professionalism

[smasongarrison]

Professional communication

Everyone starts with all three points for this assignment. My hope is for each of you to get all of these points as freebies. Professional emails follow a set of norms, and this should help you make those norms habitual. Professional emails include proper greetings (e.g., “Hi Dr. X,” “Dr. X,” “Hello Professor X,” etc.) and farewells (e.g., “Sincerely,” “Thanks,” “Best,” “Regards,” etc., followed by what you would like to be referred to as [e.g., {your first name}] on the next line). Professional emails also should not include questions that have already been answered elsewhere, or questions about information given to you previously (e.g., what is in the syllabus, though an email seeking clarification on something you have already found is fine). If you are unsure of whether a question is okay, just come to our office hours to ask—anything is fine there. Personally, I really do not care at all if you email me unprofessionally, but some people do care; if you make professional communication a habit, it will benefit you in the long run eventually (people get fired for unprofessional communication with their bosses, colleagues, or clients), so I include this for points. You will lose one point for every email sent to me or your teaching assistant that violates the professional communication guidelines outlined above.