Viewpoint: Email and the professor
The recent New York Times article “To: Professor@ University.edu Subject: Why it’s all about me” struck such a nerve among faculty that it quickly made its way into the inboxes of most professors at Concordia.
The article described the challenges that student email creates, such as an increased — indeed, almost unmanageable — volume of communication, foolish questions and the chance to assist students in ways not possible before.
I think the real issue with the use of email in academia is what to do about it. How can faculty better manage the volume of email we receive? Perhaps these suggestions will help.
Set clear expectations in your course outline. Establish response times for email messages. Some professors provide a time frame (such as 48 hours); others set email “deadlines”—that is, all messages received by Monday or Thursday at 9 will receive replies by Tuesday or Friday by 9. Also state when you won’t reply to messages, such as weekends and holidays.
Similarly, set expectations about the types of content you will and won’t handle online. Business communication experts advise using email for notification (like setting up meetings and answering quick questions), not discussion.
One particularly sensitive topic is grades. One instructor writes in his course outline: “Although I am happy to discuss grades with you, I believe that these discussions should occur in person. Therefore, I only discuss grades in face-to-face meetings.”
Honour response times for other email. Current students are not your only source of messages. Colleagues, staff, and prospective and former students are among other correspondents. Use the same guidelines to respond to them.
Acknowledge all email that requires it. One ongoing gripe by non-campus people is that professors ignore their email. As time-consuming as this might seem, responding to your messages helps build strong relationships with the community.
Set aside regular time to answer email. If email has become an ongoing responsibility in our work, we need to make time for it in our schedules. Some people like to respond to email in the morning, others in the evening, others as it comes in. Establish a pattern.
Turn off the sound indicators that let you know that a new email message has arrived. They act like the stimulus in Pavlov’s experiments with dogs, disrupting our concentration on another task.
Avoid “contact barriers.” Actively discouraging email creates a barrier. It subtly sends the message that instructors are neither physically nor emotionally accessible. When students have a more serious problem, they might avoid us rather than contact us. The goal of email is to build relationships, not impede them.
Keep up-to-date contact information for alumni. One of the best sources of information about what is happening in practice are the people who work in the field, and alumni are among our most ready sources of practitioners.
Email admittedly creates extra work, but it also creates opportunities. By managing email effectively, we can use it to build stronger relationships with students and the external community.
Saul Carliner is an Assistant Professor in Concordia’s Department of Education.
Readers are invited to contact Barbara Black with ideas for future Viewpoints. Contact her by email at barblak@alcor.concordia.ca