By Khnuma Simmonds
When Susan Murphy sifts through the 50 or so e-mails she receives each day from her students, she sometimes struggles to pick up hidden clues of written communication.
“With e-mail the tone is unknown,” the assistant dean of the School of Communication said. “When a student sends me an e-mail saying ‘Please respond ASAP,’ I wonder what that means.”
However, Michael J. Kessler, an assistant dean at Georgetown University, told The New York Times tone is very obvious.
“The tone that they would take in e-mail was astounding,” he said. “‘I need to know this and you need to tell me right now,’ with a familiarity that can sometimes border on imperative.”
Although most professors prefer to address their students in person, they rely on e-mail to expedite information regarding class assignments and announcements.
Rusty Maye-Moore, associate professor for the Marketing and International Business Department, said she receives 15-75 e-mails per week and that most are appropriate.
“Once in a while people are rude and demanding. It’s as if you’re their servant,” she said. “This makes me resistant, but I understand that students in college are still learning how to communicate.”
Daniel Varisco, chair of the Anthropology Department, said that in general, he does not receive many rude e-mails unless a student was not satisfied with his final grade.
In one instance he taught a class on Islam and had a student that never attended. As a result, the student failed the course. Varisco later received a nasty e-mail from the student saying he should have passed him because he was Muslim. Varisco did not respond.
In addition to grades, students use e-mail to address their concerns when their schedules conflict with the professor’s office hours.
“Every professor that I’ve had here at Hofstra has given their e-mail out to students attempting to make themselves as available as possible,” said sophomore Brittney Jenkins.
Varisco laughed in response to the idea of professors being available around the clock.
“At 3 a.m. I’m probably asleep,” he said. “However, students have a right to see me in my office and they can always send e-mails. I think most professors understand that communication doesn’t stop at the end of class.”
Doris Fromberg, chair of the School of Education and Allied Human Services, has been in education for over 30 years and has witnessed the growth of Internet and e-mail usage.
“I still prefer to use the telephone because my e-mail may not be on,” Fromberg said. “I’ve always given my students my home number and available hours and they’ve never been abusive of that privilege.”
Although the University’s professors may not have articulated as many frustrations with e-mails from students as professors from other Universities, they offered a few suggestions for students when sending an e-mail: identify yourself, make the subject clear, get to the point, include class information and be courteous.