Formality with professors?

Royal Gala

How formal are you in your dealings with your college professors and other instructores? Generally, I try to be very polite, addressing them as "Dr." or "Professor" unless instructed otherwise, always acknowledging and thanking them for the use of their time when asking a question (in person or via email), and generally just trying to be as polite and unobstrusive as possible. I figure they've spent a lot of years of school and scholarship to get where they are and thus deserve my respect, and I really don't want to come across as a jerk to the person evaluating my work. Lately, though, I've been noticing exceptions to this rule. For example, when talking to the TA in my research supervisor's lab, we always refer to the supervisor by his first name, just as a matter of course, as we both obviously respect him. Also, I recently emailed an instructor and was basically told I was being too polite!

My email was something like:

"Name,
I realize you are probably very busy and so I apologize for bothering you, but... [insert question here]... Once again, thank you for your time, and I'm sorry for bugging you!

Sincerely,
MyName"

The professor wrote me back and said they were glad to hear from me, but that I "simply have to (emphasis in the original) stop apologizing for emailing" them. I would have never thought I would be told to be less polite!

What have been your experiences with formality with professors?

Smiles

Professors are people just like you and me. Just because they have more experience & education, does not mean they deserve more respect than someone who is less educated & less experienced. I do respect that profs have worked hard to be where they are, but does that mean they deserve your respect because of that? People are people and everyone deserves respect unless they are evil person or treat other people bad. With that said, profs need to respect you too. First as a person, and second as a hardworking student. Anyways, I always call my profs dr, unless they prefer their first name.

Also, I think thanking a prof for their time shows your appreciation & respect. In regards to apologizing, this is the way I look at it. It's your education, your $$, and your time (4 years+) and profs need to respect that too. It's their job to make sure you understand the material and help you as needed. If a prof feels like you are a brothering him/her by asking questions, then they should never have becomes a professor.

imelting

apologizing is going overboard, but being polite is just good manners

Malakaiii

I think you should be polite, and also try to sound like a serious student. I've seen some emails that profs get from people and they are often far too casual.

I would consider it similar to writing to someone who is essentially a stranger. Considering we all take a lot of lecture courses where you have more contact with your TA than the prof, you should at least spare them from your LOLs or net slang like "cuz" and "ttyl" etc. Basically, you should write in intelligent language...

Also, don't ask them for something really complicated in an email! If you have a long question, make an appointment with them...

I don't think it's about respect as much as common decency.

p51dray

I think your email was just too long. The salutation and the thank you's are fine, but get to the point quickly in the body.

NukeChem

I always use the prefix "Dr." for any professor with a Ph. D. It's a recognition of the work they've put in to get that degree. Only if the professor explicitly says to omit the title will I do that.

As for TAs, interestingly in the fifties and sixties it was common to call the TA "Mr. (last name)" if a guy and I suppose "Miss (last name)" if an unmarried girl. :)

These days it's just first names for TAs which I don't mind, since it raises the comfort level of students who are still getting used to the idea that someone else besides just the lab instructor has the power to affect their grades and it's nice to make the transition as easy as possible.

baby e

Be polite but dont go overboard. I always address them on a first name basis. If you've actually talked to them in class, its easier to do that too.

JohnnyBoy

Just chill...professors are just people.

NukeChem

Some of them get kind of uptight about titles so it's, IMO, better to be safe than sorry. :P

133t

Royal Gala;13558 said:

How formal are you in your dealings with your college professors and other instructores? Generally, I try to be very polite, addressing them as "Dr." or "Professor" unless instructed otherwise, always acknowledging and thanking them for the use of their time when asking a question (in person or via email), and generally just trying to be as polite and unobstrusive as possible. I figure they've spent a lot of years of school and scholarship to get where they are and thus deserve my respect, and I really don't want to come across as a jerk to the person evaluating my work. Lately, though, I've been noticing exceptions to this rule. For example, when talking to the TA in my research supervisor's lab, we always refer to the supervisor by his first name, just as a matter of course, as we both obviously respect him. Also, I recently emailed an instructor and was basically told I was being too polite!

My email was something like:

"Name,
I realize you are probably very busy and so I apologize for bothering you, but... [insert question here]... Once again, thank you for your time, and I'm sorry for bugging you!

Sincerely,
MyName"

The professor wrote me back and said they were glad to hear from me, but that I "simply have to (emphasis in the original) stop apologizing for emailing" them. I would have never thought I would be told to be less polite!

What have been your experiences with formality with professors?

Royal Gala you must be Persian or come from an eastern background because no westerner would go through the trouble you have

You’ve been conditioned to see titles