What to do when faculty doesn't return emails?

Student Lounge College Life
1

<p>Hey all..</p>

<p>I've been trying to get involved with the TV station at my school. It is run by professionals and staffed by students, so its a pretty big operation. I originally emailed a guy who gave us a talk in class about getting involved with the station. He responded in a few days and suggested I contact this other guy who specializes in the area I want to go into. I did and he responded within literally 5 minutes. BUT he forwarded my email to this other lady who is the supervising manager or something like that. She emailed me back the next morning. She asked me to come in for training during the exact times I have class. I told her I couldn't make that training time and she gave me a time to come in so we could figure things out. </p>

<p>I went into the main office where she was overseeing things. She acted like she had never seen a brass instrument before (it was sticking out of my backpack since I had band later) and told me that doing in-the-field camera work would fit my schedule this quarter and that i could get into my primary interest, video editing, next quarter when i don't have class and marching band right when the do all the editing for the news show. I said that was fine, since I'm willing to do anything to get involved and get experience. She told me to email her my availability and I would get started. That concluded our meeting. It was about 5 minutes in a room full of students who were doing various assigned tasks at computers. </p>

<p>It took me about a week to finally know what my availability would be, so i emailed apologizing for the delay, i was just trying to figure out my availability, which i gave her. I also asked a couple questions regarding my schedule for next quarter (since she does teach classes and might know these things)... I waited 4 days and got no reply, so i figured maybe she was busy and forgot the email. So i sent another one, just 2 lines at most, saying I was available Mon-Fri until 1pm. It's been over a day now and still haven't heard anything. </p>

<p>I don't know what's going on but it is extremely frustrating. I didn't do anything for her to dislike me so much she doesn't want me part of the organization (unless she really didn't like the brass instrument), so i'm kind of hanging on the fence. </p>

<p>Does anyone have experience with this? What should I do?</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

2

<p>tl;dr, but have you tried calling?</p>

3

<p>If you have tried to e-mail the faculty member without a response, twice, I would call and leave a message. I would also call and/or e-mail the department secretary.
If you do above without an answer, I would stop in.
If you still need help, I would call/e-mail the department chair. Keep a copy of your e-mails.
Good luck.</p>

4

<p>Did the four days include a weekend?</p>

5

<p>Is going by her office far out of your way? I would stop in a few times and try to catch her to speak face to face. She may be out of the office because of seminar/family issue/funeral…all sorts of things. So don’t take it personally, just be persistent. People are busy, and it’s up to you to get your foot in that door, not her responsibility to coax you in!</p>

<p>If you do reach her, and she blows you off, re-contact the people you spoke to before her and ask for assistance.</p>

6

<p>Why would you just not ring them or go to their office? Why would you even ask this question that’s such an obvious answer.</p>

7

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<p>And now you’re complaining about a 4 day delay?</p>

8

<p>I would stop in but the building is far out of my way. </p>

<p>I would also call, but her phone number is not listed in any of the campus directories. </p>

<p>I’m not complaining about a 4 day delay (which was how long it was before i sent the second email) it’s been almost 6 days now… I’m worried about a 6 day delay, especially since the first email was answered in less than half a day</p>

9

<p>You need to stop in.</p>