Spring-Serenity Duvall, an assistant professor at Salem College, banned her students from emailing her. She grew tired of receiving time-wasting emails and decided to get rid of them once and for all. She explained how students payed less attention, how her syllabus got longer and longer, and how "student emails were an assault on professors..." Some considered it an extreme decision and others felt frustrated, but Duvall decided to cancel all student emails. She would only accept them if students wanted to schedule a meeting with her. She feared students would give the course bad evaluations, yet she chose to go with it. After a semester, Duvall described the her new policy as "unqualified success." She explained that students came to class better prepared and wrote better papers. They were also more self-reliant and independent as they only had the syllabus to rely on. Students also gave the course better evaluations, the exact opposite of her fear. Duvall also stated how her relationship with students greatly improved as they talked face to face instead of through a screen. Due to the unexpected huge success, the email policy will remain as part of Duvall's future classes.
This article, written by Carl Straumsheim, serves to inform the readers of a new policy implied by an university teacher. The author uses simple language throughout the article making it easy and fluid to read. He also filled it with direct quotations from Duvall, after having an interview with the creator of the policy. By doing this he gives the paper a lot of credibility and gives the audience Duvall's exact words on her newly developed idea. Strumsheim also includes the part of the syllabus that talks about emails. This makes it clear for the audience to understand since the policy is stated word for word the way Duvall put it. Overall the author successfully delivered his message and stuck to his thesis making the essay very thorough.
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/inside_higher_ed/2014/08/salem_college_professor_spring_serenity_duvall_banned_students_from_emailing.html
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