How to e-mail at EASI

HOW TO EMAIL YOUR PROFESSOR OR UNIVERSITY STAFF

Email you send to faculty and administrators should follow the conventions of professional email in any workplace. These are some guidelines for composing appropriate email messages:

• Subject line

A good subject line tells your recipient what your email is about. Make yours clear and direct. If your email pertains to a class, include the abbreviated class name in the subject line.

Avoid such subject lines as “urgent,” “a super important thing”, “important question” and so on.

Good examples:

BR HIST Final Paper Questions

WR COMM2 Absence

• Salutation

Start your email to your professor or staff with a “Dear” or “Hello”. “Hey” and “Hi” are too informal, do not use these.

• Title and Name

The salutation must be followed by the professor’s title and name. Omitting the title or using the wrong one could inadvertently offend your instructor. Most instructors should be addressed as “Professor” or “Dr.” followed by their last name. Make sure to double check the spelling of their name before you hit send.

For example:

Dear Professor Szentgyörgyi,

Hello Dr. Bús,

If you are writing to an administrator who is not a faculty member, address them as “Mr. [Lastname]” or “Ms. [Lastname].” Do not address faculty or administrators by their first names, or with “Professor [Firstname],” “Dr. [Firstname],” or “Mr./Ms. [Firstname].”

A good example:

 Dear Ms. Sebestyén,

Dear Mr. Adorján,

• Introduce Yourself

 Your instructors may need some context to be able to place you and answer your question. The easiest way to help them figure out who you are is by telling them your name, which of their classes you are in and which day your class meets.

• Be direct, clear and courteous

Professors get a lot of emails so make sure your request is simple and to the point. Be polite. State your question clearly so your professor doesn’t have to read the email multiple times to figure out what you want. If you have any questions, ask them in a courteous way.

• Close the message

End your message with a professional closing like “Sincerely,” “Best,” or “Thank you” followed by your first and last name.

For example:

 Sincerely,

 Jane Doe