The other day I had a meeting with a colleague who indicated that she refuses to answer emails from students addressed to “Hey,”. I was glad to hear this, because although I certainly like to be on a first-name basis with students (including undergrads) working in my lab, I expect students that I don’t know personally to be more respectful. “Dear/Hi Dr./Prof. Gregory” is fine, obviously. “Hi Ryan” from students I don’t know is irritating. But “Hey” is unacceptable. Now that I have tenure, I am probably going to implement a similar “I don’t answer to Hey” policy (though I might let the student know that I won’t be responding, except for the message that indicates that I won’t be responding).
Clarification
I am not talking about:
“Hey Dr. Gregory,
I am enjoying your class.”(This doesn’t bother me)
I am talking about:“Hey,
I am interested in taking your class. Can you sign the form to let me register?”(The student wants something, doesn’t know me, and only writes Hey)
Another difference between the West Coast and Ontario…
I do recall people being generally more formal back when I lived near TO… seems to be quite a bit more relaxed here though, excessive formality even startles some people. I generally adress profs formally the very first time (was born in Russia…), and then never do it again (…grew up in California) =P
Although I do agree that just “Hey” is kind of rude, mostly because it sounds so impersonal…
(Quote)
If you respond to “Hello” or “Hi” you should logically respond to “Hey”. “Hey” is really “Hej” (pronounced the same, the “j” is “y”) which means “Hello” in many Scandinavian languages. English is full of such horizontally transferred words…
(Quote)
Really? You don’t see any difference between, say, “Good day” vs. “Hello” vs. “Hi” vs. “Hey”? — they all mean the same thing, technically.
(Quote)
Why are you considering enforcing this policy now that you have tenure? Why not enforce it before if it was that important? Is it a status thing?
(Quote)
No, not a status thing. And it’s not *that* important. It’s just one of those minor irritations that you don’t have to put up with once you get tenure.
(Quote)
I hope this a joke. When I read it all I could think was “Hey, you sound like a major a-hole.”
(Quote)