I'm actually not even sure this topic qualifies as e-mail "etiquette." "Etiquette" -- to me, anyway -- seems to indicate advanced rules for playing. This is more like E-Mail Common Sense. Except that, for Millennials, this stuff isn't common sense. I've actually started including an E-Mail Policy in my syllabus at the beginning of each semester. I know that a lot of professors think that Millennial students' use of e-mail is rude, but I really don't believe it is. I say that because, when I started using this policy, the e-mail issues I noticed ground to a halt. I think students honestly didn't know that it matters whether your e-mails contain grammatical errors. It matters whether you use "smileys" in e-mails to professors. It matters whether you address someone by a title (Prof. McGaugh) or their first name (Tracy). It especially matters if the salutation you choose is "Hey."
In a future post, I'll include my e-mail policy.
In the meantime, here are some funny (and representative) e-mails sent to university professors by students. Courtesy of the Chronicle . . .
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Don't Sell Your Friends Up the Network River
19 hours ago
1 comments:
The importance of proper e-mail etiquette is relevant on the high school level too. I actually take time from class to go through with students how to write an e-mail. For example, I stress the importance of filling in the subject line and how signatures can easily be created. I am unsure about emoticons. Sometimes students want the reader to know that they are saying something in jest; and worry that it might be construed differently by the teacher. On the other hand, if the correct words are used then there will not be ambiguity.Gee, how did we ever communicate before e-mail??
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