Not including yours truly, too many (IMHO) professors complain about how students “don’t email correctly or professionally.” This being a writing class, I thought I would try to clear up some of that confusion for you so you can avoid receiving this criticism from your own professors. Cait Kirby wrote this one-page guide on writing basic emails to your professors:

Black text on white background that says: Title: Writing an email. Cait Kirby - caitkirby.com. Writing an email is important for communication and is stressful and confusing for some people. Using this guide might take away some of that stress or confusion. 1. Subject line with course number and email topic. SUBJECT: BIO 101 (section 2) - assignment #3 question 2. Respectful salutation including "Professor." Double-check you spelled their name right! Dear Professor X, 3. Give detailed info about assignment. I am working on assignment #3 for BIO 101 (Section 2). A screen-reader friendly PDF version of this can be found at: http://bit.ly/WritingAnEmailSR.
Screenshot of a guide on emailing professors.

If anything, I might add the following tips:

  • Always use an appropriate title (Prof. or Dr., not Miss or Ms.). If you’re confused, look at how the professor signs off in their own emails to you.
  • Gauge your professor’s level of formality by their behavior in the classroom. If they’re fairly informal, a greeting like “Hello” and a sign-off like “Thanks,” or “See you in class” should work just fine. Other professors might be sticklers for “Dear” and “Sincerely.”
  • When you’re asking for guidance, indicate what you’ve already tried. That is, if you’re confused about an assignment, be specific about the instructions that confuse you, and the materials you’ve referred to already to try to clear this up. This will help your professor better tailor their response to you.
  • Should this email be a Slack DM, phone call, or F2F question? Consider whether your email would be better addressed in a different modality, and if so, schedule an appointment to meet with your professor or attempt a different form of asynchronous communication.

And for your amusement, here is a TikTok (@tegaalexander) about the trials and tribulations of politely waging war in WFH email format:

🤣 🤣 🤣 

Feel free to practice developing your professional email writing style in your communications with me!