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posted by on Tuesday May 16 2017, @03:57PM   Printer-friendly
from the wassup-prof? dept.

At the start of my teaching career, when I was fresh out of graduate school, I briefly considered trying to pass myself off as a cool professor. Luckily, I soon came to my senses and embraced my true identity as a young fogey.

After one too many students called me by my first name and sent me email that resembled a drunken late-night Facebook post, I took a very fogeyish step. I began attaching a page on etiquette to every syllabus: basic rules for how to address teachers and write polite, grammatically correct emails.

Over the past decade or two, college students have become far more casual in their interactions with faculty members. My colleagues around the country grumble about students' sloppy emails and blithe informality.

[...] Sociologists who surveyed undergraduate syllabuses from 2004 and 2010 found that in 2004, 14 percent addressed issues related to classroom etiquette; six years later, that number had more than doubled, to 33 percent. This phenomenon crosses socio-economic lines. My colleagues at Stanford gripe as much as the ones who teach at state schools, and students from more privileged backgrounds are often the worst offenders.

-- submitted from IRC

Source: The New York Times


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  • (Score: 2) by kazzie on Tuesday May 16 2017, @08:11PM

    by kazzie (5309) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday May 16 2017, @08:11PM (#510718)

    I agree with you on that. I've just re-entered the academic scene as a graduate student, and I erred of the side of formality when emailing the professor who's become my supervisor. After a handful of emails where the professor signed his first name only (and addressed me by first name) I took the lead and started doing the same.

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