So…you’ve found yourself in a pickle. You need to email your professor but you start to panic. What do I call them? How do I get in contact with them? Does it have to be full sentences? What sorts of details do I need to include? A lot of these things depend on the exact situation, but here’s some general advice!

How do I get in touch with them?

The most common ways to reach out to a professor are:

• Through email (NU Online Directory)
• Through Canvas’s messaging system
• By visiting their office in-person or speaking with them in-person before/after class

Professors almost always state their preferred method of communication on the first day of class so make sure to pay close attention! If you’ve forgotten, check the lecture slides/notes, skim the syllabus, or just ask before/after class one day.

In some classes, particularly large classes like COMP_SCI 111, professors might prefer / require you to use a particular platform to ask questions. In fact, some professors specifically ask not to be emailed in favor of these methods.

If someone asks you not to email them and instead use, for instance edSTEM to contact the course staff, don’t take it personally. For example, I do this to make sure my email inbox is actually readable for me – i.e. that I don’t miss truly urgent messages.

In COMP_SCI 111 I ask that you:

1. Any question that you would ask in-person in a classroom setting, should be posted on edSTEM. If you’re unsure of whether or not it’s appropriate for general consumption, mark it as a private question. Course staff can always mark it public after the fact.

2. Anything that relates to you specifically, including but not limited to, your health, grades, etc., should go directly to me via email (NOT to course staff / TAs). I actually prefer email to Canvas’ messaging system so if you do need to reach out to me, email me at the email address listed on the syllabus.

How do I address a professor?

This isn’t always obvious. In High School, you may have addressed your teacher as Mr. / Ms. / etc.. When you earn a doctorate (e.g. Doctor of Medicine (MD), Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Doctor of Music (DM), etc.), in the United States it’s generally understood that your formal title is Doctor (Dr.). For instance, I earned a PhD in Computer Science and Learning Sciences so my formal title is Dr. Connor Bain.

However, not all fields have a doctoral degree as their “terminal degree” (aka the highest degree you can get). For instance, in visual arts, it’s often the case that a Masters in Fine Arts (MFA) is what’s required to become a professor.

Because of this, I typically recommend addressing any/all professors you have (including Graduate TAs) as Professor Family-Name or Last Name. So for instance, if you were emailing me you could address me as Prof. Bain or Professor Bain.

If you like “salutations” (the thing that comes before the name in a letter / email), then appropriate ones are: “Hello”, “Hi”, “Greetings”, and “Dear.” The following are not appropriate (all of which I have personally received): “Howdy”, “Sup”, etc..

What do I say? How do I say it?

This varies depending on what you need to talk about.

Asking for an appointment

Some professors have open office hours you can attend. If you need to speak with them in-person, you should try your best to attend those rather than ask for a separate appointment in most cases. That means you might need to skip a club meeting, be late for a Residence Hall event, move your usual library study time, etc. in order to make it. If you have another academic commitment or something completely unavoidable (like medical appointments) then you can ask for a separate appointment. If you have something private to discuss that you believe isn’t appropriate for a general office hours session, then you see the Professor before/after class and confirm that it’s something that might be more appropriate for a private meeting (note that some professors have digital calendars that you can use to directly book appointments with them).

If you do end up needing to email for an appointment make sure to:

• be courteous and respectful
• ask when might work for the professor (you can say that for instance “Tuesday and Wednesday” afternoons work best for me but you should let them lead the availability discussion)
• be as flexible as possible with your time (remember, you’re not the only student they teach)
• include exactly what you need to talk about in the email itself unless there is some very good reason not to (e.g. privacy concerns).

Asking for academic assistance in a course

Usually this means that you’re struggling and have decided to reach out for help. Good for you! When you do this, make sure to try and be as specific as possible. You want it to be clear:

• Exactly which topics you are struggling with
• Which assignments you are struggling on with regard to those topics
• What you have tried so far to struggle through on your own and what course resources you have taken advantage of.