An exchange

"I am currently shopping for a class. I am not a doctoral student. I am simply working on a dual credit certificate. As you can see, I am a full-time teacher at XX in YYY. Therefore, I do not have time to work on research papers like you have listed in your course description. 

Will you make adaptations that will meet my needs in order to be successful in your classroom? YYY is about one hour drive to Lawrance, and then it will take time to park and walk to class.  Therefore, I will be late for class, or will you be able to have me join your class by long-distance learning in Zoom?"

D"ear Mr. ZZ:

My course is not going to be a good fit for you, I’m afraid. It is a course designed for PhD-level students, pitched at a high intellectual level, and would require a significant investment in both time and effort. It is difficult even for many of our own doctoral students, and you do not express any specific interest in the content of this particular course.  

 

I wish you the best in all your endeavors!  

 

Yours,

 

Jonathan Mayhew 

Professor of Spanish"

"Dr. Mayhew,

 

Thank you for your honesty. You are not up to the challenge and perhaps lack creativity in teaching handicapped students. Your response shows that you did not recommend yourself, and you did not try to recruit another student to increase the number of students in your enrollment. Student success is a reflection of the professors teaching abilities.  What do you need to improve / change to ensure more of your doctoral students understand and learn the subject matter you teach? Your email is a bad advertisement for your teaching abilaties."  

"Dear Mr. ZZ:   

 

I’d like to help you in any way I can.  Let me know if you want my recommendations on email etiquette.  I have to admit your messages to me struck me as rather abrupt and discourteous.  One of them was not even about my own course!  That might have made me more brusque in my own response. 

 

Yours,  

 

Jonathan Mayhew".