Email Guidelines
G. Michael Guy

 
BEFORE emailing me, check the class blog and the course syllabus. The blog may well have the answer to your question. It is updated often, so check it AGAIN! You may find the syllabus and class blog here!

I can be reached at almost any normal hour of any day via email. This means that email will be a very effective way of communicating with me outside of the classroom. In order to get the most out of our emails, I have composed a short outline of guidelines for emailing me. Please adhere to these guidelines as closely as possible.

  • To: Send your email to michael (at-symbol-here) gmichaelguy.com (Note: The correct spelling of my name is michAEl and NOT michEAl)
  • From: Make sure you have configured your email account so that the "From" will show your name and not your email address. That is, I want to see that the email is from "Igor Estudiante" and not from "crazy-name@email-domain.com" This can usually be set in your account options or preferences. Test this out by emailing yourself or a friend and make sure it says your name. This makes it much easier for me to identify who is emailing me.
  • Subject: Make your subject short, but helpful. For example: If you are asking for help on a homework problem or to request an appointment, write "help on homework" or "appointment request?" or something similar.
  • Body of Email: This is the most important part of your email. Here are some examples of what to include in the body:
    • If you would like to ask for help with a homework problem please include the entire problem and not just the page or number of the problem. That is, say you are trying to solve 3x-5=10 and not just say you can't do Problem 1. Very often I may not have my text book or homework list handy when I receive your email. If you include the problem, then I can reply to your email even if I'm at the bus stop, walking down the sidewalk or having dinner with a friend. Also, try to be specific about what problem you are having. If you can get the problem started, then tell me how far you can go. Tell me that you can figure out that 3x=15, but you don't know what to do next. This will help me pinpoint your problem and give you a hint to get you unstuck.
    • If you would like to schedule an appointment, please let me know the nature of your appointment and how long you might like to meet. Suggest to me a few times when you might be available so that I can try to match my schedule to yours. Immediately before class and after class are often good times, but I may have some time available at other times.
  • Closing email: Please finish your email with a simple greeting including your first and last name. For example, simply say "Thanks, Igor Estudiante"

What to expect after you email me?

You may be surprised at how quickly I respond to your email. I tend to respond to most emails within a few hours (and sometimes in less than 15 minutes!). That being said, I do not promise to reply that quickly. I will almost always be able to respond to your email within 24 hours. Sometimes, however, this is not possible. If I think I will be unable to respond quickly, I do try to respond to at least let you know that I received your email, and that I will respond as quickly as possible. If you do not hear from me after 48 hours, please email me again. Perhaps I accidentally deleted your email instead of responding. I get a lot of emails, and sometimes I make mistakes. If my initial response doesn't fully address your concern, simply "Reply" and write again.