Can Email Communication Enhance Professor-Student Relationship and Student Evaluation of Professor?: Some Empirical Evidence

Four hundred and eight undergraduate students participated in this study that examined professor-student email communication, interpersonal relationship and teaching evaluation. Several findings have been gleaned. First, academic task was the most frequent email topic and social-relationship less frequent between professors and students. Second, professors emailed students more frequently than the reverse. Third, professors and students exhibited a higher degree of reciprocity for social-relationship communication than for task emails. Fourth, email communication contributed positively to both professor-student relationship and teaching evaluation. Fifth, professor email helpfulness, reply promptness and email frequency for social-relationship were the most significant predictors of both professor-student relationship and teaching evaluation.