March 31, 2008
More (Unintentionally) Funny Student E-Mail Messages to Professors
Last week we highlighted three rude or clueless e-mail messages from students to their professors, and it sparked a lively discussion, in part about whether the messages are funny or just sad.
Since there are hundreds of posts in the ongoing Chronicle forum topic on “‘favorite’ student e-mails,” here are few more, along with suggestions about what they say about technology on campus.
Is Facebook Just Too Casual?
These days many students prefer sending messages through Facebook, rather than through traditional e-mail (as we pointed out a while back). But is a Facebook message too casual for communicating with a faculty member? This professor thinks so:
“A student who didn’t show up for class on Monday morning just Facebooked me to ask where the class was. I am not responding to a Facebook message! Cripes!”
‘thanx!’
“I didn’t come to class today because i had a soar throat and couldn’t hear. I think it might be strep,” the student wrote.
“Hello, Student X. I’m sorry you’re not feeling well. Did you intend to send this message to someone else? You’re not registered for any of my classes this semester. Oh, and I’m pretty sure that strep doesn’t cause loss of hearing,” the professor replied.
“Ouch! i clicked the wrong address. can you forward that message to dr. DifferentProfessor for me? i can’t open the directory cuase my computer memory sucks and i have another program running. except change the hearing to talking. thanx!”
And Students Seem to Feel Like Customers Who Are Always Right
At least that seems to be the case, judging by the tone of many of the student e-mail messages posted on The Chronicle‘s forums, like this one:
“Dear Dr. Chicklet,
“I want to take your class, but it conflicts with another (REQUIRED!!!) class for my major. I asked the other teacher if she could move her class so I could take yours, but she won’t do it. So could you move yours?
“Snowflake”
The professor’s response:
“Dear Snowflake,
“Thank you for your interest in my class. However, in order to change a class on the schedule, I must identify another viable time slot, complete two reams of paperwork, get approval by the Dean, and then present my case to the the course committee. In total, this procedure takes 6 months. Therefore, I’m afraid I won’t be able to accomodate you.
“Sincerely,
“Dr. Chicklet”
Do e-mail and Facebook encourage students to treat professors too informally, or is this part of a larger change in attitudes about higher education? Or something else? —Jeffrey R. Young
Posted on Monday March 31, 2008 | Permalink |Comments
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What these student communications demonstrate is that there is more to college prep than a good SAT score – how about a test for maturity? How about requiring students to work for a year/two picking crops in Arizona so they can appreciate the value of a higher education? We can solve two problems at once – illegal aliens and student stupidity.
— Muap Conners Mar 31, 08:50 AM #
I like the idea of having students work for a while before taking their act to college. Here’s another thought: Ask faculty members spend a couple of years doing something critical — at a hospital emergency room, as a fireman, or on the front lines in Iraq, for example. When they return to the classroom, they might be less patient with bad behavior.
— S. Britchky Mar 31, 09:35 AM #
What I cannot get over is that these professors even responded to these emails. The more we acknowledge these, the less time we have for more important things… like creating a “No Excuses/No Requests” clause in our syllabi .
— Eric Mar 31, 10:41 AM #
I wouldn’t read much of a larger trend into it. You’ll find a new morons (or people who act, at least occasionally, like morons) in every bunch.
— Gavin Mar 31, 10:58 AM #
If we excercise patience with bad behavior we condone it and then, slowly and insidiously, it becomes the norm. Perhaps I am a one-woman crusader but I refuse to tolerate bad behavior in my own child much less the clueless public. I am an educator and by correcting bad behavior I am doing my part to educate others that it is NOT ok to address anyone other than close friends and family with a “yo”. Given this, I only respond to emails that have legitimate requests such as letters of recommendation or help with a tricky technological problem. As far as excuses, I give the same response my professor, Dr. Peter Marchant, (emeritus) SUNY Brockport, gave: “That is a good excuse but not a good reason.”
— Remmell Mar 31, 11:30 AM #
I think there are two issues at play here. One, students having extraordinary expectations – due either to innocence or excessive privilege, and two, professor egos. It seems some professors are much too eager to jump at an opportunity to humiliate an errant student. In my opinion, forwarding an email for a student is not unrealistic. You could also simply reply that you are sorry but the student will need to resend the email. Common courtesy is a practice we could all do a little more frequently.
— Bryan Mar 31, 11:48 AM #
It is too easy to get into college. I can’t simplify that any further.
— James Morality Mar 31, 02:39 PM #
I like these summaries of the best of the writing. Create a section in the online Chronicle where I can come and read the best picks of the week. I tried reading the postings but there were so many it was depressing and all those other issues at play — like some inappropriate name calling. Two or three examples a week would help me:
a) remember I am not alone in receiving unbelievable e-mails.
b) wonder what we (as faculty) can do about this ongoing “style”.
c) laugh because I don’t laugh enough when they’re in my inbox but can when they’re in someone else’s inbox.
d) All of the above.
I remember enjoying the play with words from my high school English students 15 years ago. They would write paragraphs about “currant events” or “cereal shows” that would earn a smile and -5 for spelling. But I am truly puzzled about some of the comments that flow in from students who are in university. How did we get here?
— JR Mar 31, 05:07 PM #
As a comment on the question posted at the end of the article, I do believe that if you wander into a digital/virtual mode then you do need to be aware of what the culture there will bring you. For example when a faculty member uses IM then the students expect faculty are available 24 hrs and can type fast. That is the culture of IM. If you use e-mail then it is the older people’s communication style (according to the students) as opposed to Twitter. Facebook is yet again a different world — much less formal — and if you go there you need to expect wide but not deep. Like real places in the world, I do think you have to know the culture and style of the mode of communication. That explains txt shortcuts, friendsiness, and familiarity issues, but that doesn’t explain the inability to communicate clearly within the particular mode.
— JR Mar 31, 05:25 PM #
I’d decline to respond to a request if it is outrageous, but not because it comes from Facebook. I don’t care how the bits make it to my screen, I care about the content.
We are going to have to meet students where they are. This includes Facebook. It doesn’t mean we have to accept inappropriate behavior.
— Debbie C Mar 31, 05:25 PM #
Frankly, it disgusts me that I might be in competition with some of these students for a slot at grad school (and funding). Very depressing!
— AF Apr 1, 12:12 AM #
Considering the bad manners that are often on display in these Chronicle news blogs, it occurrs to me that we, as a community, have little room to criticize our students.
— Bob Apr 1, 05:27 AM #
To Posts 1 and 2:
I understand that you may be joking in your posts. But that little experiment has already been done in China. It was called the Cultural Revolution. I don’t think it worked.
To Bob (#12): I agree completely.
— an observer Apr 1, 06:30 AM #
#9, you hit it on the head. The game is constantly changing, and you gotta keep up on the rules or don’t play. There are still great teachers around that can’t work their email. More power to ‘em!
— SRB Apr 1, 08:21 AM #
First of all, these are extreme examples, and thus it is probably not right to jump to the conclusion that Civilization is crumbling. Secondly, professors shouldn’t take themselves so seriously. If you are offended by the message don’t answer it. But also, don’t go out of your way to insult a student—shouldn’t we be more mature than that? At many universities, such as my own, these students all have high GPAs and SATs, so they aren’t stupid. Rather, they are one year out of high school, and three year’s ago didn’t have a driver’s license. Just relax and remember that putting down a student may empower you for a brief moment, but in the end you come off looking like a school yard bully.
— TD Apr 1, 08:39 AM #
I think students have come to realize that they are the customer. In most part because college itself has become a numbers game. Bigger numbers equals more money. True, we are here for them and we MUST keep up with how technology is used. If it is mySpace, FaceBook, text messaging, etc., but when did we cross the line of students feeling that we owe them?
— Darrin Apr 1, 08:47 AM #
Lesson 1: when you wrestle with pigs expect to get dirty. Lesson 2: leave the academic world a better place and do not lower your standards that brought you to your position. Draw the line and be an educator — you didn’t get to your postion in the academy to be their “dude.”
— Douglas Apr 1, 09:26 AM #
It’s too bad that Dr. Chicklet misspelled “accommodate.” Seems to me that erodes the high ground a bit. The joke’s on us.
— Bill Apr 1, 10:40 AM #
Hey, give these kids a break. This is the same group who is helping to elevate B. Hussein Obama into the White House.
— Joseph Spretnjak Apr 1, 10:43 AM #
I love this! The self-absorded narcissisim of youth in direct confrontation with the arrogance of academe. I learned something about this in a Physics class many moons ago; the irresistable force and the immovable object.
Seriously, I do believe that we have a wider problem in place, which I think is the crumbling of certain boundaries. Students treating professors as their “homies” or “dude” merely gives evidence of that dissolution. Professors on the other hand, have been, acknowledged or not, forced into an intellectual assembly line model. This is because higher education has itself become an assembly line of pushing students to get a college degree so they can get a better (i. e. higher paying) job. “What features did you say you wanted with that degree?”
Thus, the rush to reach the end of the process with the least amount of challenge has provoked a quest for convenience, which in turn has broken down restraint and with it, common courtesy and personal dignity (for which we have substituted “diversity training”). “Hey bro/man/babe, I couldn’t make class ‘cuz I be chillin’ wid my homies! Ya feel me?”
— R2 Apr 1, 10:54 AM #
I too receive emails on a daily basis that make me cringe. It frustrates me when students do not understand email etiquette (e.g. writing in all caps, using “IM” language), but I must remember that I did not either at one point in time.
As an educator, I see it as my duty to teach students not just the material in my classes, but the skill necessary to succeed in life, even something as simple as how to write and email properly).
No, it is not right for our students to demand us to forward on emails or to require us to post lecture notes for their convenience , nor is it right to openly mock and scorn them in an email reply. I recommend using the opportunity to pro actively teach students how to raise their standards, instead of lowering yours.
— Michelle Apr 1, 10:58 AM #
I have a different question about the informality of online chatter. I am a chair and now twice in one month I have had to deal with police and upset administrators over “rants” students posted on their blogs that were then taken out of context and emailed to people as evidence of possible danger to the community (in these cases, the students weren’t actually dangerous). Students are acustomed to post things that people used to say only to their most intimate friends, if at all. In a post-Virginia Tech world, there is much more scrutiny. Are other faculty seeing more of these problems?
— Pamela Apr 1, 11:09 AM #
You all are reading WAY too much into this. Every cohort from Socrates to Dr. Chicklet has had its arrogant SOB’s. Analyzing why they exist is fruitless; making fun of them is sublime.
— marci Apr 1, 04:30 PM #
Maybe its just me, but having to serve two years in the Army made me very aware of the opportunities that I recieved in college. I simply looked at the instructors, imagined they were wearing a “Brown Round”( campaigne hat) and that was it.
— Dan Apr 1, 07:47 PM #