• Greeting:
  • always address the client, “Hello Valerie,”
  • If they are a professor, best to address them as “Professor” or if they have a doctorate, “Dr.” unless they state they’d rather be referred to as their first name
• (If you haven’t met in person yet) introduce yourself, your role
• Re-state the project/explain what you’re writing about
• Close the email by stating whatever is next and offering more help à la “If you have any questions please contact myself or ________…”
• Set up an email signature with your contact info, your role (Design STA), and organization (LAITS); also good practice to state your pronouns if you wish, some people include the year(s) they are STAs, too.
  • here’s mine for example:

  • Jac Alford (she/her)
    Design Student Technology Assistant
    Liberal Arts Instructional Technology Services – LAITS
    alfordjaclyn@utexas.edu
    (979) 406-0025

• General tip: keep it short. Respect your reader’s time. Read what you initially wrote; is there a way to write what you are trying to say in a shorter/more efficient way (while still keeping a warm and professional tone fo course)?
• If you mention something, link to it–even better if you include images, too.
• Always CC Suloni and whoever else may be on that project (staff + other STAs) that way everyone is in the loop

Let’s put all of that together for the example!

Hello Dr. So-and-so,

My name is Jac, and I will be the Design STA helping redesign the site for [Organization Name]. Thank you for choosing LAITS for this project. Before we get started, I would like to request…..

……

I look forward to our meeting on Thursday, and please let me know if there are any questions you may have in the meantime.

Best,
Jac

Jac Alford (she/her)
Design Student Technology Assistant
Liberal Arts Instructional Technology Services – LAITS
alfordjaclyn@utexas.edu
(979) 406-0025