HOUSTON – It's a problem that got so bad, Dr. Mark Tomforde, a University of Houston math professor, had to create an online guideline for his students.
We're talking about improper email etiquette that Tomforde and is colleagues in academia have been finding more and more frustrating.
"Students that don't know me who will address me by my first name when contacting me," Tomforde said. "Or students that will talk using text speak in the email. They'll use abbreviations. Slang."
A New York Times contributor wrote about Tomforde's website after coming across it for research. Even though he created the etiquette guidelines three years ago, the article posted this past weekend went viral and brought frustrated professors out of the woodwork. Students we spoke to say they're not trying to be unprofessional but said it's hard.
"I honestly think it's tough," Gabby Davila said. "I think being on your phone all day every day around people that do, that just the same lingo that you have with other students. It is really hard sometimes to switch off."
But for Tomforde it's not just about improving communication for the few years students spend on campus. He says he's thinking about their future.
"I also remind them that it's not a matter of my ego, it's more of I'm trying to help them," Tomforde said. "Because if they don't use proper etiquette, they are going to be severely handicapped when they try to get jobs or internships or enter the real world."
In addition to the Times article going viral, Tomforde also says he's received emails and phone calls from colleagues across the country expressing their frustrations over the email etiquette of their students.
