Manners matter, even in cyberspace.
E-mail grants today's students unprecedented access to their professors - access some professors say has gone too far.
"I have gotten e-mails from students who were clearly inebriated, who are asking for extensions for reasons that are demonstrably false, and who tell me their spring break stories," Associate Political Science Professor Jeffrey Taliaferro said.
All behavior, including that which involves e-mail, shapes students' relationships with their professors, Taliaferro said.
"Students should not censor themselves, but at the same time they should use common sense concerning this medium - and common sense needs a definition regarding this issue," Taliaferro said.
Professors fear that e-mail may be detrimental to the professor-student dynamic due to the difficulty of developing close relationships electronically.
"The old-fashioned way of speaking face to face is better," Taliaferro said. "In e-mail, it is hard to determine demeanor or tone because it is an impersonal medium."
Sophomore Peter Zaroulis said that he, too, laments the degeneration of personal discussions brought about by over-reliance on e-mail.
"E-mail makes us lazy," Zaroulis said. "I'm guilty of it, where you just sort of fire off any old e-mail to your poor professor, and you never make an effort to actually get to know him or her and what they think and what they're like."
English Lecturer Jonathan Strong shares this sentiment. In fact, he has opted to avoid e-mail altogether. Strong does not hold a personal e-mail account, and he finds the technology "invasive and impersonal."
Instead, he asks students to attend his office hours, and also offers his home telephone number for questions about assignments.
"Advisors do not get to know students through e-mail," Strong said. "Now that the add/drop form is going to be online rather than on paper, this situation might even get worse."
Strong worries that the lack of direct interaction between professors and their students might lead to a deterioration of conversation skills.
Strong has noted a decrease in the number of students over his teaching career who attend his office hours, a trend he called "worrisome."
"Students are intimidated to come to office hours, yet most professors like, and even expect, students to come," Strong said. "This will make it difficult for students in the future when they are not able to make conversation in person."
Taliaferro said that e-mail is a suitable form of communication most of the time, but that students need to understand that professors are not available 24 hours a day.
Sophomore Samuel MacNaughton agreed. "I think that e-mail should be used as a secondary source of communication between professors and students, but it is a necessary convenience," he said.
MacNaughton said, however, that the opportunity for increased communication afforded by e-mail increases, rather than decreases, discourse between students and their professors.
"If anything, I think e-mail increases the amount of student -professor collaboration, which is always good," he said.
Both Taliaferro and Strong agreed that Tufts needs to teach e-mail etiquette to undergraduates. Strong suggested such information be disseminated in either freshman advising groups or English classes.
"I always tell my students to never put in their e-mails what they wouldn't want on the first page of the Boston Globe," Taliaferro said.
Though sophomore Jordan Maril takes a somewhat formal and professional approach to her e-mail correspondence with professors, she said professors may often set a more casual tone.
"I know professors want to maintain a level of professionalism and they see e-mails as encroaching on their personal life," Maril said. "But I've had professors e-mail me at 3 a.m. I see it as being an issue of reciprocity - if they want to establish boundaries, they have to let students know."
Maril said her decisions on the tone of her e-mail stem from the precedent her professors set.
"Some professors like you to call them by their first names, so e-mails to them are really informal," she said. "I guess it's just a reflection of the classroom environment. I'd never e-mail a professor [to say] 'Hey dude, how was your weekend?' but it's not like a business letter."
E-mail etiquette can also affect life after Tufts.
Prospective employers say that many undergraduates fail to realize that e-mail correspondence may factor into an employer's decision to hire a candidate.
"Alumni who volunteer as part of the Tufts Career Network have contacted us to comment on students' inappropriate or poorly written e-mails," Director of Career Services Jean Papalia said.
"An inappropriate or carelessly written e-mail can adversely affect an employer's view of a job seeker," Papalia added. "A candidate may not realize this, since an employer is not likely to respond to an e-mail to comment on its quality."
Papalia explained that although e-mail etiquette programs are not in place at Tufts, the topic is covered in numerous workshops. Ultimately, though, she said, "it's up to students to use common sense and adopt a professional tone in their interactions."
Bruce Hamilton contributed reporting to this article.
