Send email to Jack Applin
Here are my preferences for email. Click on the button, below,
to actually send mail.
No Pictures
- Do not take a picture of your screen, either with a phone,
or a screen capture.
- If you want to show me part of your code, or an error message,
then copy & paste that text, so that I can quote the relevant portions
of your code back to you in my answer.
- If you don’t know how to copy & paste, learn now. Are you really
planning on being a professional Computer Scientist who doesn’t
know how to copy & paste?
Greeting
- Call me “Mr. Applin” or “Jack”. I’m neither a “Professor” nor a “Doctor”,
so avoid those. Plain “Applin” only works if you’re my wrestling coach.
“Hey” is for horses.
Identify yourself
- Sign your email with your first & last names. I’m not good at
associating faces in class with names, much less email addresses.
Your first name is probably not unique.
- Tell me what class you’re in (I teach more than one class).
- Tell me your CSUID, if you’re asking about something that may
require looking things up in CSU databases.
Be specific
- If you’re asking for an extension, ask for something specific.
Don’t just say “May I have an extension on HW2?”.
Instead, say “May I have an extension on HW2 until 10:00ᴘᴍ Tuesday?”.
- If you’re asking for an override, explain why.
What requirement is it that you don’t meet,
and why don’t you think that it should apply to you?
Ask a question
- If you say “I don’t know how to do the homework”,
I will be tempted to simply agree.
- What, specifically, are you having trouble with?
- Similarly, throwing your program at me and declaring that
“this doesn’t work”, will tempt me to just agree.
- What part is failing?
- What did you expect it to do?
I’m a programmer, not an advisor
- I don’t have the power to grant overrides, or late add/drop.
You should contact an advisor for those; they’ll contact me
if they require my permission.
- I don’t know:
- which classes are required for your major
- what grade is required in my class for your major
- I’ll tell you what I know, but I’m not the right person to ask.
Don’t whine
- “I’ve been working in the lab for nine hours!” only tells me that
you have poor judgment. Get to the point.
Don’t give orders
- Telling me to “Respond ASAP” will not make me respond faster.
In fact …
Keep it simple
- If your email is a list of seven questions, then I won’t respond
to it until I’ve considered all seven questions. That may take
some time.
Don’t expect an immediate response
- I am not a 24/7 email consulting service;
I am paid to teach classes and hold office hours.
- If I choose to answer email, it’s on my own time.
- I don’t keep the same hours that you do.