So I emailed my professor, he replied to me, and I replied back. He replied a second time and told me I should use “Dear Professor” in EVERY email…
But can someone explain why to me? I DID learn my lesson, but I put “Dear Professor” only in my initial email because I only thought it was necessary in the INITIAL email…
If I was him, I wouldn’t require it because I’d already know who it is and what they are talking about…
If someone can give me reasoning, I’ll most likely be like “Ah, okay.”
He might feel that it is a sign of respect for him and his position that he deserves.
It might also be that he feels that it would be more professional and less casual. It also serve a reminder that you are emailing a professor and not a peer/student. Helps sets boundaries maybe.
Or maybe it just a personal quirk.
It’s normal etiquette for all professional correspondence. There is no “rule” that says you should change your salutation after the initial email. Especially when your correspondent is in the position of power, play it safe until you learn otherwise. I’m talking about employers, here, too. Bankers. Investors. Movie producers. Bill Gates . . .
It’s etiquette.
He’s trying to teach you something about life after college. He’s trying to prepare you for the less casual atmosphere of many workplaces.
I’ve worked in my school for over 25 years, and am on a first name basis with my Assistant Principal. (The principal is a member of a religious order, and is always addressed with his title.) But any memos to or from the AP are addressed to Mr. AP from Mrs. bjkmom, and have the standard To; From: Date heading.
It’s just etiquette in professional conversation. Some people are more particular about it than others. It’s always better to be more proper and formal until you know for sure that it’s okay to be more casual.
Think of it kind of like letter writing, which is these conventions come from. If you were writing letters back and forth, you would address the person you’re talking to every time.
Okay. Thank you guys. Thread closed.
For what it is worth, I’ve had a lot of jobs and have been a student for a long time… I don’t know a single professor who likes to be addressed as “Dear Professor” for anything other than the first email.
I’ve also been lucky to work in really non-pretentious areas though.
(Formal communication is different from regular emails, IMO).
This is odd to me. I’ve never had any professors that were so formal. Many professors have even told the class at the beginning of the semester "I prefer to be called Kevin, but if you’re not comfortable with that you can call me (insert least formal ‘official title’).
And maybe it’s just me, but the salutation “Dear ________” just sounds incredibly dated. I never use it.
I have no problem with using appropriate salutations in emails to profs, and I do use them, but I’ve always felt weird about using “Dear” in what’s supposed to be a formal email. It’s the same salutation I’d use for a letter to family or friends, and it feels almost too intimate or unprofessional to use in such a context. But maybe I’m the only one that hesitates with it.
Eep. I’ve been using “Hello Professor” (or “Hi Professor,” for the ones who are incredibly casual about being called by their first names).
Lots of good reasons given, but bottom line is that he has expressed a preference and if you want constructive communication you should just do it. When in doubt, err on the side of formality.
Usually when I send emails, I always use Dear Professor or whatever, unless they respond back to me without a salutation or something less formal (like just my name). Basically, I let them set the formality of the conversation.
Also they are trying to teach you what is the norm in the business world.
What is better:
Dear Boss,
Attached is my TPS report. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.
-OP
or
heres the TSP report you wanted.
What looks professional?
Also professors receive many emails. They want to know what the question is, what the class is and who it is from.
Seems obvious but they often receive:
what was the homwork
instead of
Subject: Psychology 101A
Dear Professor:
I had a question regarding the essay due on Tuesday. I looked in the syllabus, but did not see any information about how long the essay was expect to be. Could you expand upon that?
Thank you,
OP
@bopper, yes!!! A significant number of emails could be avoided if students either checked the syllabus, the online course management system (Blackboard, moodle), or asked a classmate first.
I’d just like to point out that this isn’t always the norm in the business world. I think the real lesson here is that some people are picky about these things, and you need to always err on the side of formality unless told otherwise.
I see a lot of emails between the people who regularly work at my job in the process of filing printouts of them, and often they’re forwards with just “FYI” in the body of the email, or short little one-line questions. But you can bet that my emails are ALWAYS:
Mr./Ms. So-and-so,
I wanted to let you know that ______ and ask you about _______. This is not urgent, so please reply at your leisure.
Thank you for your help,
SusieAnne
Should my boss ever come to my desk or reply to an email and inform me that being so formal wasn’t necessary, then I’d be a lot more relaxed. But until/unless this occurs, I will continue as above.
So you guys are really telling me that in EVERY email chain it goes something like:
Dear Professor
xxxx
Sincerely,
Student
Student,
xxxx
-Professor
Dear Professor,
Follow up.
Sincerely,
Student
And so on? Personally, that just seems so unnecessary. For the first email, sure, absolutely, use “Dear Professor” or whatever. But for subsequent emails in the same chain? Clearly, if the professor wants it that way, but that would (personally) drive me up a wall.
There are days when I go back and forth with my (Professor) advisor/boss in a chain of 30+ emails. Thank the stars we’ve done away with formalities because that would be so tedious.
^Unless it’s a long chain (at the workplace in a 30+ email chain, the rules are a bit different), I’d assume the emails went like this:
Subject: Psychology 101A
Dear Professor:
I had a question regarding the essay due on Tuesday. I looked in the syllabus, but did not see any information about how long the essay was expect to be. Could you expand upon that?
Thank you,
OP
Subject: Re: Psychology 101A
Dear OP:
I have an answer.
Best,
Professor
Subject: Re: Psychology 101A
Could you please expand?
When the appropriate response would be something like this:
Subject: Re: Psychology 101A
Dr. X,
Could you please expand?
OP
It’s typing. It takes literally… what, two seconds to type that? It’s really not that hard. I don’t see what the big deal is.
Some people care and some people don’t. When it’s people I’m not comfortable with or familiar with or who I don’t know if they care or not, as a general rule of thumb, I default to being formal and professional until I know it’s okay to be otherwise. That’s just the safe bet. Some people will care and some people won’t. But for the people who do care, it can be a big deal (as it was with the OP’s professor). Many people won’t care, but it takes two seconds. It’s not the end of the world. I don’t see why it would bother anyone so much. It’s like saying please and thank you. It may seem tedious, but it’s nice and it takes a second to do. What’s the big deal?
That does seem odd to me, too. Most of my professors don’t/didn’t even want to be called “Professor so and so”; they have told me to call them “Mr./Mrs./Ms./Miss so and so.” Sometimes, they even like just to be addressed by their first name.
I know that it seems tedious and odd, but you must respect his wishes because he will probably continually remind you and eventually get annoyed that you don’t address him properly. Such a formal salutation is usually used only in the initial email, however.