EMail

Emailing like a Professional

The following tips will help you get in the habit of emailing professionally. 

• Check your Canisius email at least once per day.

• Use your Canisius University email account for all university-related communications including classes, extracurricular activities, advising, and so on.  If you use a personal email address to email a Canisius faculty or staff member, it will likely be flagged as spam and they will not receive it. 

• For matters unrelated to Canisius, such as shopping, banking, corresponding with friends, and so on, use a non-Canisius email address.  This keeps your professional and private lives separate, and keeps consistent in various non-Canisius matters after you graduate.

• Give professors, staff, and other students time to respond to your email.  They are busy, too, and may need hours or days to compose a proper and complete response.  

• When emailing a professor, use the title "professor" or, if appropriate, "Dr.", and their last name.  For example, "Hello Dr. Argwhal," or "Dear Professor DuBois," are appropriate greetings.  When addressing staff, use Mr. or Ms. and their last name.  

  • Do not assume you are on a first-name basis with any faculty or staff,  and always include a greeting.  

• In the subject line, be concise and specific: what are you asking about?  Don't be wordy and don't begin what is really your message (body text) in the subject line.  

• Set up a signature block in your email that has your first and last name, together with other relevant professional information you choose, such as student organization affiliation or graduation year.  This looks professional and helps professors, staff, and fellow students correctly spell your full name.  Also include pronouns, for example: (she/her/hers).  

  • Want a video?: Create a Signature - Transcript

• Emails are not text messages.  Do not use slang or acronyms (for example "lol").  Before sending, determine all that you need to say or ask, and include it in a single email, rather than sending multiple emails.

• Does the syllabus answer your question? Did you Google it? Make sure you are not sending an email with a question that you can answer on your own. 

• Keep fonts, signature logos, and backgrounds simple.  Often, fancier fonts and images don't appear properly to recipients.  

• When replying, always take a quick look to ensure you are replying to all past recipients ("Reply All"), or only a single recipient.  Choose the most appropriate in each situation.

• Archive and label email.  Delete any that are no longer necessary, but save any that could be relevant in the future.  Don't let your inbox become a giant mess of old emails.