Communicating with Professors
What Would Happen If Your Boss Received These E-mails?
(Here I am already! Returning to school may give me more ideas for blogging than I can keep up with! A quick post because it is timely for me… and important. Critical even. I hope you feel the same. A couple programming notes: Tonight, 9/17, 6 p.m. if you have some time, join me as @YouTern’s guest on Twitter for their #InternPro chat. We’re talking about “School and Career Success: The Art of Interacting with Professors.” Could the topic be any more parallel after you read today’s post? Join the conversation! And tomorrow, 9/18… big day! UW Bookstore! Who’s visiting at 7 p.m.?). I want to preface this post by saying two...
Read MoreFreshmen: Wondering About Textbooks & What To Call Your Prof? Just Ask!
I think I’m going to pop an artery by the time I go back to school in late September. I already wrote about five college success tips that you don’t have to take. This was in response to college success advice that concerned me… remember? Now I’m seeing article after article of even more success tips for freshmen (and students in general) that I find incredibly overcomplicated. Why? Because the advice tells students what they should do six ways from Sunday… research this, look up that. The advice so rarely tells students to simply talk to people… to just ask questions! Should I be surprised? This piece in USA Today College about “what makes...
Read MoreWeek One College Students: Check Your Class Tech Today!
(Still in back-to-school mode here at The Chatty Professor, though I’m celebrating two exciting shout-outs this week: The Austin-American Statesman did a beautiful piece on Say This, NOT That, and I was honored to be in a KING-5 segment. But let’s get to important business–a recommendation I think is critical for all students and a first week tip I don’t think is discussed often enough…) Wonderful student, this could happen to you! Several years back, my campus implemented a college-based student e-mail system. That’s right. Gone were the days of bootielicious99983@xmail.com or viperbitesyou@xmail.com submitting e-mails that may or may not...
Read MoreFive Must-Say Tips for Week One of College Classes
(Wow! I can’t thank everyone enough for the ongoing support for the grade dispute posts and also the incredible feedback for the post about college success tips not to take. I figured it would be a good idea to twist the latter topic to what college students should do now that we’re nice and early in back-to-school, so read on!) During my fifth visit to Women’s View Radio, I was recently had this call-in question, “What are the first steps that a student should take when going to college?” I’m sure that others’ answers would vary, depending on if you are living on or off-campus, if you’ve left home, etc., but as a prof, my...
Read MoreAnother Grade Dispute: When an A Isn’t Really an A
Here we go again! Remember the grade dispute that turned into a four-part series? How could you forget, right? Well, another interesting write-in, this time from a student at a major university. A different situation and for the sake of anonymity, I’m going to heavily paraphrase, but keep the general theme. One other note: At the end of this piece, I found an interesting link written by an attorney about “legally sound syllabi.” Very interesting! Are you ready? Let’s go…) Before I start with this student’s situation, I want to make a huge plea to all students reading this blog. Whether you are just starting college or you are knee-deep...
Read MoreIf Your Prof Sends a Cryptic Message, You Deserve a Translation
(On the heels of the recent grade dispute posts, another e-mail arrived with a student question about a failing grade. Unfortunately, I don’t have enough details yet to adequately present this situation, but one piece concerned me. I’ll focus on that part now and elaborate on the specifics once I have further information). “I do not plan to fail anyone. That’s all I’ll say.” This was a response that a student apparently received from a professor, via e-mail, when asked why they failed their course and if there is anything they can do about it. Haven’t we all been on the giving or receiving end of this type of communication? When...
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In Say This, NOT That to Your Professor: 36 Talking Tips for College Success, an award-winning, tenured communication professor takes you “inside the faculty mind...Click here to Buy on Amazon
A tenured professor of Communication Studies helps students correctly--not cluelessly--speak/deal with those who teach them.
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