Victoria University says casual wording in emails to staff is acceptable and lecturers cannot delete students' emails simply because they're informal.
A Wellington university professor has faced backlash after saying she ignores emails from students that begin with “hey”.
Victoria University of Wellington has condemned the woman’s actions and said they “promptly addressed” the issue with the lecturer after she posted about it on social media.
A writing coach who specialises in email communications has also weighed in, saying formal greetings are becoming a thing of the past, and often a more conversational style is “perfectly okay”.
Dr Seohee Ashley Park, a lecturer in the university’s School of History, Philosophy, Political Science and International Relations, recently posted a screenshot of a student’s email on social media platform Threads.
“Hey Seohee”, the student wrote, before introducing themself and inquiring about one of Park’s courses.
“I really hate emails that start with ‘Hey’,” Park wrote online. Quotes of her comments are a translation from Korean.
She said while New Zealand has a more relaxed culture, and she does not mind being referred to by her first name, starting an email to a lecturer with “hey” was something she could not tolerate.
“I told them to write more formally next time and that I don’t reply to emails that start with ‘hey’.”
Park defended her stance in response to a commenter who accused her of being too strict, saying “even in this culture, starting an email to a professor with ‘hey’ is considered rude”.
“In fact, my faculty colleagues say that if a student begins an email with ‘hey’ they don’t even read it and just delete it right away.”
Park’s employer did not share the stance, with Victoria University of Wellington provost professor Bryony James saying “so long as correspondence is not ill-mannered, then an informal tone can be quite acceptable”.
Some staff were comfortable with “informal chat-style communications”, James said, but others preferred more traditional formal correspondence.
“Regardless of how a message has been phrased, there is never a reason to ignore or delete an email from a student requesting assistance.”
James said it was “not an appropriate post for one of our academics to share online” and the matter was “promptly addressed”.
The posts appear to have been deleted.
Park told the Herald that after studying in Japan, it was a culture shock to see New Zealand students’ more casual approach.
She stood by the idea that emails benefit from “a certain level of formality, even for students”.
“I reckon formality in email helps students in several ways to slow down their idea, adjust tone, think about recipients, proof read, and present themselves as credible and prepared,” Park said.
“It will be beneficial for their future academic and career path as well.”
She said after her post went viral she was “traumatised” by the word “hey” and encouraged students to use te reo Māori phrases in their emails such as “kia ora” and “ngā mihi”, which she said would be more professional.
“I think normalising this practice helps students participate in a professional register that reflects NZ’s own cultural landscape rather than treating formality as something imported from elsewhere,” she said.
Victoria University of Wellington Student Association president Liban Ali said students communicate in a range of ways and “hey” was a “completely normal greeting for many young people”.
“Students reach out to lecturers because they need support with their learning. Ignoring those messages, especially over something as minor as a greeting, undermines trust and creates unnecessary barriers to education,” Ali said.
“We don’t believe it’s appropriate for staff to disregard student correspondence when the student is acting in good faith.”
He said the student association often hears from students who feel intimidated or uncertain about emailing their lecturers.
Ali urged students to communicate respectfully and not be afraid of using their own tone or voice.
As for staff, Ali said they should “meet students where they are” and that a bit of empathy and flexibility goes a long way in supporting students to succeed.
Coleen Trolove, a Wellington plain-language trainer, said “hey” is “definitely becoming a more popular greeting, particularly among younger workers”.
In this context, the student’s greeting was “absolutely appropriate”.
“A lecturer should be in touch enough with their students to know how they talk,” she said.
Trolove, who trains public and private sector organisations in internal communications and email etiquette, said the way people communicate professionally is changing and traditional greetings and sign-offs are becoming a thing of the past.
“Teams and other messaging platforms are becoming such a huge part of workplaces that the natural, casual language we use on those is becoming more common in emails as well,” she said.
“I get lots of people who hire these young people saying they want me to teach them not to use ‘hey’, and I say, ‘no, thank you’, because I believe that best communication happens when people are able to show their real personalities,” she said.
Trolove believed if more casual communication helped people show their warmth and humanity, then it was a good thing.
Her advice for people who wanted to err on the side of caution would be to start an email with a simple “hi”.
“If you’re an older person who’s being greeted with a ‘hey’, take it as a compliment that they feel comfortable with you.”