To: Professor@University.edu Subject: Why It’s All About Me

To: Professor@University.edu Subject: Why It’s All About Me - New York Times
At colleges and universities nationwide, e-mail has made professors much more approachable. But many say it has made them too accessible, erasing boundaries that traditionally kept students at a healthy distance.

Here is a pretty interesting article about how e-mail is changing the student - professor relationship. Some of it is for the good and some if it not so good. I personally remember one experience, years ago, with a student who was having some issues during the semester. I worked and worked with the student, but class requirements can’t be changed. In frustration the student sent me a nasty e-mail claiming that I was insensitive…I simply replied, let me think about your e-mail and get back with you. This caused the student to think about what they said, they quickly apologized. It seems that I was one of the few professors working with them through this tough time and a problem with another professor caused them to strike at me. I had more than 70 e-mails from this student at this point in the semester, so I knew that I was doing all that I could, but e-mail enabled the student to strike before thinking.

We all need to spend more time thinking about what we write in e-mails…I know I do.

24 February, 2006 |

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