10.5.2. General Email Etiquette
- Always address an email with an appropriate salutation (“Dear Professor Jones”, “Greetings Susan”).
- Always sign your emails.
- Email for professional communication should not include the common abbreviations utilized in personal texting. Sentences should be complete and appropriate grammar should be used.
- Be judicious when cc’ing emails. “Reply to all,” is not always an appropriate action.
- It is your responsibility to check your school-related emails daily and respond as needed depending on the topic. If a faculty member emails you it is expected that you respond to them in a timely manner. It is fair to expect faculty to respond to your emails in a timely fashion as well, within normal business hours. Do not expect answers to emails from faculty late at night. Please understand email is not necessarily designed to provide unrestricted 24/7 access to the recipient.
- If you choose to craft an email about a subject you disagree with or are upset about, either as an original email or in response to an email from someone else, do not respond when you are angry or upset. This will often result in an email that is unprofessional and emotional. Instead, consider what you wish to say, write it out, do not send it, and then return to it when you are less emotional. All emails you choose to send should be professional, appropriate, and polite at all times. In addition, anything you choose to say in an email you should feel comfortable and willing to say to an individual or group in a face-to-face meeting.