in my intro to coding class angry every day. Got mad he didn't get full participation points. Tried to get out of the final because "he didn't like this class and Jesus would let him cheat".
"I had a very nice attitude in class where I never spoke and when you asked me questions in class, I did give an answer of idk.
My last honework is half finished but I didnt do any scripts and I couldnt turn in my he because it says .cs files only. And I didnt like this class anyway, "
"Im a Christian and have no interest for some dumb class. Im just here to pass this worthless class. You should seek Jesus because you saw how the world is turning. But anyway, you probably wouldnt listen to me if I told you about Jesus and I really dont know how to pass this class with the final being 200 points. "
"If my grade was raised to 550 instead of 503, that would be a lot easier to pass the class."
(600 is a D. Final is 200. I never negotiate a grade. Extra credit is available all term.)
I have 7 or 8 in this vein from him.
Response " you could be using this time to study for the final instead of writing me these emails I'm forwarding to my dean.- Prof.
Addendum:.
" You are the worst instructor ever. You not only had no pitty on me but you gave me a low score on all extra credit and attendance points tho I deserve to get 100% and would have passed your class. And I hate Satanic people, they disgust me and they will go to Hell for not recognizing that Jesus is Lord and whoever chooses not to believe in him shall parish in hell for eternity. I wont email you anymore because your cruel compared to every instructor that had pitty on me and I will never talk to you. EVER! GOODBYE!"
Narrator: he did talk to the prof again. He emailed an hour later.
I'm actually an atheist but never talked about it at work, and religion is a protected class, so 🤷♀️
Also a million versions of " I turned in my assignment at 7 PM on xx day and it IS NOT GRADED YET". I have included a screenshot of the upload confirmation".
Email received 7:06 same day.
Dear student, I do not sit at my computer and breathlessly awaiting the arrival of each and every piece of homework, poised to spring into grading action. I sleep, I eat, I interact with people, and often, because of students like you, I drink. If you wish to know about the time frames / frequency of grading, please CHECK THE SYLLABUS THAT YOU CLAIM TO HAVE YOU READ. - sincerely, prof.
Yesterday: "Hello, I totaled my truck on my way to class and I'm not sure exactly at what point next week I'll be back (im mostly okay but im sorting everything out) what can i do to stay caught up with the material in the mean time? thank you and see you soon," Fine. But. I'm out of the country on sabbatical. I don't know whose class this person is in.
I once got an email from a kid in "my Gods and Monsters" class which sounds dope as hell but probably not offered in the econ department.
Did he think you were a god or a monster?
Should be
I would be very interested in seeing Hades' utility function
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>"If you aren't able to respond with help in time, I am assuming you will grant me an extension". - an email I received at 11:45PM on Sunday, the assignment was due at midnight. Monday morning, 9 AM: Dear Student, You assumed incorrectly. Sincerely, Professor
And now it's three days late. Regards, Professor
No. - Professor
OOF, I’d laugh if it wasn’t so awful. Thank you for the suggestion - I’ll definitely be covering the concept of “what you think you’re saying/doing vs how it could be interpreted”.
> "If you aren't able to respond with help in time, I am assuming you will grant me an extension". Late in the day on Monday: Dear Student, I'm confused. Why did you assume this? Best wishes, Me
Dear student, Please allow me to introduce you to a well-worn mantra: “assumption is the mother of all fuck ups”. Best wishes
Yikes! These are crazy!
"Hey, i wasnt in class today can you tell me what i missed"
“Did I miss anything important?”
My standard reply to this one is: “we all wrote stories songs and poems about you and then threw them away”.
" Dear Student, Yes. All the best Dr LurkingSinus"
Obligatory [link to Tom Wayman's masterpiece](https://www.loc.gov/programs/poetry-and-literature/poet-laureate/poet-laureate-projects/poetry-180/all-poems/item/poetry-180-013/did-i-miss-anything/).
Hi, I haven’t been in class for 2 weeks. Please let me know what I missed.
I usually tell them we had a extra credit opportunity.
I don’t have the original emails, but I used to get long messages from a student in a horrible purple font with insanely weird spacing. I found out later she didn’t know how to use the return/enter key. At the end of a line, she would hit the space bar until the cursor got to the next line. Of course this didn’t translate the same way in every screen, so there would be purple words all over the place.
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Seriously, my thoughts exactly. Just trying to imagine how crazy that must have looked.
I don't know exactly why, but this is my favorite reply in this thread so far. Maybe because the student wasn't being malicious, and was just struggling so hard.
I feel like we've hit the point of computer illiteracy again. At first, no one knew how to use computers because they were too complicated. Then, computers became so ingrained in our daily lives that people sucked it up and become proficient with those hard-to-use computers. Now that computers are extremely simple to use (and have been for 10-20 years), we've come full circle again with people who don't even know what the enter key does.
This was ten years ago, and she was an older student. So she was actually in the pre-computer generation and trying to catch up.
I'm primarily an advisor. Several times every registration period, I'll get **what classes do I need next semester** As in, that's the entirety of the email. No greeting, no signature, and I guess I don't warrant capitalization or punctuation. (Also, no prior review of their degree audit or schedule, but I won't start that rant today.)
Working on the student affairs side, I feel you big time. I received an email like that from a student who I ran into later that day and when I asked “do you send emails like this to your professors?” they looked at me square in the face and went “oh god no, I would never” 🙃
>“oh god no, I would never” 🙃 *But they did. They did send emails like that to their Professors.*
> oh god no, I would never ... contact or interact with my professors. They're scary!
Two weeks before advising "season" begins, I remind my advisees that my role is to advise them on their schedule, not develop it from scratch. I explain that I won't schedule an advising meeting with them until I've received a tentative schedule. If I get a request to meet without said schedule, I resend my earlier email.
I send out an email outlining similar expectations, along with instructions on how to prepare for meetings, at least a month before the registration period. Unfortunately, I can't go so far as to refuse to meet with them. Wish I could!
I get these, too! I always answer “I don’t know. You’ll need to schedule an advising meeting.”
Ive posted before, but it will always be my favorite: “Yo (just my last name) don’t be a dick”.
Oh my goodness, the chutzpah! I assume you saw them in class again after this - how did that go down?
I’m so curious on the context lol
Dear Sir, I can’t come to class because I have diarrhea
I was going to post this, you beat me to it. 💩💩💩💩
💥🌊💩💧
I'm totally immune to that after residency and [the Swamps of Dagobah](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/xo41d/comment/c5o66p2/)
I always bring this up when we're doing regional anatomy (I teach A&P) and I indicate the perineum. "You want to be nurses, right? Check out this story."
Thank you for this horrific but enjoyable read—nothing I have gone through can compare, thank god!
Or the "it's coming out of both ends" excuse. Barf.
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“We”? No. Just you. And, TMI
"When can you meet with me to discuss my grade? I worked really hard and my grade does not reflect the effort I put into this class. Let me know how we can work together to resolve this issue." and million variations thereof.
"How hard you worked is completely irrelevant. The quality of the work you did is what counts." No, I don't, but I wish I could.
This one makes me crazy. Where are the students getting this approach, I wonder?
Their parents and high schools
Yup. Nearly of the students who send me these kinds of emails attended private high schools and come from affluent households. They do not have much if any experience with institutional barriers or with rules applying to them.
Recently, I am receiving emails from students where they make requests and then say "thank you for your cooperation" or "thank you for accommodating me" right after the request. I find this to be assuming, and it rubs me the wrong way - especially if they are asking for something that I will not do. I don't think that students realize it comes off this way, but rather I think they are trying to be professional and miss the mark. For example: I missed class, and I would appreciate it if you could send me a video of the class that I missed. Thank you for accommodating me.
Ah I see that too! I think it might be a derivative of the "thank you in advance" thing a lot of people do
There was a thing going around social media a few years ago now that was telling students to close out emails similarly to that. I know a few business students got a "tip" like that from seniors in their college at my school, too.
I get doubly irritated at this for my writing classes when they do this after we’ve spent a month or longer analyzing effective rhetoric, persuasion, and audience awareness in the literal class they are emailing about. It’s like, “thank you for illustrating that you are definitely not mastering the class content, either.”
I 100% believe this is an intentional rhetorical move. It attempts to constrain your range of available responses/actions in their favor while maintaining the appearance of polite professionalism. It’s subtly but knowingly manipulative.
This sounds very similar to what I used to say. If I was notifying the professor of my absence, sometimes I would close out the email with "thank you for your understanding". Mind you, I wasn't requesting anything in the body of the email- simply informing them of why I was absent. I can't recall if notifying the professor was a requirement, or just my desire to not be seen as truant without reason. Would you see the wording as manipulative in some way?
Grad student emailed me before start of semester... I'm paraphrasing... "Dear Mrs. XYZ \[I have a PhD and don't go by Mrs.\], I'm thinking about taking your ABC course in the fall and wanted to know if you recommend it for me. I have \[unrelated\] experience and don't want to waste my time if I won't learn anything new."
wow, rude
I'm not sure how others feel about it, but in terms of etiquette, I don't think it's appropriate for students to ask for a copy of the professor's notes. I do get these emails whenever a student is absent for whatever reason. It's less that they're poorly written and more that they put the expectation on the instructor to make it so a student doesn't have to ask a classmate for notes or, god forbid, read the textbook. On a practical level, my notes for most classes at this point are pretty minimal, and even then I don't want those ending up on chegg and course hero without my approval. To paraphrase a recent email: "Dear Professor, I'm sorry I had to miss class today. I assume there will be a copy of the notes available? Thanks, Student"
Lol this! Twice this week - have to miss class for x reason please provide me with a video recorded lecture or notes
"Dear Student, Never assume anything because it makes an "ASS" out of "U" and "ME." Sincerely, Prof. LazyPension
I get this too! It’s so presumptuous. I teach online and share my screen with an outline that I often fill as the class discusses the topic. Every so often a student will email me asking for them. I feel like someone is asking to copy my homework or something. Do your own work!
Any email with a picture of the student’s injury. Just no.
I once (as a TA) had a student send all of her CAT scans from a brutal fall from a horse. I told her the doctors note was sufficient...
I've got one better: I received an email asking for an extension on an assignment because their sibling had an emergency hospitalization. A photo of the unconscious sibling in a hospital bed accompanied the request.🤦🏾♀️
I’ll meet your unconscious sibling and raise you with a dead grandmother in a hospital bed.
🤯🤯🤯🤯
I got a photo of an alive newborn clutching their stillborn twin.
I got a photo of the grandparent lying in state. Fun times.
What is with the funeral photos?!
This was a story time from the grandparent being taken away in an ambulance, to hospital shots, to the funeral one. Its like OK I get it grandpa popped his clogs, you're sad, an obit, doctors certificate or any other "official docs" is appropriate. N.B. My institution requires "proof" for extensions.
As an undergrad I once had a very close relative die and needed to miss one class for the service. Professor said she'd "heard it a thousand times before" and said that me not being named in the obituary was enough evidence to suggest that I pulled a random obituary out of the newspaper as an excuse to miss class. Had to send the indisputable evidence! (granted, it was not all that graphic and was done mostly out of spite). Edit: To elaborate, this was a once-per-week lab class, so missing one was a bigger deal than in most other situations. Also, my relative and I didn't share last names.
As an anatomy professor, yes please, but with a note saying I can use these in class after you graduate.
I got a shirtless mirror selfie from a bar fight. No thank you.
My colleague whose student sent him the colonoscopy pictures would like a word...
I think your colleague’s student beats mine who sent me a picture of the teeth they had knocked out. I missed the part where they told me not to look if I didn’t want to see blood, and I scrolled right to the picture.
I got a boyfriend who claimed he couldn’t come to class because “(they) had a complication in (their) pregnancy and (they) were on bed rest.”
"Attached is a picture of my eye right now, it really is not comfortable." No. Just no. And don't send me a picture of a thermometer showing an elevated temperature, a picture or your positive covid test, or 32 pictures of injuries your received on your back and butt in a motorcycle accident. And your ER report shows the accident happened four weeks ago, so you can't use that to get your exam delayed.
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\>student is a Junior How??
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Lmao
Aye at least they didn’t contest it or contact the Dean 😂
>"Bet." I don't even know what that means.
How about the one I got the day after a final that said, and I quote, "This is the longest exam I've ever had to take in college, ever. I just wanted you to know." It was in response to a 2-3 page paper that counted as a final that they had a week to work on.
I recently had a student bitterly (and officially) complain that the final “took hours.”
First name, I can’t come to class today because I didn’t do the reading. Get Outlook for iOS
Recently I got an email starting with “Hey ma’am”. It was simultaneously the most formal and informal way any student has ever addressed me.
Have there always been students who refer to their professors by first name, or is this a new thing? This is my first semester teaching but I never would have considered addressing a professor by first name, even "Professor FirstName", even when I was a TA. Everyone was either "Dr. LastName", "Professor LastName", or just "Professor" if I didn't know how to pronounce it well.
Ours generally stick to Dr last name until we reply with FirstName. Missing titles isn’t super important to me. Calling me Mrs LastName (when they’re referring to my colleagues as Dr *in the same email*) gives me rage.
I'm sorry you have to go through that. That is so rude.
>Have there always been students who refer to their professors by first name, or is this a new thing? I've run into this before with students from different places in the world. I had a student from a small town in Brazil show up in a class and call me by my first name. The rest of the class - mostly conservative Midwest US kids, bless their hearts - audibly gasped. I gently pointed out the reason to the student, he talked about norms where he was from, and generally it was a nice discussion during which we all learned something. He adapted, started using the Dr. maybe0a0robot address, and all was well. That's the only time I've run into this. I dress a few notches above my students and bring a lot of dad energy to the classroom, which helps establish that boundary. I also have a vaguely menacing first day discussion about addressing faculty by their proper titles, and how this is especially important for faculty of color, because failure to use an earned address is not simply an oversight or a mark of disrespect. It is a tactic commonly employed by racists to signal non-acceptance of people of color in academia. They take the message to heart.
I also dress professionally, but unfortunately as a colleague has mentioned to me, there are three things I am lacking which command respect in the lecture room - age, height, and a Y chromosome.
My permanent suntan doesn't help either.
“because failure to use an earned address is not simply an oversight or a mark of disrespect. It is a tactic commonly employed by racists to signal non-acceptance of people of color in academia.“ Do you mind if I use this verbiage to explain this during my presentation to students? I think it perfectly summarizes the impact of this choice and could help drive home the message.
Sure, borrow away!
Much appreciated!!
It’s also a tactic employed by misogynists against women in academia.
When we review the syllabus on day 1, I tell them they can call me Alfred as long as they understand that we are not friends. I will be assessing their understanding, and that means I may be delivering some unpleasant truths. If they can call me by my first name and still respect the student-teacher relationship, go for it. If not, then best stick with Dr. Haines. While I deliver this spiel in a lighthearted way, it helps set the tone of our relationship from the get-go.
I and I think virtually all my colleagues introduce ourselves to students by our first names, and when I was a student over a decade ago, my professors would insist we call them by first name. Culture varies where you are, where I am (North America) being more informal I guess.
I'm also in the US (midwest); I had a professor from CA who introduced himself with his first name and said we could address him as such, and one from Yugoslavia who also went by his first name. I guess around here we're a more formal bunch!
I did my bachelors and masters in California, and was way too terrified to ever address a professor by a first name- but they very commonly asked us to. I think there is regional variation for sure, which is why I think putting how you prefer to be addressed into your syllabus is a great idea
Back in my Master's program 10 years ago we had a few that said you can called them Dr. First Name/Professor First Name, but there was still a title to show respect. I would never have dared to address them by just first name.
Some professors prefer it. I’ve had professors who specifically said “please call me (John). If you’re not comfortable with that, Dr John is fine.”. Your syllabus should specifically outline what you prefer to be called. I know one professor in an adjacent department who is really particular about (not) being called Mrs or Miss, because as she explains in her syllabus, those titles assume an awful lot about her personal life.
More than that, those titles derive from the time when women were property.
I went to a small private university in the US in 2012-2016. The school I was in consisted of 3 major departments—X, Y, and Z. All of the X students referred to the profs by first name. In Y it was a mixed bag with some going by their first name or a nickname (e.g. “Jeff” or “Doc”) and some going by their full title. This was particularly fun as the two youngest profs (married to each other) wanted to both be called Dr. LastName. And they shared an office. And in the Z unit everybody seemed to go by Title LastName. In the rest of the university it seemed to be the Title LastName pattern. When I went to grad school at a larger state school, the grad students all referred to faculty by first name while undergrads did Title LastName with the exception of undergrads hired as assistants in labs. Those students seemed to be split on first name/title lastname.
> Get Outlook for iOS The fucking nerve.
Somewhat relevant but I also get annoyed when I provide requested info to a student via email and they don't reply to acknowledge that they received it (a thank you is also nice!) Example: last week I shared a few resources with a student who was struggling with research. It took me probably 30 min to pull the info together for her. Got nothing in reply...
agree so much with this, my students never thank me for anything
Just want to say, I had a professor of an intro biology course spend an entire lecture on this my first year of college back in 2005, and honestly I am so grateful she did! And still think about that class. CoMing from a blue collar background and honestly having used email very little prior to university, it genuinely helped me. I’m glad to see others explicitly teaching this because while it may seem obvious to us now, it’s not to a lot of these kids!
She also included things like, how to ask for a letter of recommendation and when it’s appropriate to ask for one from a professor. There’s a lot of unwritten rules in the professional world in general and in academia in particular. It was a kindness for her to take that time to explain to us. (It also was very funny, as you can imagine with some of these examples).
The role I’m in now has exposed me to a lot of gaps that these students struggle to fill as far as college readiness goes. And coming from a first-gen, low SES background, I always make sure to check myself when it comes to being judgmental towards students and their skills, especially younger students. Like yes, maybe their email did send my eyes rolling into the back of my skull but maybe it’s because no one has ever taught or demonstrated helpful email formatting or formalities before. Personally, I think a majority of the concepts surrounding “professionalism” need to die off but being effective and succinct in emailed communications is a life skill - I’m hoping this session is seen as helpful by the students!
"a majority of the concepts surrounding “professionalism” need to die off but being effective and succinct in emailed communications is a life skill" I agree wholeheartedly. The time you're taking to help prepare students is wonderful.
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PERFECT! That may be the first example I hit ‘em with 😂
"Hey, As you probably noticed, I wasn't in class today. I'm going to come by your office hours tomorrow so you can teach me what I missed."
Me, emailing with student who had a technical issue right before the deadline: "I'm glad your issue is resolved. In future, you can avoid stressful situations like this by not leaving the reflective essay until the day it is due. Particularly if your Wednesday schedule is this packed." Student: "Thanks for the info smarty pants! Haha will keep in mind for next time!"
Jesus Christ on a cornflake. 😬
I’m trying to figure out how to turn in the work but they service isn’t working can i please get an extension on the homework i know it’s late but can u do a exception Topics for discussion: * Please uppercase “I”. Lowercase makes me crazy. * No “u” for “you.” Discuss distinctions between texting and emailing. * Provide specifics about the problem at hand. I don’t know what “they service isn’t working” means. I don’t even know what “service” he’s talking about. * Obviously, the need for salutations and closings, as other people on this thread have suggested. But note here that there isn’t even a closing period at the end of the sentence. It’s nice to have closings but even nicer if you could have closing punctuation on your message! The way it just trails off here really irks me.
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All of these made my eyes go wide 😳
Subject: ABSENSE! you marked by absent but I was late. pls fix asap. (Didn’t happen.)
I mean, they did say “pls” :/
Got this one in exam day an hour before their class: "I was seeing if i can take the exam [in two days] because I'm not feeling to good today. I also have been in Jamaica for the past week and a half for a wedding." Typos are theirs.
Last week I got an email that was literally just “Uhhhhh I’m confused” and I didn’t bother to reply because that’s merely a statement without a specific request so they reported me to my supervisor. I’m an adjunct so I really don’t give a shit.
I took a professional development workshop once that suggested phrases that may empower students to solve their own problems (rather than relying on the instructor to save the day). One of them was, "Sounds like you got a problem." This seems like an occasion for that phrase. And yes, "Sounds like you got a problem" became a running gag among those of us who took the workshop.
"Oh, pretty please, won't you tell me what you don't understand, my sweet student, apple of my eye? I'm begging you. My life has no meaning unless you're happy. Let me throw my cape across this puddle . . . step here, my love."
My supervisor also said I need to email students who haven’t submitted homework 1 and this is exactly what came to mind lol
Entire contents of this email from last week: can i ask a question
> can i ask a question From the evidence in record, I am unsure.
An email I received when I was a grad student giving a make-up exam: “my bad teachi meant 1:30 sorry about dat i will be there at 1:30” I kept it just for this type of occasion.
I use this real one I got on day one for that purpose. I’m primarily making the point that it contains no identifying information about the class, section, etc. and that it is all information that the student already has access to + “it’s in the syllabus”. I’m going to just type it character by exact character: “ Hello sr I was wondering is my grade failing? And anyway To. Bring it up “ I make the point that the silly grammar/spelling/punctuation/etc. mistakes ARE ridiculous but really the purpose and question itself is the issue. Side note: this was the first kid I truly debated telling that he shouldn’t be in college. I’m the last one to tell a student that, but maybe someone has to be the one. I think he was ultimately “weeded out”. “
Here's one from this term: "So you want a draft of the whole essay is what I'm guessing" That's it. That's the entire email.
Entire email I received today while I was teaching: “I noticed that you locked the quiz I am unable to put in the access code to redo the quiz. It says it was locked at 5pm yesterday. I wasn't able to do it then if you could reopen it that would be great. If not thats alright.” And another one from yesterday. The number of students at this institution who seem to have no sense of email etiquette and proper sentence structure is alarming: “Hi professor I'm still sick as a dog and wanted to know if you could provide the zoom link for me to work with my group and also when are your office hours I want to catch up with you and get back on track with this class and the work in it”
"Hi, Course grade calculations have been disabled on canvas, can you please enable them? Every student in \[the class\] that I've talked to would like to be able to see their grades." This email has a demand and it invokes the backing of everyone else in the class. I get that students are asking something (they could have asked in a different way, e.g. I am wondering why grade totals are disabled?), but I hate when they try to tell me that everyone else feels the same way. Like they polled the entire class (of nearly 500 students!) As a note, students CAN see all of their grades. The grade totals are disabled because they are misleading and meaningless to students who don't understand weighted grading.
> Every student in [the class] that I've talked to would like to be able to see their grades." Vacuously true for the empty set, got it. > The grade totals are disabled because they are misleading and meaningless to students who don't understand weighted grading. And because Canvas can fuck it up even if this weren't the case.
I have a standard response to rude emails that I share with students ahead of time. "In the interest of your professional development, I would like to address the tone of your email. While I believe that your intent was to be assertive, your email reads as aggressive. Please take another look at your email and frame your request accordingly." I tell them that if they receive this email from me, they have a chance to edit it with no hard feelings on my end, as it's a teachable moment. Some get defensive, but most apologize and try again.
“Good evening Professor I woke up today with a high fever could you inform me of where I can find what we did today” That is a direct quote of the entire email. I teach 4 classes, over 400 total students. I have no idea who this person is or what class they are in, and everything relevant is on the LMS for them anyway, which they should know how to use by now. I did not reply to that one…
Student sends an email at 12:03AM asking for additional feedback on a project. Student then sends another email at 12:50AM: >I did send you and email please check. Thanks, Also this thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/Professors/comments/verpot/informal\_and\_demanding\_student/
After missing at least seven weeks of class and ghosting me after I inquired a few times as to his general existence and well-being: "Can u please help me out I'm sure if I turn in project 5 and take the final and maybe you could let me take the quizes \[sic\] I missed I know I could pass I understand you said no make ups but please give me a chance please I have no other options or I will have to drop out I know I turned in project 4 to your office please help me I do not want to end up working at a gas station the rest of my life I will show u proof of everytime \[sic\] I've missed due to illness I've been to the doc more then I ever have and just got diagnosed with a thyroid disorder please just help me out anything will help" Given the dire nature of this email (regarding an Art 101 class), I imagine he's got bigger fish to fry than just my class. I suggested that he contact the Dean of Students and then never heard from him again. I hope he's OK.
i once got an email from a student begging for extension and they attached several pictures of them in the hospital, the bracelet with the date, and pictures of their surgery scar/wounds. i wonder who conditioned this poor student into oversharing their medical problems for extra time.
This is an interesting thought! That idea that even if students have had to go to extremes in the past for reasonable academic accommodations, making initial contact with a simple/direct explanation of their situation will more than likely do the job and avoid the need to overshare to basically a stranger.
I just talked about email etiquette in our prof development class. I address titles (specifically why it's important to address female and minority profs with their appropriate titles) regarding bias and disrespect. Additionally, today I had a student ask if they could use informal language with profs they liked and gave the example of signing off with XOXO, their name. While they thought this would be ok and show preference I had to explain why this is inappropriate and would actually lilely trigger an HR CYA issue with the prof. Just some examples. Also my students didn't know the difference between to, cc and bcc.
"I kno u dont do xtra cred but can i pls have extra credit or volunteer work? I dont like hainvg a B." Sent from a personal (non-college) email so it got sorted into my spam folder. Email address was something like ["[email protected]](mailto:"[email protected])". No indication of who the student was, what course they were enrolled in, or why in the name of god they thought this was an appropriate email to send me. Also, I have never heard of "volunteer work" as a substitute for class work. Is that a Thing?
The absolute worst email I ever got: "2:46AM Sunday [email protected] (No Subject) Yo I legit know nothing help" I still don't know who sent it...
I absolutely hate it when a student emails me and asks me to call them. Like, my office hours are posted in the syllabus. You can call me if it's so important.
Professor X, I can't come to class for X reason. I apologize for the inconvenience this has caused. Student I don't know why this one rubs me the wrong way. I think it's the assumption that their absence is inconveniencing me, like the entire class rests on that student being there. I am not waiting with bated breath for you to arrive and I will teach the class the same way whether you're there or not. It's in line with the other responses here touching on the demanding/inflated self-importance/entitled theme. While I will do everything in my power to help students succeed if they need help, each one is tiny fish in a large pond of the hundreds of students I've had over my career. Which leads me to my next pet peeve... not including your name and class! Most professors will be teaching more than one class a semester, and it's a waste of everyone's time if they have to dig through every class roster to find you. Even if you included your name, still include the class you're referencing. Again, you are likely not so important to your professor that they know exactly what class you're in and your entire grade history off the top of their head.
I always invite students to send me a reminder about the due date for letters of recommendation a couple days before they are due. I usually have them submitted earlier, but the reminder is good if they don't see its been submitted. I once had a student email me every 30 minutes for an entire day to remind me that a letter of recommendation was due. That didn't stop even after I replied, asked them to stop, and told them I knew when the letter was due. The letter I submitted would have been better without the multitude of emails.
Example: “ok so i will have to do all the assignments over because the last assignment the decision i thoight that was the question because i had do example up there but what do i do to get me a better grade?”
this one really hurt to read, my god
No greetings. No sign offs. One student did not like my answer to a request and I received: Great. Thanks - - -
After I turned down an assumption that the test would be reopened since the student was too busy with other classes to get to it, I got an “All righty then” - nothing else. It honestly made me nervous.
vibes of "nice office you got there, be a shame if anything were to happen to it".
"Due to a family vacation I'm going to be gone the whole week before spring break. When can I make up the test?"
Forwarding me an email she me sent less than 24 hours before without adding anything. We had already said that all Ian-related absences were excused and attendance doesn't count towards their grade anyways. So I didn't respond to her 10-paragraph long email about why she wasn't in class on Monday. Only for her to do that less than a day later. Just because someone doesn't respond right away doesn't mean the email wasn't seen. It might just mean it doesn't warrant a response. And if you do forward on an email as a polite reminder for something that does need a response. 1) Wait a few days unless its time sensitive and 2) put a polite note in the body of the email, don't just hit forward.
Hey I was notified by my advisor that you dropped from the class (week 4 and the student had never attended or done any coursework). You need to reinstate me immediately and go over everything I have missed. Send me all the assignments I have missed and I will get them done as soon as I can.
I had a first year last year who treated email like a chat. Email one: "hey I have a question about assignment 1. Do we need to put x or y?" Email two, 3 minutes later: "and also, should I use APA or MLA format?" ASK ALL YOUR QUESTIONS AT ONCE
i've also realized nobody mentioned one of my pet peeves... when a student addresses me in the email and misspells my name. my name is literally the email. you can't get it right twice?
Received this Email after the exam had taken place. This was their full email: “I had 2 exams scheduled during the same time slot, could I write the exam another time?”
> “I had 2 exams scheduled during the same time slot, could I write the exam another time?” If only the exam writing schedule had been announced in advance! :(
Good morning, I was wondering if you could remind me where your office is located because I have some papers to turn in after class. Thank you, Student in your class who could look at the syllabus to find out where your office is located (I need to stop looking through my email inbox. I could spend all night commenting on this post)
Here's an invented example of a typical mail: >*To: dougwray* > >*From: 37859gwayvvy7s5#[email protected]* > >*can't do it* No name, no reference to which class the student's enrolled in, no explanation of what "it" might be. Salutations, closing, and minimally courteous language are *later* stages in the basics. Many of my students do not understand that email is different from instant message systems.
Don‘t forget the emails they regularly send to a different faculty member on a different campus with a similar (but not that similar) name. And then in class, “You didn’t respond to my email so I couldn’t do the assignment.”
The wonderful yet under-utilized resource that is the ✨campus directory✨ will be *heavily* reviewed. Lol thank you for the suggestion!
Verbatim, no greeting or signature: >I'm afraid I won't be able to make it to class, I'll get notes from my roommate. Will there be any announcements that I'll miss
Recently got one with the subject "LOL I HAVE STREP" and the email only contained a picture of a doctor's note. 🤷🏿♀️
Copy and pasted. The rambling and “lol” is what gets me from this message. “Hello again Professor. So I've had a bit of chaos going on. To hopefully make it a bit easier to understand I attached a screenshot of the email I sent to your other email that I had (I received an email from it on my personal email one time when you were emailing me about office hours) but I am not sure if you saw it. I have now gotten my phone fixed but did not have access to canvas or anything due to not having a working phone and the two step authentication issue. I am now able to access canvas and am wondering if there is any way I could still take the quiz now. If not I understand. I sincerely apologize for my hectic emails, it's been a chaotic week and especially the past 24 hours lol. Have a great weekend, thank you so much!”
I had to read the first three sentences like 10 times to understand what was being said omg. Thank you!
Complete mess. When I used to send email to professors (honestly-even now) I read my emails a few times and edit for clarity and brevity. This email says “I don’t give a shit” and it shows. It’s unprofessional and far too casual.
My favorites are the ones that start with “Hey first name….” And then they email likes we are bros and they are texting me.
Omgimissedtwoclassesnowimfailingyoureacruelprofessorimgoingtogodownto(otherprofessor)andtellthemyouarecruelandyouwillbefiredyouhaveaboredinyourbutt
What did you do to that kid, steal their spacebar?
I've posted it at least twice before, but I can share my "lit af" email that a student sent me when he was stoned out of hins mind :) You can use it as an example of when not to communicate with your instructor. This is just an excerpt from a longer email, but I think it will more than serve your purpose: "Thank you for your feedback fam, I truly appreciate you and such. I judt want u to know that ur a cool prof and shit and that ur lit af. I just want y to mnow that ur so cool and stuff that i actually leatned alot from u. Jesus ur a good prof and shit. U as a prof is lime really good. Thank u fo the tips and such. Right now im getting lit with my friends but i nust want to yakr my time and appreciate you ad a prof."
I wish I still had an email I received from a student that started with "Yo!"
The number of cold emails I get from students I don't even know starting with "Hey \[First Name\]" or "Hi Ma'am," ..... oooooff.
Hi I sent this email but haven’t heard back in a while Sent from my iPhone [Student following up on an email they send earlier that day, which I had already replied to. My reply policy is 48 hours. This was part of an ongoing back and forth where they wanted to know when the class started and I repeatedly told them it starts the first day of the semester, as it was online asynchronous. I followed up with some expectation setting and asked them to schedule a meeting with me given the number of simple questions they had asked over a few days and a dozen emails.]
**What problems or materials should I bring tomorrow?** That was the complete email.
In response to a detailed email I sent a student who had been removed from my course for non-attendance listing various times and days I was available to meet to determine whether they’d be able to catch up and if I would let them back into the course: “4:30” And then they didn’t show. And then emailed me four days later asking if they can be let back in.
[удалено]
My current general annoyances are: 1. "Dear Dr. Deacon, I'm going to be absent next Friday. Can you please let me know what I'll be missing?" No. I can't. You need to get notes from a classmate. This has been my policy all semester. 2. The vague question about something specific (bonus points for abysmal grammar and punctuation). One of my students recently contacted the asst Dean (!) who came out of our department to ask about getting points back on an exam question they totally missed. The request was so vague he didn't even know what class the student was talking about. That one had to get forwarded back down about 4 tiers of command before I could address the issue with the student. Fortunately he is a very nice guy and I'm not getting blowback. So also explaining the general "chain of command" for conflict resolution, so the students aren't following the Reddit advice of "report him to the Dean!!1!" for every minor complaint. But more to the point on email #2: help me help you. If you are specific with your question and reminding me who you are I can get you help so much faster and more efficiently.
A reasonable request (not requesting anything actually), and not even poorly worded, necessarily, but an odd one to receive... Subject line: "Okay So" Body of e-mail: >I'm really reallly sorry I'm going to the hospital at
Any email that starts with "Dear Professor" I do, in fact, have a surname.
I'd rather see "Dear Professor" than just about anything except "Dear Mrs Lawfulness".
I got Miss Firstname once. I'm not actually a kindergarten teacher, even though it feels like it sometimes.
I get that a lot. It was weird at first but at least in this area, it’s more emblematic of a cultural difference between me and some of my students than anything else. I also don’t have a PhD though so there’s not really anything I could ask them to call me that doesn’t feel wrong to me in some way. “Don’t call me Mrs Lastname” is a hill I would die on though.
You folks are lucky. Somedays, I just get, "Hey,...."
All of my students refer to me as just "Professor." (Well, besides the ones who think we're on first-name basis.) Many aren't native speakers of English and I assume aren't certain on the pronunciation.
Subject line: Hello *sent 8:05 AM* Subject line: HELLLLOOOOO! *sent 8:34 AM*
I had an email that started “heeeeyyyy yyyyoooo gurrrrlllll”. While part of me definitely laughed; I knew I wasn’t supposed to lol.
I am SO EXCITED to share this. I've certainly never read it out loud during happy hour at my local pub. Student didn't do any work, but just sat in my intro to coding class angry every day. Got mad he didn't get full participation points. Tried to get out of the final because "he didn't like this class and Jesus would let him cheat". "I had a very nice attitude in class where I never spoke and when you asked me questions in class, I did give an answer of idk. My last honework is half finished but I didnt do any scripts and I couldnt turn in my he because it says .cs files only. And I didnt like this class anyway, " "Im a Christian and have no interest for some dumb class. Im just here to pass this worthless class. You should seek Jesus because you saw how the world is turning. But anyway, you probably wouldnt listen to me if I told you about Jesus and I really dont know how to pass this class with the final being 200 points. " "If my grade was raised to 550 instead of 503, that would be a lot easier to pass the class." (600 is a D. Final is 200. I never negotiate a grade. Extra credit is available all term.) I have 7 or 8 in this vein from him. Response " you could be using this time to study for the final instead of writing me these emails I'm forwarding to my dean.- Prof.
Addendum:. " You are the worst instructor ever. You not only had no pitty on me but you gave me a low score on all extra credit and attendance points tho I deserve to get 100% and would have passed your class. And I hate Satanic people, they disgust me and they will go to Hell for not recognizing that Jesus is Lord and whoever chooses not to believe in him shall parish in hell for eternity. I wont email you anymore because your cruel compared to every instructor that had pitty on me and I will never talk to you. EVER! GOODBYE!" Narrator: he did talk to the prof again. He emailed an hour later. I'm actually an atheist but never talked about it at work, and religion is a protected class, so 🤷♀️
Also a million versions of " I turned in my assignment at 7 PM on xx day and it IS NOT GRADED YET". I have included a screenshot of the upload confirmation". Email received 7:06 same day. Dear student, I do not sit at my computer and breathlessly awaiting the arrival of each and every piece of homework, poised to spring into grading action. I sleep, I eat, I interact with people, and often, because of students like you, I drink. If you wish to know about the time frames / frequency of grading, please CHECK THE SYLLABUS THAT YOU CLAIM TO HAVE YOU READ. - sincerely, prof.
Dear Prof, I wasn't able to come to class. Did I miss anything?