Staying in Touch Across Campus
Cell phone, room phone, IM, chat, e-mail, V.I.P. - there are too many ways to communicate! It is easy to pay too much attention to one mode and not enough to other modes.
It is imperative that you check your Alma e-mail account once a day or at least several times a week. Otherwise you may missannouncements or critical information. Delete junk mail and other messages promptly once you have dealt with them. Remember to empty the trash (or equivalent action) to clear your buffer, so you don’t overflow your account. It is one of the responsibilities of being an Alma College student.
Critical information comes via your Alma e-mail account:
- Registrar – to verify a change, to correct a mistake, to be certain of an action.
- Instructors – as a communication tool for class assignments.
- Advisor – for general announcements or in case of an emergency.
- Others – you certainly will get more than your fair share of announcements of upcoming events, lost and found items, etc. It’s the price we will have to pay until our communications freedom settles down into recognizable channels.
E-mail Etiquette
We all use casual communication with our friends, and that's no crime. However, when you are in a "formal" communication situation (with your professor, or another professional on or off campus) you will want to use formal structure (correct punctuation, grammar, use of capital “I” and paragraphs for major ideas).
Casual communication during formal contacts may be viewed as disrespectful, and isn’t a good way to build strong connections, especially for people who may be evaluating your communication skills in the future. The last thing you want to do is inadvertently insult a cooperating teacher during student teaching or offend a potential employer.
Room phone
Your room phone is the only number listed in the directory, or on official documents like drop-add forms. Staff at Alma will call your room phone number, expecting to find you or to leave a message, if there is a problem. A caller has no way to tell you have failed to hang a phone on your dorm room wall; the phone will still “ring” as if you are gone from your room, giving the impression that you are never home.
Until we devise some kind of “universal messaging system”, it’s probably a good idea to hang a cheap phone on your wall. You will not want an answering machine option; a voice mail system is set up with any room phone. Contact Physical Plant for more information on the auto voicemail system. You should check this system regularly for messages as well.
Cell Phone Etiquette
In the Alma Community, cell phones are to be left behind or turned off for all classes, performances or other public events. If you are expecting a critical phone call, then set the phone to silent alert and leave class to answer it. Remember, all other calls can (and should) be forwarded to voice mail for later consumption.
It should go without saying that text messaging or playing a phone game in class is considered disrespectful to our shared commitment to education.
