This section is designed to provide you with tips about communicating with faculty, staff, and classmates.
Emailing with Faculty Members
Sample Email
The very first thing in writing an email is to include a subject: what are you writing about? Do you have a general question or a specific inquiry? Are you asking for advice or assistance of some sort? This will be helpful to the recipient of your email, even before we open and read it. Some examples of the subject line:
- Question about quiz
- Transfer student – please advise
- ID card question
Now we move on to the actual text of your email. The first very important line is salutation. Who are you addressing your email to? This should be properly indicated. Do not forget to Capitalize the Title and Name of your recipient and please check the spelling of the name. I’m sure you wouldn’t like if YOUR name was written incorrectly, so please take care of others’ names. Examples of salutation are:
- Hello Prof. Smart,
- Good morning Ms. Shine,
- Dear Dr. Summer,
If you don’t know the name of the person you are writing to (such as if you write to the Admissions or Financial Aid office, for example), it is OK to just say HELLO or Good Day, and then continue with your email.
NEXT, introduce yourself. Try to be specific unless you are sure your recipient knows you well.
THEN: describe your question or what it is that you want to say. Be specific and brief but do provide the details that you think may be helpful to your reader. It may be necessary to break down your text in several paragraphs, if it runs long. It makes it easier to read and also separates the important points you are making.
Finally, there is a CLOSING. This is the part where you conclude your email by saying THANK YOU or Goodbye and you include your NAME. Some examples of closing are:
- Thank you,
- Sincerely,
- Very best,
The content is created by Prof Anna Matthew, Dental Hygiene.
