timely communication

I went on vacation for a couple of weeks in May, and coming back I was greeted with over 200 emails (very little was spam)! I guess I am just that popular... and I do subscribe to a few e-zines and the sort. Of the emails I had the pleasure of sifting through some were student complaint issues. And there weren't all that many... maybe 10. But every single complaint concerned timely communication. The students were not getting it, and they wanted it. I can certainly understand their frustration. It's hard to begin an assignment if I question my understanding of the content or the requirements. And I don't mean just cognitively difficult, it is a motivational traffic jam! Does this thought process sound plausible?

"Well, I'm not sure if my paper should be double spaced and I don't really want to write four pages if I only needed to write two, and maybe my topic is too broad for only two pages, so I will just wait to hear back before I start."

Now, it's likely you include all the requirements in your syllabus and maybe you feel responding to course management questions is painful. But ignoring them is certainly not the way to go.

Following are some ideas you might apply to your courses to help students feel more connected:

• Include a statement on how quickly and in what manner you will respond to them (24 hours is typical). If you don't check email on the weekends, let them know!
• Sign up for an instant messaging service (AOL, Yahoo, Gmail, IMVU) and run it during office hours (or whenever you are at your computer). Ask to add students to your buddy list.
• Call your students at least once a semester. Do this within the first two weeks and I bet your completion/retention rates will surprise you.
• Respond to assignment submissions with "I received your assignment #2. Thanks."
• Respond to course management questions that have been previously dealt with by pointing to the information rather than answering the question (e.g. "Refer to the syllabus for paper requirements")
• If you have a discussion board available, make it lively and organized.
• If you don't have time to respond to emails on a certain day (vacation, family emergency, conference, etc.), send out a mass email informing everyone before the fact or as soon as possible.

If there are others I am missing, let me know!

*edit: The other side of the coin is that many students DO have unreasonable expectations of their instructors. Many will assume someone is facilitating their course 24x7. So, to all you students out there, be aware that normal turn-around is 24 hours and instructors have lives on the weekends that might exclude their computers.