Subject:
[Issue Overview]Hello
[Recipient],I hope you're doing well. My name is
[Name]and I am[Relevant Role]. I found your contact information at[Website]where it states that you are[Relevant Role]. I am reaching out to you because I would to bring an issue regarding[Issue Overview]to your attention. If you are not the correct individual to address this, could you please direct me to who I should contact instead?What is your availability so we can set up a meeting to talk and would you prefer to meet over Zoom or in person? My availability is as follows. If there are no common times, please let me know and I can make more availability.
[Availability]Thank you for your help,
[Email Signature]
So replace the [chunks] with whatever information fits there. If you were given their contact information from someone else, I like to CC the person that referred me and then replace the [Website] part too. Something like:
[Referrer]and I recently met and they suggested I contact you regarding[Issue Overview].
With the [Issue Overview], keep it short, simple, and relevant. If you're facing discrimination from a professor, something like "Professor [Name]'s behavior in class" is plenty. This is also a good subject line for the email. Just something that's quick and relevant and opens up future communication.
Then for an email signature, I use the following format:
[Preferred Name]
[Full Name]
[Pronouns]
[Contact Information]
[Relevant Title(s)/Information]
So mine is currently:
Charlie
Charles Stuart
He/They
src322@drexel.edu
BS Computer Science - Drexel University 2022
Head Teaching Assistant - Drexel University
Founding President/Student Advisor - Out In Stem (oSTEM) @ Drexel University
Your email signature tells people about you. So my full name is technically Charles, but I would prefer for the person I'm contacting to call me Charlie. Then additionally, my pronouns, so they know how to refer to me. You can see my whole pronouns post talking about pronouns and names. Then, contact information so people can contact you. Some people include their cell phone number or office phone number, fax number or office location. I don't like giving out my cell number to students and I don't have an office, so I've only restated my email.
Then for [Relevant Title(s)/Information] and also in the email template, [Relevant Role]. In the email signature, I've included the top three reasons I'm writing an email. 1) I'm a student contacting my professor. 2) I'm a teaching assistant contacting my student(s). 3) I'm doing LGBTQ+ activism work. Then when I introduce myself in the email, I restate which title is the most relevant. So if I'm contacting my professor, I'll just say "I'm Charlie and I'm a computer science student in your class, CS-123." since that's the most relevant information.