Should you contact faculty outside of class? YES!

As faculty, we care about your learning and overall success. Many of us chose teaching college students and JMU specifically because we want to help, challenge, support and encourage you. We enjoy helping you learn and learning along with you. Stop by our office, make an appointment or talk with us during class about your ideas, goals, things you don't get, or things that you might be struggling with, even if beyond the class.

Locate faculty contact information

You can find your faculty member's contact information three primary ways:

First, if you are enrolled in a faculty member's class, look on your class syllabus. The syllabus is usually distributed at the beginning of your first class and includes information about the faculty, course, schedule, assignments, expectations, etc. 

Second, you can look up any faculty member's contact information using the JMU Directory. Just enter their name, and you can locate their email, office phone number and office location. 

Third, depending on how your faculty member uses Canvas (JMU's learning management system), you should be able to message them directly from Canvas. Here is information on how to use the Canvas Inbox. 

Ways to contact faculty

One of the best ways to talk with or make an appointment with one of your faculty is to stop by - in person or virtually - during office hours. Office hours are days and times that we have set aside just to talk and work with students in our classes. Your faculty's office hours and where their office is located will be on your class syllabus. 

Another great way to talk with us is during class. Consider arriving a little early or staying a little bit after class to talk with us! Even if we can't talk about everything then, we can figure out the best way to make an appointment. 

Email is another good way to contact us and set up a time to meet. When you email, be sure to use your official JMU email address and include as much information as possible. Keep in mind that not all faculty live in their email inbox, so have reasonable expectations for when we might respond. 

Include your availability in your email! 

Canvas is another good option for messaging your faculty member to make an appointment. Canvas can be tricky as not everyone uses it for messaging, but can be a great option if you and your faculty use Canvas often.