Students and professors are facing surmounting pressure to keep in touch and are questioning whether email is still fit for the task. 

“I’m not really sure the younger students are responding to email anymore,” said Nick Mauriello, associate professor of English. 

Mauriello said he realizes the significance in the fast-paced developments in communication and how they could affect his classes.

 “There’s a lot of research out there about getting students where they reside, and a lot of students are texting more and more,” Mauriello said. 

 He has tried texting with his classes before, but has since decided this form of communication felt unprofessional, Mauriello said.

 “It was a disaster because it blurred the boundaries [of professionalism],” he said.  “Students were asking me my opinion on trivial things. If we’re going to deal with students we need to use the outlets that the university mandates, and right now, that is Portal or Angel.”

Cali Tidwell, a junior fashion merchandising major, said she is used to informal communication with professors, having had a chorus professor at a junior college she transferred from who used Twitter for regular, daily announcements. She only checks her email “once daily,” while she spends a significant more amount of time on her social media, Tidwell said.

Elise Adkins, a public relations major, said she felt frustrated when using Angel and Portabl to communicate with professors.

“Angel needs to be kept up with the times,” Adkins, a junior, said.

Lauren Copeland, a junior, said social media could be a possible compromise.

“In classes that have used Facebook it opened up the opportunity for more discussion,” Copeland said.

Elizabeth Tyson, a junior, said communication between students and professors should be kept strictly professional, but that Angel should be utilized more efficiently.

Even though Mauriello disagrees with professors texting or “friending” students on social media while they still attend the university, he said he agrees that students would respond better to a different medium of communication than email. 

He has been using Angel more now than ever, since it does offer options like chat forums and discussion boards. However, if the university would sanction an application through the already existing one offered, such as mass automated texts he would use it, he said.

For more info. on the shift in faculty-student communication, click here.