Email Communication Etiquette

As a college student, you are developing and demonstrating professional skills and behaviors that you will use to be successful in the "real world," after graduation. One important skill that you can practice now is professional email etiquette, which is important to ensure that:  1) you are effectively communicating, and 2) you are protecting your professional reputation. When emailing instructors, classmates and members in the community, make sure to do the following:

• Fill in the subject line with a clear statement of the purpose for your e-mail.  “Help,” “My assignment,” or “Class 2” are weak subject headers.
• Always begin an email by addressing its recipient (“Dr. Reed,” “Sr. Celestine,” or “Tom”)
• Remind the recipient who you are and how you know each other (“I am a student in Section 4 of your PPS-129 class on Thursday afternoons”)
• Write your message in complete sentences with proper spelling and grammar.  Do not use texting abbreviations, such a TIA or PLMK, because your reader may not be able to interpret these.
• If you need a response to your email, say so in the text. 
• Problem solve. If you are emailing about a missed class, late homework, difficulty with course content, etc., state what you have done/will do, and what you are seeking from the faculty. 

              Poor:   “I am not going to be in class tonight.  
                         Let me know what I need to do to make up for missing class.”

              Better:  “I am ill and unable to attend class tonight. I will post the assignment 
                         that is due via Moodle and call you next week to discuss the 
                         information I missed.”

• Close your message with your full name and a phone number. Your instructor may have more than one Jenny in class.
• Give faculty/staff at least 24 hours to respond. Teaching schedules, committee activities, student meetings, research and a variety of other duties take people away from their computers for large parts of the work day. DO NOT send emails saying “I sent you an email this morning and haven’t heard from you.”