Are professors obligated to respond to emails?

[TheBatman]

I emailed three different professors this week because of future classes that I will miss because of unfortunate circumstances. I asked for them to respond back to maybe even set up and apointment. It's been almost five days and none of them have responded back.

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[wonderdog]

they can basically do whatever they want

 

[TheBatman]

they can basically do whatever they want

This is what bothers me. If I don't do my work and attend class I won't get the grade I desire. If the professor does a crappy job teaching and never reaponds to emails they just get to teach the following semester.

 

[Lamel]

As teachers, it should be part of their damn job to be attentive to their students.

This is often not the case though. Try to meet in person.

 

[TheBatman]

If you are a current student of theirs, I'd definitely expect a reply given your situation. With that said, most professors are very busy people, and so the emails could have been given less attention than needed.

Go see them in person, either before/after class or during their office hours. Mention your previous email and set up an appointment.

I tried to see one of them but she wasn't even there.

 

[circulus vitios]

Keep sending them e-mails if you want a response. If they're too passive to respond to an e-mail, they're sure as hell not going to say anything in real life about you flooding their inbox.

 

[pre med 2014]

No they are not obligated to respond to emails. Usually they just don't respond to stupid emails, but it sounds like you have a legitimate concern.

 

[Bangersandmash]

If you have current classes with them, what is so difficult about approaching them at the end of a lecture to tell them what you need to tell them? Professors can get massive amounts of e-mails on a daily basis from listserve spam, work related requests and tens of other students. Knowing that, if I've ever had anything important to tell them (absences, test make-ups, LORs), I do it in person. That way they can't avoid you.

 

[Xenops]

If you have current classes with them, what is so difficult about approaching them at the end of a lecture to tell them what you need to tell them? Professors can get massive amounts of e-mails on a daily basis from listserve spam, work related requests and tens of other students. Knowing that, if I've ever had anything important to tell them (absences, test make-ups, LORs), I do it in person. That way they can't avoid you.

Exactly. This happened to me recently, and I just stopped my physics prof's office after sending him emails, and the problem was fixed quite quickly. He told me if I needed something done to go see him rather than send emails.

 

[occams_razor]

If you have current classes with them, what is so difficult about approaching them at the end of a lecture to tell them what you need to tell them? Professors can get massive amounts of e-mails on a daily basis from listserve spam, work related requests and tens of other students. Knowing that, if I've ever had anything important to tell them (absences, test make-ups, LORs), I do it in person. That way they can't avoid you.

this. it's very common for profs to miss an email because they get so many each day, or the email could have gone into their spam box. this is why I try to go see the prof in person rather than email if it's something important