What to Email Your Prof/GA

I’ll do you one better: why is Gamora? (aka, previously: how to email your prof/GA)

First of all, just in case, yes, you are definitely “allowed” to email* your prof or GA. As a university instructor, no matter how much I might playfully grumble about my workload, I highly encourage you to do so — if there’s something you want, I mean, and not just because you think you ought to.

But if you’re not familiar with the cultural conventions of post-secondary education (and/or the Canadian/American Western-tradition business world), you might not know what people email their professors about. Or what is and isn’t a great idea to email.

So first, here are a couple things that definitely belong in an email (or at least in writing) and are 100% OK to tell whoever’s in charge of your class/lab/tutorial:

1. You need a one- or two-sentence answer to a question about course material or assignment guidelines.

If you don’t understand something the instructor said or wrote, and if the answer will take no more than a sentence or two, go ahead and email your question. I guarantee that if you’re wondering, half the class is wondering too! You’re not alone, your instructor won’t think you’re “stupid” or “bad,” and you have every right to ask the person responsible for your education to help you understand.

Even if you’re not sure how long it will take to answer your question, email. If it’s too complicated, the instructor might reply asking you to set up a meeting to discuss it instead, and that’s not a rebuke — it’s them trying to keep the communication efficient.

2. You want to schedule a real-time meeting (in person or via online meeting software).

MINI-FAQ ON MEETINGS

Aren’t meetings only for really bad or really good students?

No way, meetings are for everyone! We can give struggling students extra help and resources, help average students improve their skills/understanding, and give the most proficient students the level of detail/challenge that will help them grow the fastest.

But I don’t want to bother my instructor!

That’s kind of you, but do you decide not to go buy coffee/food because you might “bother” the workers at the store**? Do you avoid going to class because it might “bother” the instructor to have to come to campus and teach? Office hours are our job just as much as teaching is. Yes, sometimes even the most passionate instructors get annoyed at having to do more work, because everybody gets annoyed with their work sometimes.

But if you listen to your instructor’s guidelines (e.g. make an appointment/drop in/give X amount of notice in advance etc.) and treat your instructor like a fellow human being, you’re not being a bother, I promise. If you’re really not sure, just ask your instructor: “Is it OK to come to you for help with X, or is there something else you’d want me to try first?”

There are plenty of things that are too complicated to do over email: review a graded assignment, review a draft of an assignment you intend to submit, discuss a question with a complicated answer, etc. There are plenty more things that you might not feel comfortable committing to writing, like requests for accommodation or problems working with other students.

If your issue falls into any of the above categories (or you just want to meet to introduce yourself or some such), email a brief summary (e.g. “I’m confused about what empiricism is and wanted to meet with you to discuss it.”) and suggest a time/date for a meeting (e.g. “Are you available during next week’s Monday office hours after 3:30?”)

On the other hand, here are a couple things you should NOT email your instructor:

1. Private/confidential information

This includes:

• your health/medical information (none of the instructor’s business!)
• private details from your personal life
• your personal contact information (e.g. address, phone number, private email)
• anything you wouldn’t want everyone who works at the university to know about (it’s not that we’re total gossips and will tell all the other instructors/faculty/admin everything, but you never know who has access to university emails. Check your school’s privacy policy!)

You shouldn’t ever have to tell any of this stuff to your instructor — most universities/colleges should have an office that assesses everything like this that’s relevant to your studies and tells the instructor what they need to do to accommodate you without revealing anything about your personal life and health.

Instructors should respect workplace-wording, like “a private legal issue” or “a medical appointment” instead of “I need to go to court to get a restraining order against my ex” or “my depression is worse, and I have an emergency session with my therapist.”  If you decide that you want to, in-person is almost always best to help preserve your privacy and to give the instructor the opportunity to let you know if this isn’t something they should hear.***

I know that “should” isn’t always “will,” so do what you need to do to make sure you get the accommodation you’re entitled to. Check your university’s policy.

(PS If you’re reading this and thinking, “Oh no, I already told my prof last semester about such-and-such…,” don’t sweat it. We all overshare sometimes. Just do your best, and, most importantly, don’t feel that you have to give up your privacy in order to get a better grade.)

2. Assignments or drafts for review (unless requested)

I do want to help you with your assignment. I want you to know how to improve your writing before you get a grade on it and to get the one-on-one feedback that’s the most valuable part of critique at any level.

However, I can’t write up fifty draft reviews per class, five classes per semester, each time I assign a project. I probably could meet with every student for five minutes though — and the number of students willing to email papers (two seconds, no requirement to actually read the feedback) is way higher than the number of students willing to meet about the same papers (more time commitment, you actually do end up having to hear what I have to say).

Because of that, if you want personal, detailed feedback on either an upcoming assignment or an assignment you already got back, we need to meet, whether online or in person. Save us both some time (especially since you might be planning on getting my reply within a certain window), and schedule a meeting as your first step.

* Or to communicate with them in whatever way they requested. It’s almost 2020, but that doesn’t mean you won’t encounter folks who prefer you talk to them, write them paper notes, or even ~shudder~ call them on the phone.

** If this does sound like you, you might benefit from support that’s outside my experience and area of expertise. Talk to your school’s student support office, and consider looking into resources for neurodiverse folks and/or people who identify with social anxiety.

*** Instructors, if trained at all, are trained to help you access the school services and support you need, and we are strongly encouraged to maintain professional boundaries with our students to avoid accidental bias or privacy slips. Our role simply isn’t to act as a your friendly peer, healthcare provider, lawyer, social worker, etc. — most importantly, we don’t know how to do those things as effectively as a professional, and we might have conflicts of interest based on our main job responsibilities, both of which could unintentionally screw you over.  Plus, we have to consider our own health: there’s no support system to help us cope with the emotional burnout of taking on those roles for our students every semester.