These tips help speed replies to over one thousand student queries per semester in Atkinsons introduction to Financial Accounting Course. Louise Hayes coordinates the course and credits the coordinated efforts of the Course Counsellors, Faculty, Atkinson Computing Services and Computing and Network Service's helpdesk with reducing email volume and shortening email response time while course enrollments have grown to over 2,000 students per year.
Try some of the lion taming tips below to tame the email beast in both large and small enrollment courses.
Don't act alone
Lion tamers plan their acts carefully and work with others to make sure beasts are well cared for and help is available quickly when needed. Plan and coordinate difficult email taming acts with computing and network personnel.
Cage the beast (the email)
Use web-accessible, shared-access email account(s) rather than personal email account(s) for course email. Computing and network personnel can help you create such accounts. Shared-access simplifies delegating email duties and monitoring the frequency and quality of TA responses. Web-accessibility permits the email beast to be tamed from anyplace at anytime lions are often tamed better with many small sessions rather than fewer longer sessions.
Control the cage door and check the emergency exit
Be very specific about use of email in the course outline and at the first class. Take these opportunities to set student expectations: tell students when they may expect a response to their email queries and any special rules for sending those queries. (Should their name and section be in the subject line? Are messages not sent from York email accounts accepted?). Tell students where to go, or phone, if their emails don't receive prompt responses or if they have personal matters they wish to discuss. Excessive use of the emergency exit indicate a problem in the cage that requires immediate attention.
Keep the beast happy
Happy lions are easier to tame. Instruct TAs to remove answered queries from the course email inbox. Not only will keeping the inbox empty make it easier to see what queries still need responses, it will also reduce frustration: large inboxes are extremely slow to load and may time out web-based email clients. Check the inbox daily, or more frequently near exams and assignment due dates, and call TAs if messages are not getting answered promptly. Since messages need not be opened or read when the message dates are checked, this inbox audit often takes only a second or two. For large enrollment multi-section classes, consider making this inbox check and follow-up calling a duty of a coordinating TA.
Acknowledge receipt of messages to which replies can not be promptly sent
There will be times when emails may not be answered within the established timeframe. A quick, personalized reply stating when to expect the answer to the query, or the grade for an online assignment submission, minimizes the did you receive my message message.
Equip and organize the cage
Every trade has its tools and techniques. Lion tamers use chairs, whips and props. Email tamers use email client sort, file and search techniques. Time spent learning to use the sort, file, view and search features of an email client is time well spent. Successfully managed course email accounts use folders to save and organize responses. Examples of folders which might be used include the following:
- online assignment submission folders
- an FAQ folder with sample responses to frequently asked questions (FAQ)
- a grade folder containing correspondence on grade queries, assignment extensions, grade changes, transfer of weight to the final
- a folder for student recommendations for course material changes
Crack the whip
Review the email replies sent by new TAs and faculty for tone, content and timeliness. Insist 'reply with history' used for all email responses as timeliness and appropriateness are difficult to assess otherwise. Would the email be appropriate if included with a student petition? Did the salutations include the students' names? Were expressed student frustrations and difficult personal circumstances acknowledged respectfully at the beginning of the reply without giving false hope or discussing blame? Was the email signed? Were difficult messages forwarded promptly to faculty?
Restrict cage entry
Tone is difficult to master but critical for email taming survival. There are some folk who are just not cut out for email taming; for example, aggressive folk who do not master the art of polite, prompt, fact based personalized email response. Mauling is an ugly risk of taming. When possible, assign email duties to TAs with natural email talent to minimize time spent on damage control.
Some brave email tamers refuse to answer questions when the answers are contained in materials the students should have read. These brave email tamers believe they can train students by referring them back to materials rather than answering questions directly. Other email tamers take a gentler approach, and believe a small portion of students can never be trained and answer their questions directly to minimize time spent handling complaints. The most talented email tamers use a combination of reply approaches and instinctively tailor their responses to the specifics of the query.
Heed the beast's growl, but show no fear
Requests for clarification of information presented in the course outline, assignments and/or the course website are likely to make up the lions are of student queries. Avoid email deluges by taking immediate corrective action when messages arrive from the diligent, eager beaver students indicating a possible error or ambiguity in course materials or website postings. These students begin assignments days, even weeks, before the majority of students. Consider the course email account as the course early warning system. Ask TAs to be alert for signs of trouble and forward them immediately.
Recognize the limits of wild beast taming
Reply asking students to call or visit to discuss certain matters. Many of the more difficult queries are more efficiently and effectively answered over the phone or in person.
Clean the cage
Establish email deletion, retention and archiving policies that conform to Faculty guidelines.
Change the taming act
Lion tamers are live performers and change their act over time in response to audience reaction. At the end of each course, explore technical and procedural solutions targeted at reducing future email volume. Review the volume and nature of common queries, discuss the course mail with TAs and brainstorm with computing and network personnel ways in which email may be better tamed. Some procedures/techniques that might be considered include:
- Tweak instructions for accessing and using online course content. Ask instructors of online courses to show you their email scars from the semesters when students had technical difficulties!
- Establish and communicate a protocol for handling technical queries. Students always email their instructors in the absence of clearly articulated protocols.
- Ask TAs if it is possible to time-shift and stagger their email duties. More frequent reply sessions shorten email response time and reduce repeat queries.
- Prepare canned responses to frequently asked administrative questions, e.g., what do I do now as I was ill and missed the exam? Reducing the time spent on administrative queries leaves more time for quality time spent dialoguing on course content.
- Set up a course website.
- Investigate using a listserv or other method for broadcasting email messages to all students. Warning: maintaining email distribution lists for all but the smallest of classes is a task best coordinated with computing and network personnel. While listservs are easily set-up with student email data imported from class list information, problems arise if students have not set-up, or do not use, their York email accounts.
- Consider using online discussion (asynchronous) or chat (synchronous) facilities.
With thanks to Debbie Fraser, CNS Client Support Services, for her helpful contributions to this article.