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Thanasis Kinias

Weird question for at universities where it isn’t the norm for undergrads to first-name their professors: How do you handle situations where students sit on committees with faculty?

It feels a little bit weird for all of us in the room to call each other by our first names except for the one undergrad who calls us “Prof. XYZ”—but OTOH it’s also a bit strange to tell the student to call us by our first names in this room but then go back to “Prof. XYZ” elsewhere.

@tkinias
I had the same issue with my undergrad research assistants when we travelled to collaboration meetings. I talked with them about it and they were most comfortable referring to me by last name, although they dropped the honorific (which is what they did in private with other students). I agreed that informality wasn’t required.

The important thing isn’t mode of address, it’s actually understanding how professional relationships aren’t about formality.