Regardless of the pandemic, email is the best way to get in touch with your professor. Whether you wanted to ask about an assignment, go through a test, check on your grade, or even ask for a letter of recommendation, a professional email paves the road to success.

The first thing to do if you want to reach out to your own professor is to read the syllabus for the course. Amongst other important information, the professor should have given their email as well as how they want to be addressed [maybe they have 2 last names, him/her, Dr. or Ms/Mr., etc.] Now you can start writing your email: 

Dear Dr/Ms./Mr. X, 

{Good morning/Good afternoon/Good evening} My name is X and I am a {freshman/sophmore/junior/senior} majoring in X at the University of Cincinnati. I am in your X course at X time on {day of the week- is the class Monday, Wednesday, Friday,  only Tuesdays, etc?}. I was {wondering/would like to ask you/ wanted to clarify} X.

Thank you for your help/assistance. I look forward to hearing back. 

Take care. 

[[Your name]]

Each email is going to vary but a few important characteristics of every email are: 

1. Professional ‘hello’ 
   • Do not say ‘hey’ or ‘hi’
   • Also do not skip out on a greeting completely 
2. Emotionally balanced 
   • Do not exaggerate feelings of anger nor extreme gratitude as in conversations with friends or family.
   • If you are emailing the professor with disappointment of a grade or comment; get your point across as objective and as simple as possible
   • If you are emailing the professor with excitement over good news; use language that is joyous but still professional
   • Just constantly keep in mind that they are human and so emotions will be prevalent, but they are also your superior so maintain a respectable distance
3. Closing
   • You can either say ‘I look forward to hearing back from you’, ‘I appreciate your advice/knowledge,’ ‘Thank you for your time,’ or a simple ‘thank you’
   • You want to make sure that your email [even if it is a short question] is all tied up– just as you do not walk away from someone after a conversation, you do not end your email with your concern/question/ comment/ etc. 

If reaching out to teachers/ professors is new to you, don’t worry, it will be second nature eventually. Writing a thorough but quick to-the-point email in university is a must and trust me, it will give the recipient a great impression of you.

Best of luck!