Can you call, text or email your professor in 2024?
About the author
Hi there. I am the prolific professor with 15 years of experience teaching online and in-person. I have a graduate degree. I have a passion for education. But I’ve also worked in the professional world (outside of education) too. Thanks for visiting.
How do you contact your professor?
Are you thinking about contacting your professor but just don’t know the right way to reach out to your professor and ask a question.
Well, as a former professor with 15 years of experience, I am going to tell you the best way to contact your professor.
This guide will also talk about how to call your professor on the phone, which is always a confusing topic for students.
But don’t worry, I will answer all your questions.
How do you reach out to your professor?
If you want to reach out to your professor, you should check their syllabus first. The majority of syllabi will have the professor’s preferred method of contact. I find that emailing professors is the most convenient way to contact them. Make sure you are following your professor’s preferred method of contact before reaching out.
When I was a professor, I really liked it when students would email me instead of calling. Most of the time, I was in class or helping students, and I was not readily available to answer the phone.
Email is typically the best way to communicate with professors. When you email your professor, you have a record of your communication. This can come in handy later.
Let’s say your professor told you that you could turn in your assignment late, without a penalty. But later you see that they deducted points for your late assignment. You can kindly remind them of your agreement via email. If this were done in person, or on the phone, there would be no record of this. Your professor may have forgotten your discussion and refuse to remove the penalty.
It is in your best interest to have documentation of any communication with your professor.
However, if your professor has office hours, you can stop by during those specified times and speak to them in person. In my experience, students rarely stopped by during office hours so you aren’t going to have to wait long to talk to them. Most full-time professors will have available office hours.
So to recap, check your professor’s syllabus to see how they would like you to contact them FIRST. If there isn’t any information in their syllabus, I would start by emailing them first. If you don’t get a reply in a timely manner, I would go by in person. Finally, if none of those contact methods work, you could call them on the phone.
And always be thinking about the time you are trying to contact them because some may be on summer break or out of the office for a professional conference.
Can you call your professor on the phone?
If your professor has a published phone number in their course materials, it is okay to call them on the phone. But make sure you review the syllabus to see if they have any rules regarding telephone communication AND be professional by calling them at appropriate times.
Let’s talk about this a little more though.
If you review your professor’s syllabus or course materials, and they have listed a phone number, it is okay to contact them by phone. But there are a few things you should consider first.
If they have provided you with a personal phone number, like their cell phone, I would probably avoid calling them on that number. At my college, we were told to NOT publicly publish our personal phone numbers. However, some professors still did. Even though they chose to communicate with their personal phone numbers, it doesn’t make it professional and it might be violating your college’s policies.
I would stick to calling your professors on the phone ONLY if they have a college issued telephone number or use a service like Google Voice. Otherwise, it’s best to use email instead.
I really like to have a record of my communication with students for verification purposes, so email is still my preferred contact method and it should be yours too.
Is it okay to text your professor?
As a former professor, I do not think it is professional for students to text their professors UNLESS this is the standard at your college or university. If texting is the only way to communicate with your professor, it is okay, otherwise I would avoid it.
Texting is too informal for professional communication so it’s best to refrain from using text messaging with your professors.
Your professors deserve some privacy and separation from their personal and professional lives too. If students text them at all hours of the day, it gives them little time away from their jobs. And sometimes students might think that a professor should respond immediately. This isn’t ideal.
I can’t think of a time when a student should send their professor a text message. This is a BIG NO in my book. But your college may have different rules and will gladly accept text messaging. Remember, if you need to text your professor, keep it professional and formal.
Why do professors put their phone number on the syllabus?
Professors will put their phone number in their syllabus because the college may require it so that they can be available for students and their questions. But the phone number a student sees in the syllabus will usually be the professor’s work number and not their personal phone number.
If your professor is full-time, you will likely see a direct phone number to their office listed in their syllabus. If your professor is an adjunct, they might place a phone number for their departmental office instead. Rarely will a professor publish their personal phone number in their syllabus.
When I was a professor, my college required us to publish our telephone number. But this was not our personal number. We were never required to give students our personal phone number and were discouraged from doing so.
And with technology, there are lots of services that professors and universities can use to create temporary phone numbers for professors that give them privacy.
Professors will provide their phone number to students because it is the professor’s job duty to be available for students’ questions. The college doesn’t want a student having any difficulty contacting their professor. So, they will require their professors to list all their contact information in their syllabus.
Having professors answer students’ questions in a timely manner is important to student success.
If a professor doesn’t respond to emails, can you call them?
If you have emailed your professor, and they aren’t responding in a timely manner, it is appropriate to call them on the phone. However, you should attempt to reach them via email a second time, and check their policies for their response times first.
I know it can be really frustrating when you are trying to contact your professor only to get nothing in response. However, make sure you review their syllabus for their contact preferences and response times.
In my syllabi, the college required us to publish our response times. For example, your professor may say that they will respond within 24 hours but only during business days. Or your professor may prefer that you call them first instead of sending an email.
So, before you call them, you need to make sure that you are following their policies. If they say that they don’t respond on the weekends, and you sent your email on Saturday, it is best to wait until Monday to see if they respond.
But if after checking their syllabus and it’s clear that they are outside of their response time, go ahead and give them a call. This is especially true if it is urgent.
If it is not urgent, I would try sending them a follow-up email instead.
There have been plenty of times that I have sent an email to someone and then I turned around and called them the same day. I just apologize for the email, and I let them know that I figured a phone call would get a quicker response, and I could get more clarification over the phone.
It’s not really a problem to call your professor if you don’t get a response to your email. But you don’t want to make it sound like you are being ignored or aren’t getting a quick enough response. Stay professional and polite.
I think it is also best to remember that if you are trying to contact your professor before the semester, they might not even be in the office as most don’t come back to work until a week or two before the term starts.
Is it better to email your professor or meet them in person?
It might be better to email your professor rather than meet them in person because you will have documentation of your conversation and you may get a quicker response. But meeting in person can have many benefits like helping your professor recognize you, or give you the opportunity to ask lots of follow-up questions for clarification.
I always liked email as my preferred method of contact as a professor, but when students would come by in person, it allowed us to have longer conversations where I could answer many questions in one visit.
Sometimes information can be confusing to understand via email so I can see why meeting in person can have its perks.
When you email your professor, and you have more questions or didn’t get a complete response, you are going to have to send another email and wait all over again. This can lead to many days of emails without an answer.
Here are times when I think an email is more appropriate than meeting in person:
Requesting a letter of recommendation
Clarification about an assignment
Asking your professor for help
Here are times when I think an in person meeting is better than email
Asking your professor for career advice
Talking to your professor about a missed exam or re-take
Clarification of class material
Networking with your professor
How to ask your professor to setup a phone call
If you want to setup a phone call with your professor, you need to check their syllabus for their policies first. Your professor may outline their requirements for setting up a phone call. If not, you can talk to them in person or via email to schedule a meeting.
I would be prepared to let your professor know why you would like to meet with them. Sometimes I would ask students what questions they had so that I could be prepared for the meeting. So, please share that information with your professor.
For example, you could tell your professor that you would like to schedule a phone meeting, if possible, and discuss your career goals. And let them know your availability too. This makes it easier to find a time that works best for both of you.
Other than that, it’s really simple to schedule a phone call with your professor.
Now that you know how to contact your professor, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and reach out to them now.
If you want to find out what to talk to your professor about once you reach them, I have my detailed guide you can check out here.
If you want to make sure you are contacting your professor at the best time, check out my VERY detailed article where I discuss the most optimal time to reach out.
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