Emailing your Professors and Macaulay or QC Staff

Throughout your four years as a Macaulay-Queens student, you will inevitably have a litany of questions related to coursework, requirements, registration, activities, parking, and another thousand things not listed here. To obtain answers, you may have to contact a professor or staff member if you can’t find the information online.

One of the most important skills to learn early in your time with us is how to compose an email to a professor or staff member that will elicit the response you want. If you follow these basic guidelines, you are more likely to be successful.

Your professors and staff are not your friends.

This means that you should make your emails formal unless you are told to do otherwise. When in doubt, use a formal address. As in: “Dear Professor Chen….”

Include a subject line that is specific.

First and foremost, NEVER leave the subject line blank. Emails with blank subject lines are unlikely to be opened, as this is a common feature of spam.

You should also be specific. “Question about today’s class” is NOT specific because it does not say which class. Most professors teach multiple classes. Instead, write “Question about today’s lecture in Anthro101.”

Keep your email as concise as possible.

Professors and staff are busy. We receive scores of emails per day. Get to the point. If you have a question about, say, community service requirements for Macaulay, ask it directly. For example, you could ask your advisor, “I’m interested in volunteering at an animal shelter. Does this work count as community service?”

Try to look up the information before sending an email.

There is a lot of information available on Macaulay’s website, Queens College’s website, and this very website! Professors and staff will be irritated if you ask a question to which there is a readily available answer online.

Sign your name and include your EMPLID.

Obviously, all emails should be signed. But, don’t merely sign “Sincerely, Lucy.” How many people named Lucy do you think a professor or advisor might have? Include your last name! And–this part is important–if you’re asking your professor or advisor to do something for you, such as register you for a class or check something related to your record, you must include your EMPLID. Otherwise, the person you’re emailing will have to look it up and that takes time and so you are less likely to receive a prompt response, if you receive one at all.

If you follow these simple guidelines, you will send effective, respectful emails and you are increasingly like to receive prompt replies.