Etiquette for emailing your lecturer, from a lecturer

We’ve all been there.

You’ve finally made it. After six gruelling years in secondary school, you arrive at uni with a firm grasp of the adult world of communication. Or do you?

The crippling fear and anxiety felt sitting in front of a keyboard e-mailing your lecturers for the first time is second to none. All of a sudden, every morsel of the English language is a labyrinth: is “dear” too formal? How do I sign off? Do I use their first name? Is an ellipses too mysterious? Maybe I’ve been staring too long but is “curriculum” actually a real word? If I add my Soundcloud link, do you think he’d forward it to the rest of the engineering department?

We spoke to a University of Glasgow History lecturer, Tanya Cheadle, to find out the correct email etiquette.

Ms Tanya Cheadle, University of Glasgow

What is the ideal greeting?

“Generally speaking, dear ‘first name’. Perhaps Dr x or Professor x if you haven’t met the tutor previously.”

Do students often over-explain their point for the sake of trying to sound intelligent?

“Not in my experience, but tutors wouldn’t look harshly on this. Explaining ideas clearly and succinctly is a skill that has to be learnt, and a university should be a friendly environment in which to do this.”

How friendly can a student be? Must e-mails always be in a formal format?

“The tone should be informal but polite – not too pally, but not overly formal.”

How personal should we get with our tutors? How explicit are we supposed to be about illnesses or person issues?
“If it is a single incident, then the explanation can be kept relatively brief. However, if illness or personal problems are consistently affecting your studies, then it is probably worth coming to see your tutor in person, so that they can provide support and draw up a plan for the longer term.”

How long should a standard e-mail be? Is there ever too long?

“Yes, keep it relatively brief! If the e-mail is getting too long, then come and see us during office hours or ask for an appointment.”

Can you tell if a student is lying e.g. “I’ve got a stomach bug today” which roughly translates to “I’ve got a big ol’ Hive hangover today?”

“We might suspect, but ultimately we have to take what the student tells us at face value. Obviously, if they have assessed work to submit or a seminar to present then it is more serious and they would need to supply some form of evidence, such as a doctor’s note.”

What is the ideal goodbye? Do we need to sign our full name or student number?

“ First name is fine.”

Finally, can we add smiley faces, kisses etc?

“Best not!”

My ‘Keyboard Gangster’ status has been destroyed.

So, this seems pretty straight forward after all. However, if you are trying to hide that ghastly hangover behind a pathetic non existent illness, you can now be assured that your tutor probably knows, and is probably judging you for it.