My Response To "How to Email a Professor" by Michael Leddy

I agree with Dr. Liddy that it is important to keep an email professional and easy to maneuver. I've been told more than once by past professors that it's difficult to discern a student from a university email address, especially when the subject line is something general, like "Question about an Assignment". It is, I concede, far easier to write a more specific question, such as "Question about Comm 301 Assignment". Being polite and professional to a professor are obvious musts.

There is one point, however, that I respectively disagree with. I think that the presence of generous formality can be a liability rather than an asset. It is important to treat a professor with respect, but using too much formality can make it seem as though you're submissive to him or her. Most professors I know prefer a student-mentor relationship in which both parties can be open and reasonably informal, as it creates a speaking environment conducive to honesty and friendship, rather than just the give-and-take of assignments and related information. I suggest that Dr. Leddy's advice solely take the form of addressing a professor politely and professionally, without all of the cumbersome formality that can so segregate a student from his or her mentor. In Dr. Leddy's defense, the preference is, at the very least, subjective, but in my two years of college I've yet to meet a professor who preferred to be addressed as "Hello, Dr. Last Name" rather than simply "Hey, First Name. Hope things are going well!".