Guidelines for emailing a Professor or a TA

Amitabha Bagchi

The student-teacher relationship is a kind of professional relationship and involves certain professional courtesies. Here at IIT Delhi I have found that most students are indeed very courteous in their behaviour except in one important aspect: email communication. And so, here are some suggestions for how to write an email to a professor or a TA. I should add that if you are a student emailing me then you should consider these suggestions mandatory.
  1. Open with a salutation.
    Start your email with "Dear X," on a separate line by itself. This "X" could be "Dr Lastname" or "Prof Lastname", or, as is common in India, "Sir" or "Madam". If we are on first-name terms, it can also be only "Firstname". Since your TAs do not have a PhD yet, you can attach the honorific "Mr" or "Ms" before their last name (not their first name) or address them by their first name if you are on first-name terms with them. In India TAs generally do not mind being addressed as "Sir" or "Madam", so you can use that form of address too if you wish.
  2. Sign off at the end.
    At the end of an email, as at the end of a letter, it is good manners to sign off with something like a "Yours sincerely" or a "Best wishes" or even a simple "Thanks" if thanks are called for. Below this you should type your name. If you are in a tearing hurry then you may omit the signing off statement, but you must, at the very least, type out your name.
    When we are in a hurry, or if there is a lot of back and forth of email, then people do sometimes forget to sign their name, but you must understand that this is informal behaviour and is not appropriate in a professional communication.
  3. Write in sentences.
    Write in proper sentences, as you would in a letter. This is not a text message, it is a formal communication, so do not use ellipses (i.e., ...) to punctuate your email. Don't break sentences across lines. Use fullstops and commas and other standard punctuation marks. And remember: begin your sentences with uppercase letters.
  4. Don't use abbreviated words.
    Usages like "thx", "c u" and other such are commonplace nowadays and they are, in my opinion, perfectly acceptable in electronic or written communications between friends, but not in professional or even semi-professional emails. So please avoid them entirely when emailing your Professor or TA.
  5. Don't use all uppercase.
    ALL UPPERCASE IS LIKE SHOUTING AT SOMEONE. Please do not do this in a professional communication.
  6. Think before using emoticons.
    Smileys are now commonplace in electronic communications and I feel that they can be used occasionally, and can be important in situations where you want to make sure that the recipient understands that you are talking in a light vein. In general, however, avoid using them in professional exchanges where possible.
Amitabha Bagchi