How to write email

• • 교수와의 이메일 

    • • 모든 이메일은 24시간 이내에 답장을 보낸다. 

      • 최소한 하루에 한 번 이상 이메일을 확인한다. 되도록 그 자리에서 답장을 한다(안 그러면 잊게 된다.). 

      • 아무리 시시한 내용도 반드시 답장한다(이메일 교환의 맨 마지막은 학생이 한다.). 

      • 교수가 뭔가를 시킨 경우 

        • • 해결한 일은 해결한 내용을 쓴다. 

          • 해결에 시간이 걸리면 언제까지 할 수 있을 것 같은지 쓴다. 

          • 해결을 할 수 없으면 그렇다고 쓴다. 

      • 교수에게 부탁을 하는 경우 

        • • 마찬가지로 언제까지 필요한지를 적는다. 

      • 이모티콘을 쓰지 않는다. 

  • 제목: 용건과 부탁 내용 

    • • 특정 수업이나 연구에 관한 것이면 그것을 표시해 주면 분류에도 도움이 된다. 

        • • 예: "[고급사회심리] 기말 과제에 대한 질문"; "[집단간 사과] 분석에 관한 면담 요청" 

      • 여러 개의 사연으로 구성된 이메일의 경우 이메일 본문의 모든 내용을 제목에 적는 것이 좋다.
        하지만 하나의 이메일은 하나의 사연에 대해서만 쓰는 것이 더 바람직하다(이메일을 남발하게 되더라도). 

        • • 예: "[졸업논문] 자료 수집; [고급사회심리] 성적 문의" 

      • 여러 번 이메일을 주고 받다가 없던 내용이 추가가 되면, 제목에 그 내용을 추가하는 것도 분류에 도움이 된다. 

  • 마무리에는 이름을 적으면 좋다. (XXX 드림/올림) 

  • 답장을 보낼 때는 받은 이메일에 대한 답장을 한다. 즉 새로운 제목으로 작성하지 않는다. 그래야 분류가 편하다. 

  • 이메일을 받는 대상이 몇 명인지 확인을 한다.  

    • • 처음부터 여러 명의 대화였다면 그 사람들이 모두 답장을 받는지를 꼭 확인한다.  

      • 처음에 대화에 끼지 않은 사람들을 추가할 경우에는 그 사람들이 cc(참조)되었음을 본문에 분명히 밝힌다.
        그리고 처음부터 대화하던 사람들의 입장에서, 새로운 사람들이 예전의 대화를 읽는 것이 적절한지 판단한다(불확실하면 처음부터 대화하던 사람들에게 물어보는 것이 가장 안전하다.). 

      • 모든 대상이 읽기에 적절한 내용인지 생각해 본다. 

      • 한 사람이 여럿에 보낸 질문에 답을 하는 경우에도 모든 사람에 답을 한다. 그래야 다른 사람이 답을 할 필요가 없어진다. 

• 잘못된 표현들

  • • 수고하세요. (x) 윗사람에게는 쓰지 않는 표현이라고 함.

    • ...한 밤 되세요. (x) 사람은 밤이 될 수 없음. 

이외에 두 가지 추가하고자 하는 내용이 있음. 첫째, 이메일을 받고 답장을 해야 하는데 답장에 써야 할 내용이 준비되지 않은 경우, 당장 답변은 어려우니 언제까지 답장을 주겠노라고 간단하게라도 답장을 보내는 것이 좋음. 이런 답장이 없으면 이메일을 보낸 사람은 상대방이 이메일을 받았는지조차도 확신하기 어렵기 때문임. 

둘째, 자신보다 윗사람들에게 또 개인적으로 모르는 사람들에게 이메일을 보낼 때는 단체 메일보다는 개인별로 이름을 적어서 보내는 것이 더 효과적임. 단체 메일을 보내면, 답장을 해야 할 필요성을 훨씬 적게 느끼게 되기 때문임.

How to E-mail Your Professor

Students often tell us that they worry about how to address an e-mail message to a professor – especially one whom they don't know. Below are suggestions that answer concerns we've heard not just from students, but from professors. And note: use these tips not just for e-mailing professors, but people who work in college offices, your employers and job supervisors, and your class deans and RDs.

On addressing your professor

E-mail to a professor should be treated like a business letter – at least until you know that professor's personal preferences very well. Although e-mail is widely regarded as an informal medium, it is in fact used for business purposes in many settings (including Wellesley College). You won't err if you are too formal, but there is the possibility of committing many gaffes if you are too informal.

The subject header should be informative. It is not a salutation line, so don't write something like "hey professor" in that line. Instead, write a few words indicating the purpose of your message: "Request for a space in your class," for example.

Use professors' names when addressing them. Many professors we queried said that they do not like to be called simply "professor." They prefer "Professor Lee" or "Ms./Mr. Lee"; most tell us that the title itself doesn't matter nearly so much as the fact that you also use their names ("Dr. Lee" does seem to be uncommon at Wellesley, though, just so you know). Some professors will eventually suggest that you call them by their first names, but if you are more comfortable continuing to use a title, that is always fine. Just be sure to use a name. (Note: these comments are true for personal interaction as well as for e-mail).

Dear, Hi, Hey, or nothing? To some eyes and ears, "Dear Professor Jones" may be too formal for an e-mail message – but in fact it will do just fine when your purpose is a business-like one. Simply writing "Professor Jones" (followed by a comma) is fine, too. Some faculty are sensitive to the word "Hi" as a salutation, whether alone or with a name (e.g., "Hi, Professor Jones"), but others don't mind it and in fact use it themselves. But avoid "hey" – no one we queried likes that one.

Don't expect an instant response. Although we have all become accustomed to the instantaneous quality of electronic communication, your professors want you to know that they simply cannot always answer a message quickly. Allow them a day or two, or even more, to respond. You can re-send the message if you haven't heard back in five days or so.

On e-mail style

Don't use smiley faces or other emoticons when e-mailing professors, and don't use all those internet acronyms, abbreviations, and shortened spellings (e.g., LOL, or "U" for "you"). Similarly, don't confuse email style with txt style. All of that electronic shorthand signals a level of intimacy (and perhaps of age) that is inappropriate for exchanges with your professors.

Write grammatically, spell correctly, and avoid silly mistakes. Proofread. Use the spelling checker. Especially double-check for embarrassing errors in your subject header. Show that you care about how you present yourself in writing to your professor.

Use paragraph breaks to help organize your message. It's hard to read a long unbroken stream of words on a screen.

On content

Don't use e-mail to rant or whine. Sometimes the very appearance of a message can signal "rant": very long paragraphs, no capital letters, no sentence breaks. These are not fun to read, and may well elicit the exact opposite response that you intend. Of course, we are all tempted to rant sometimes in e-mail, so what one professor recommends is this: Sure, rant all you want in an e-mail. But don't send it. Hit the delete button, and then write a more measured message. (Many faculty will tell you that they have files full of unsent messages; they have wisely learned that an e-mail written in the first flush of frustration must be re-crafted and sent with care.) On the other hand, an email in which you direct a constructively worded complaint to the person most able to address such complaints is just fine.

Keep most messages to under a screen in length; lots of readers will simply defer reading long messages, and then may never come back to them. On the other hand, a very short, terse message may simply be meaningless. Be sure to include enough information so that your reader can understand what you are requesting. Provide a bit of background or context if necessary. State your request clearly.

Take extra steps to minimize the e-mail exchange; for example, if you are requesting an appointment, state your purpose and name the times that you could come in in your initial message. Your respondent may then be able to answer you with only one additional message.

Quote selectively and briefly from any prior messages to provide context and background. Although sometimes it's good to quote an entire exchange so as to keep a record of what's been said and decided, often that's unnecessary and simply ends up making a message too long and cluttering the screen.

Many professors advise that you think about why you are sending an e-mail message.Are you asking something that could easily be checked if you took a few extra steps yourself? For example, e-mailing a professor simply to ask when her office hours are can be annoying when the office hours have been clearly announced on the syllabus already. On the other hand, e- mailing for an appointment is just fine. Are you asking a question privately that might be better asked on the course conference, where all the students might usefully see the response? Are you e-mailing to lodge a complaint or to ask for a letter of recommendation or to seek help with a problem set? In these cases, personal contact and an office visit might be much better.

Be respectful, and think about what kinds of things might sound odd or offensive to your professor. For example, don't say flippantly that you slept through that professor's class, or talk about your love life, or bash chemistry or math or writing.

Wellesley faculty think very highly of their students, and you will soon find that they will work closely with you and that you'll feel quite comfortable entering an intellectual relationship with your professors. E-mail has often been seen as a democratizing system of communication that flattens hierarchies and that allows people of all sorts to communicate comfortably and freely with each other. We value the ease of communication that e-mail offers us - but we who work a Wellesley have also learned, over time, that we don't quite want our e-mail with students to feel like an instant-message exchange. Most professors are overwhelmed by the vast number of e-mail messages they receive; some have been shocked by the sheer effrontery of some of those messages; many become frustrated if e-mail consumes so much of their time and emotional energy that they can't then spend valuable personal time with you. We hope these tips will help you - and your professors - conserve some of that emotional energy.

And as for that emotional energy, here's one last tip:

Be kind to yourself if you make an electronic faux pas. All of us – even those who have studied electronic communication for years – have made some pretty monstrous errors. We learn from our mistakes, and we learn to forgive ourselves (and others).