Grr. Email etiquette.

pearlygirl · May 5, 2008

I just wanted to say that some your students may be confused because there are so many instructors who prefer to be called by their first name. If you don't like it, SAY SOMETHING! I made it through a psychology degree and a nursing degree and only had a handful of instructors that I didn't call by a first name. As a matter of fact, the head of the nursing program(who had a doctorate) preferred we call her Carol. It may have nothing do with lack of respect at all.

anonemouse · May 5, 2008

I just wanted to say that some your students may be confused because there are so many instructors who prefer to be called by their first name. If you don't like it, SAY SOMETHING! I made it through a psychology degree and a nursing degree and only had a handful of instructors that I didn't call by a first name. As a matter of fact, the head of the nursing program(who had a doctorate) preferred we call her Carol. It may have nothing do with lack of respect at all.

Oh, I know. And I probably wouldn't have a problem with it, if they had asked first. It's the assumption that I wouldn't mind that bothers me. To me, a student just shouldn't automatically assume that every instructor/professor would like to be referred to by their first name just because they had one that likes it.

StartinOver · May 6, 2008

I can tell you from experience with working in the corporate world that very few people have email etiquette. When we bring on new "hires" it is more pronounced with the younger employees and their etiquette with email, IM and other various communication tasks are lacking. I think it has a lot to do with texting addictions. They are never communicating with people face to face and rarely even on an actual phone call when they have their cell phone.

BUT, look how far electronic communication has come in the last 25 years! That is exciting. Look at all of us here, chatting it up!

kathystrick · May 6, 2008

What is really surprising to me is how little proper English correspondence is being taught at the high school level. I read some of the papers kids write and they write research papers in the same manner they would write or talk to one of their friends and the teachers (for the most part) accept this level of work from them because they are making an effort where a lot of them don't. When they try to go to college, they will ahve to learn English all over again because professors are not going to accept their informal manner of writing. If they don't go to college, when they get into the work force, they will be clueless about the proper way to write a resume or cover letter. It is really very discouraging.

kity · May 7, 2008

I know what you mean about writing emails, from students or colleagues! We all have some "oops" from time to time, but come on.

As for the name thing, I teach in a Master's program for teachers getting their Master's degree. I tell my students to call me Pamela, yet they continue to call me Prof, Dr. etc. Even in my doctorate program, I called teachers and dissertation chairs by their first name! I agree...it has nothing to do w/ respect.

Last term, I had a student turn in a paper that was SINGLE SPACED AND NOT INDENTED! Are you kidding me??? This is grad school. I sent it back and said that I won't grade it until it was properly formatted. If they are not going to show me and the course work respect...I won't respect them and grade it!

Hang tough...it is almost summer:thumbup:

anonemouse · May 7, 2008

Hang tough...it is almost summer:thumbup:

Lol, that's what I'm dreading!

My spring semester actually ended a little over a week ago (the labs end earlier than the lectures do), but I'm teaching a biology lecture class and a couple of labs during the summer term, starting in June.

Marimaru · May 7, 2008

I was telling my mom about this thread earlier. My husband and I work for her consulting agency, and our agency works for a larger corporate company, and basically, the older folks 'get it' but the younger folks being hired don't.

My husband reminded me of an article that we read a while back about companies spending tons of money to train their staff on proper communication/email etiquette. Personally, I think it's ridiculous. If I had a problem like this with people I was managing, I would simply put in a process that stated that I expected communications to be professional, and that not doing so was an offense one could be written up and fired for. I'd tell them to let me know if they needed an example, but I wouldn't waste time and money training someone on something like that. I'm 26 years old, and I don't have any kind of degree yet and I can do it, so these people that I work with who are in school/recently graduated should be able to do it at least as well as I.

Of course, I've always done professional type work from my mom, at least since I was a young teenager, so I guess I do have kind of an edge, but still. It's not that hard to find an example of a proper letter, which is exactly what an email should look like.

neveragain · May 7, 2008

Yeah, that's about how I feel about it. By the time a student is in college, I shouldn't have to give them a tip sheet on how to create an email with a proper, professional appearance. If I teach a lecture class this summer (I find out tomorrow or early next week if I will be doing it), I may be forced to give one out just to avoid the irritation. It really burns me, though, to know that I may have to do that.
I just don't understand why some people don't realize that email is just a substitute for one-on-one conversation, and that they should treat it as such. In other words, don't write things in an email that you wouldn't say in a face-to-face or phone conversation with your boss or instructor/professor, and that includes the manner in which you say/write something, as well as your actual vocabulary (i.e., watch your tone; people don't have the benefit of seeing facial expressions, body language, etc. over the internet). Email is only informal if you're talking to your friends and family as friends and family. You use proper formatting, capitalization, punctuation, check spelling and grammar, etc.

Even ignoring the fact that I agree with you 15000%, what is so remarkably difficult and apparently nearly impossible about just using proper English normally? It bugs the living crap out of me... I can't take anyone even remotely seriously when it's not typed out properly.

Maybe it's just me and I'm nit-picky about this, but come on... haha.

green · May 7, 2008

Even ignoring the fact that I agree with you 15000%, what is so remarkably difficult and apparently nearly impossible about just using proper English normally? It bugs the living crap out of me... I can't take anyone even remotely seriously when it's not typed out properly.
Maybe it's just me and I'm nit-picky about this, but come on... haha.

I agree. I, too, am fairly nit-picky about how I say something and I prize this quality in others. And when someone takes the trouble to attend to the rules of written communication you will usually find that their thoughts likewise become clearer and more disciplined and easier for the rest of us to understand. Clarity in thought and in language is just the finest thing that I can think of.

kathystrick · May 7, 2008

At the high school level, I am allowed to help the kids out if they are having problems with putting together their work, so I will proofread and help them format when time allows. I have been known to just give them their papers back if I can't understand what they are trying to say because the grammer is so poor. I would have to practically rewrite an entire paper sometimes to have it make any sense.

A lady came into the library where I work part-time asking for help with a paper she was writing. Every sentence on every page was in quotation marks with one footnote at the bottom of every page!! The entire paper was plagerized! She didn't see wnything wrong with it because she put everything in quotes and had footnotes! This was for a college level course! She could not understand why this format was not acceptable. So here comes a quick lesson in English 101, but she still didn't get it. She finally just took the paper and left. Don't know if she ever did any revisions...

anonemouse · May 7, 2008

Even ignoring the fact that I agree with you 15000%, what is so remarkably difficult and apparently nearly impossible about just using proper English normally? It bugs the living crap out of me... I can't take anyone even remotely seriously when it's not typed out properly.
Maybe it's just me and I'm nit-picky about this, but come on... haha.

Oh, I agree. That's one reason online communication sometimes drives me nuts. To me, laxity in one type of communication creates a tendency to be lax other types of communication. The more you do something, the more likely you are to slip and accidentally do it at a very inopportune time. But other people don't always get it. Go figure, huh?

tapshoes · May 8, 2008

I wish I could excuse some of the language and/or formatting issues with 'they are young' or 'it is the result of texting'. However, alas, it is not. One of my activities at this time is editing a textbook for university students. The chapters are written by a number of esteemed educated (PhD) leaders, but you wouldn't know it. There are a few stellar communicators, but others have had my blood pressure on boil or laughing hysterically; some are truly appalling. And these are the ones teaching the courses across the country.

I recognize that not everyone shares my desire for clarity of thought evidenced through presentation. However, a textbook that will be used to instruct those with less knowledge on a subject should be written as to be understood.

I have a new found respect for editors, and a healthy dose of skepticism about the language skills required to graduate from university!