Embedded Files
introduction
In this section you will find some strategies and recommendations to help you write an appropriate opening.
The opening lines are as important as a good subject line, since they are the first thing the instructor will see when they open your email. The opening has two parts:
greeting
self-identification [click here]
Before we start
How you you start your emails to your instructors in your first language? And in English?
How do you address your university instructors in your first language (by title, by their first name, surname...)? Which factors do you take into account (age, gender, personality, distance...)?
Have a look at the real email below. Laura Smith is a lecturer at the University of Galway.
Which kind of relationship do you think Laura has with her students?
How old do you think she is?
Do you think the greeting in this email is appropriate?
Subject: Grades
Hi Laura!
Sara and I have not received the grades for out project yet. Have we passed? Please, let us know!
Irene
Greeting
GREETING FORMULA
The most frequently recommended way to start your email greeting to you instructor is 'Dear X,'. This formula will always work, irrespective of distance, imposition, gender, or age. You can have a look at different international university guidelines here.
Formulas such as 'Good morning X,' or 'Good afternoon X,' can also be used, but they are not recommended since you don't usually know the time of the day your instructor will open your email.
'Hello X,' is considered slightly informal, but it is accepted in some specific contexts. For instance, email guidelines written by Australian academics indicate that you can use it once you know the instructor you are writing to.
'Hi X,' is considered very informal and not recommended.
'Hello,' and 'Good morning,' where no direct reference to the recipient is made, should also be avoided, as they give the impression that the email may have been sent several instructors. They may also make your instructor question whether they are the correct recipient of the email.
ADDRESS TERM
The following step is to fill the X in 'Dear X,'. This is not perceived as an easy task, even for university students who are native speakers of English, as you can see in the comic below.
In the comic, Jorge Cham captures American graduate students' insecurities and highlights that 'undergrads' must never call professors by their first name.
Does this apply in your country?
Below you can find an interesting infographic with more information:
Doctor Who? Using titles in your greeting
Unless they have explicitly told you to call them by their first name, the most appropriate option to address university instructors is to use their title followed by their surname. In this context you can find two types of titles:
Personal titles (e.g., Mr for men; Ms for women).
Academic titles (e.g., Doctor (Dr), if they have a PhD; Professor).
The most useful strategy is to adopt the role of a detective and follow these steps:
Find the recipient's profile on the university website or in the course syllabus
Check the title that appears with their name
Use it in your greeting
personal titles
Dear Mr Smith, (male)
Dear Ms Smith, (female)
academic titles
Dear Dr Smith,
Dear Professor Smith,
Academic titles: Doctor or Professor?
It is important to know that academic titles will vary slightly from country to country.
For example, academics in The United Kingdom will generally have PhDs (and thus they are Doctors (Dr)), but very senior* academics may have been promoted to Professor (an equivalent to a Catedrático, in Spain). This is the case also in Australia.
If someone is a Professor, they will generally prefer it if you recognise this and use the correct title: 'Dear Professor Smith,'. If someone has a PhD and is not yet a Professor, they will generally prefer it if you use “Dear Dr Smith”. Neither will be gravely offended if you get the wrong title, but it may seem a bit careless.
In turn, in the United States, the title 'Professor' is more broadly used, and it is not reserved just for senior academics. In fact, instructors are often referred as Professors even when they do not have a PhD. Therefore, many US academics prefer to be referred as 'Dr + Surname' if they have a PhD.
Note: *'Senior' in this context does not mean older, but a very experienced academic who has been awarded the highest position in academia.
the us
Most university instructors can be addressed as 'Professor':
Dear Professor Smith,
australia & the uk
Most university instructors can be addressed as 'Doctor':
Dear Dr Smith,
*Check the instructor's profile to check whether they are Professors (catedráticos). It they are, write
Dear Professor Smith,
What if I only write 'Dear Professor,'?
As was the case with writing only 'Good morning,', this greeting sounds quite impersonal. If you want your instructor to comply with your request (particularly if it is a high imposition one, such as a writing letter of recommendation or making an exception to some rules) you have to make sure they know the email is only addressed to them. It may also look careless, as if you have not had the time to find their personal information.
A female perspective
For female academics who are not Doctors nor Professors you can use the title 'Ms'. This is an equivalent to 'Mr' that does not indicate marital status.
Use 'Miss' or 'Mrs' only if the instructor has included this title in her profile, the syllabus, or has explicitly told you to do so. These are personal titles that refer to marital status (either single or married), not to the instructor's professional life.
Let's consider the real example below: Karrin Anderson works at Colorado State University (US). How should you address Karrin Anderson in your email?
*Earning 'tenure' means getting a permanent job as a university instructor.
Last pieces of advice:
Concerning punctuation, the most widely used convention is to close the greeting with a comma.
Example: Dear Dr Smith,
This convention will vary depending on the language you are using. For instance, in Spanish we use a colon.
Example: Estimado Dr. Pérez:
The abbreviations Dr, Mr, Ms, are not followed by a full stop in British English, while they are in American English (Dr., Mr., Ms.).
Don't write 'Dear Dr Paul,'. In English, titles (Dr) are only followed by surnames.
You are starting your semester abroad at University College London (UK). As you are an exchange student, your enrollment process has taken longer than expected and you don't have access to the online learning platform. You need to write an email to your instructors to ask them to give you access to their courses. These are your instructors: Gregory Dart, Marilyn Corrie, Eric Langley, and Helen Hackett.
Go to the English Department website [link], look for each of them, and access their profiles (by clicking on their names) to find out how to address them in your greeting line. Check your answers in the activity below.
Report abuse