2008 Woodie Awards
Poor e-mail etiquette frustrates professors
Tina Arons
Issue date: 8/28/08 Section: La Vida
Plz dont write ur e-mails like dis.
It may present an unprofessional self-portrait to professors, coworkers or employers, which could lead to difficulties maneuvering around the classroom environment or the professional world.
"You don't want to only take two seconds to e-mail [a professor] about your grade," said Jaime Resendiz, a finance and electrical engineering major from Petersburg. "If you take the time to write a proper e-mail, it shows you care and you're taking time to discuss something important."
The 19-year-old internal vice president of the Tech Marketing Association said he bought a self-help book about writing better e-mails and letters over the summer to improve his communication skills.
His best advice to students is to avoid online chat lingo.
"You shouldn't write an e-mail the same as you would write a text (message). You don't want to abbreviate." Resendiz said. "It makes you sound more educated and valid."
Resendiz said he avoids abbreviations altogether in his text messages and e-mails. He also punctuates his sentences correctly and uses good grammar, because he said it is one of the best ways to practice professional communication and to avoid slipping up in an e-mail to a professor or employer.
Jay Killough, associate director for University Career Services, said it is important for students to develop good e-mail etiquette in college because it will create a professional image when students transition to a professional job.
"Bad habits could potentially develop if students are used to sending the short text-style e-mails to their
It may present an unprofessional self-portrait to professors, coworkers or employers, which could lead to difficulties maneuvering around the classroom environment or the professional world.
"You don't want to only take two seconds to e-mail [a professor] about your grade," said Jaime Resendiz, a finance and electrical engineering major from Petersburg. "If you take the time to write a proper e-mail, it shows you care and you're taking time to discuss something important."
The 19-year-old internal vice president of the Tech Marketing Association said he bought a self-help book about writing better e-mails and letters over the summer to improve his communication skills.
His best advice to students is to avoid online chat lingo.
"You shouldn't write an e-mail the same as you would write a text (message). You don't want to abbreviate." Resendiz said. "It makes you sound more educated and valid."
Resendiz said he avoids abbreviations altogether in his text messages and e-mails. He also punctuates his sentences correctly and uses good grammar, because he said it is one of the best ways to practice professional communication and to avoid slipping up in an e-mail to a professor or employer.
Jay Killough, associate director for University Career Services, said it is important for students to develop good e-mail etiquette in college because it will create a professional image when students transition to a professional job.
"Bad habits could potentially develop if students are used to sending the short text-style e-mails to their
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Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
prof
posted 8/27/08 @ 11:51 PM CST
Tina, thank you for your constructive and useful article. I hope your classmates will read it and listen and HEAR what you are relaying to them. This entire cell phone-text situation is getting way out of hand and to the point of ridiculous with no common sense. (Continued…)
Hunter
posted 8/28/08 @ 12:24 PM CST
I agree with Prof. As a recent Tech graduate (Dec. 2006) I found out quickly that there is a time and place for conversational or casual emails. However, I feel that a solution to the problem goes beyond professors putting policies in the syllabus or an article in the school paper. (Continued…)
BubbaExTech
posted 8/28/08 @ 2:50 PM CST
OK - in an article discussing how important it is to take the time to write properly in emails, we have the quote "Resendiz said. "It makes you sound more educated and valid. (Continued…)
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